ACCESS

ACCESS is a revolutionary program that stands for Alabama Connecting Classroom, Educators and Students Statewide and will give students an entirely new avenue to receive instruction. Some of ACCESS's advantages include providing high school students with courses they could not receive in their physical high school, allowing students to participate in dual enrollment, as well as affording students the opportunity to take advanced placement courses even if their current school does not provide them.

The classes on ACCESS would be taught by Alabama certified teachers, offering quality instruction anywhere in Alabama in a multitude of courses that students would not have access to otherwise. ACCESS began to take shape in 2005 by setting up 24 Pilot Sites around Alabama and they have been expanding throughout the years and now there is at least one lab in each county in Alabama. These labs accommodate students web-based courses, real time video instruction and a combination of the two.

Like ALEX, ACCESS is another helpful tool that will improve the future of education. Students will have opportunities to take courses they would have been unable to take otherwise. This Internet is always opening up new possibilities and ACCESS no exception.

ALEX

The Alabama Learning Exchange, represented by the acronym ALEX, allows teachers, students and parents an easy and convenient place to find an enormous amount of information. It is an interactive web portal, managed by the Alabama Department of Education, that provides a single location for previously scattered information. It allows users to search by subject and/or grade and a wealth of useful information is at their disposal. Lesson plans are uploaded onto the web site and students and parents are able to see what will be expected during the school year. It provides web links to helpful sites, helpful literature about specific subjects and is designed to make the learning process easier.

ALEX is a representation of the future of education. Technology is always improving and the Alabama school system is using this to their advantage. ALEX is funded in part by the Verizon Foundation and funds provided by the federal government as part of the Enhancing Education Through Technology portion of the U.S. Department of Education policy. ALEX's website states it is continually working to provide more information and continuing to find ways to make all facets of education more convenient.

After looking at ALEX's website and reading about the possibilities is gives to a teacher as well as students, I definitely would utilize this resource. Teachers can create their own websites for their students as well as have their lesson plans readily available so it gives a whole other avenue for communication. Technological advances are designed to make things easier and more convenient and I am completely in favor of a website that collects so much information in one place and provides an advantage to everyone involved.

To visit ALEX's website go to http://alex.state.al.us/index.php

About Me!

My name is Jennifer Harris and I am a junior at South. I am studying Secondary Education with a concentration in English/Language Arts and should graduate May of 2010. I first attended Mississippi State University but transferred here this past January.

I love playing sports, particularly tennis, and am an avid runner. I am trying to work up to a marathon but, despite a lot of practice, I don't know that I was made to run 26 miles. I also enjoy reading and spend a lot of my free time doing that.

I am still getting used to living in Mobile but so far I am enjoying it. It is nice being so close to the beach, though I have only been once in the eight months I have lived here. The biggest obstacle I have had to overcome has been the traffic. I am not accustomed to having it take over 15 minutes to get somewhere. I also have a terrible sense of direction, so I spend a lot of my time trying to figure out where I am going and fighting the traffic to get there.