ALEX and ACCESS

ALEX



What is ALEX? That is the same thing I was asking at first. ALEX stand for Alabama Learning Exchange. ALEX is a communal database of lesson plans created and posted by teachers. The database contains traditional subject areas as well as 21st century areas that include technology education, and information literacy. ALEX,a project of the Alabama Department of Education, is designed to index and share a lot of different types of educational materials and information through a one-stop resource for educators, parents, and students. The resources (lesson plans, web links, and interactive activities) are found and connected to the Alabama Courses of Study by National Board Certified Teachers. ALEX is a work in progress. It will continually improve and expand based upon the input from educators around the state.Want to see the website?

On the ALEX website there is a lot to offer. There is a link to course of study, web links, lesson plans, personal workplace, professional learning, Podcast treasury, and helpful links like Help and Search. The courses that are under the link of Course of study are English Language Arts, Mathematics, Art, Career Tech, Driver Safety, Health, Science, Social Studies, Languages other than English, Physical Education, and Other Courses of study. If you want a specific course and grade level you can also search it, but if you just click the subject you want, it will open that subject up and give you the specific grade levels. Then under the web link box, it went to a page that had links to websites good for teachers, then another one for administrators, and then the last link was for websites for students. You can also click a link to recommend a website. Under the lesson plan link, it brings you to a page with a choice to make your own by logging in, find one already done by ALEX, or find one by subject matter. The link on professional learning brings you to a page of Alabama Department of Education Program Websites that will help you in different topics. Then the podcast treasury link has podcast you can click on and listen too.

Now what do I think of ALEX? I think ALEX is a wonderful website that is very resourceful to teachers, administrators, and students. This site has all the resources you need to help you begin your career. It is like a stepping stone for you career. If you are just beginning to start your career, it has lesson plans for you to beginning working on yours. It will guide you, and be like a crutch for you to lean on. I really truly like the idea of the site.



ACCESS



ACCESS stands for Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide. ACCESS is a website that helps students and teachers connect. The goal of ACCESS is "to create equity through additional educational offerings for all Alabama public high school students with a distant learning plan." The vision of ACCESS was "the State of Alabama will provide equal access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning." This site has a link on courses that goes to a page full of helpful sites and resources. They have a link for Alabama High School Graduation Exams, Advanced Placement,Course Catalogs, Course Offerings, Exam Exemption Form, FAQ's, Resources, Test Prep, and Textbooks at a Glance, which are all under the link for courses. They also have links for Educators, Students, Resources, and Technical Support. If you click on one of those links, it will take you to a page with more resources. Want to see the website?"

I think that this site is very handy for both students and teachers to stay connected. This website has links to very good sites. I was really surprise to see what you could access through this site. They had links for Grad exams and other test preps. They had a link for technical support that helps you with all the links to pages that will help from picking the right software to downloading the right downloads.