So Melissa and I began discussing educational online programs that were being used to teach students and what might be appropriate options for this project. We exchanged emails with ideas both of our own and that other teachers had passed on to us.
Below is a list of programs that Melissa and her professors compiled:
For math remediation:
http://www.apangea.com/
Possible software (including BlackBoard and K12 remediation courses)
http://campustechnology.com/articles/2010/10/13/new-blackboard-and-k12-project-to-tackle-cc-remediation.aspx
Prentice Hall Writing Coach
http://www.myreadinglab.com/
Mywritinglab
Mymathlab
My professors and I also discussed using voicethread, lore.com, and Second Life.
We also discussed the idea of using tablets or ipads as a platform to testing out our project with David. Melissa also mentioned a possible grant opportunity for tablets to be donated to a classroom for students to use and we brainstormed ideas for that to be applied to this project including using Kickstarter.
These were all good ideas but we wanted to use something that was a little more visual and artistic using graphics and sounds to really catch David’s attention (and maintain it throughout his lessons).
I remembered working in Second Life last summer for the first time and how much I enjoyed the graphics and the 3D visuals and feeling of being in a video game. Also having a background in education myself it is no news that teenagers love video games. So why not work in a teaching environment that is like a video game?
The next task was to begin looking at the material and academic requirements that David would be expected to achieve in his upcoming school year…
Virtual Learning Environments 