Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance

VLLA

Districts team up with online programs to address challenges

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2nd in a two-part blog series

Districts team up with online programs to address challenges

Teacher shortages, professional development, and a plethora of other concerns are never far from a district administrator’s thoughts. A trusted, online education program can help lighten the load.

“Online learning has saved us in the era of COVID, the current teacher shortages, and the increased number of graduation pathways,” said Jenny Oakley, director of eLearning & Literacy, Metropolitan School District of Martinsville and an Indiana Online partner. “If we don’t have a teacher for a special course, we can put students in that course online.”

For example, the district does not have an American Sign Language teacher. Students can enroll in that course with Indiana Online so they can still earn their world language credit for their pathways.

In Pennsylvania, the Newport School District has leaned on its partnership with Capital Area Online Learning Association (CAOLA), a VLLA member, and its online learning program to address an open position.

“We have always used online learning to address AP courses, languages, or other courses we do not have the ability to staff either due to our size or other limitations,” said Scott McGrady, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for the Newport School District. “We continue to explore the CTE courses available to use and find industry certification programs online that may be beneficial to our students and community.”

Meanwhile, in Virginia, Greene County Public Schools turn to Virtual Virginia so they can offer courses with lower enrollments or when a qualified teacher is not available. Recently, the district lost a high school teacher and was unable to find a replacement, so they reached out to its supplemental online providers for help, according to Fox.

“We asked them to assist us in designing a solution so that our students will still have access to high-quality instruction from a highly qualified, licensed teacher,” said JoAnne Fox, online learning coordinator for Greene County Public Schools.

Whether navigating current issues facing schools or developing innovative pathways for future student success, the school district-supplemental online education partnership is helping pave the way.

Communication: the key to a successful partnership

Open, honest dialogue has long served as the standard bearer for good relationships. That holds true, too, for school districts and online education providers.

“Solid partnerships are grown out of effective communication and responsiveness as this is an ever-changing world for educators, students, and their families,” said McGrady. “Continued opportunity for conversation and feedback, flexibility in the program, and setting goals and vision for where the  program is headed helps guide practice.”

In addition to communication, mutual problem-solving and regular interactions help solidify positive relationships between districts and program providers. Understanding each district’s unique needs and evolving with them makes for lasting relationships that extend beyond a typical client-vendor exchange.

“Our district and Virtual Virginia have been in a partnership … that started well before the pandemic and will continue for the foreseeable future,” said Bruce Enzmann, virtual learning coordinator of the Office of Teaching and Learning for Virginia Beach (VA) City Public Schools. “In working together, we have found that Virtual Virginia’s ability to respond and resolve challenges for us has helped strengthen our relationship. We appreciate that they have a staff that is available and ready to work with us when we encounter something out of the ordinary.”

Communication, responsiveness, flexibility – the foundation for partnership success and, ultimately, quality education.

Is there a future for supplemental online education?

Yes, Virginia, the future looks very bright for innovative, quality online learning, according to many VLLA members, school districts, and national trends post-COVID.

“When schools were forced to go online, students and families realized there are options to the traditional model of education, and they are now demanding these options,” said Fox. “Many of our students not only performed well in a blended or online environment, but they also developed better balanced life experiences with athletics, service, and employment. All of these are necessary to promote students’ development into well-educated, productive citizens.”

While noting that more students are returning to the classroom after the COVID spike, especially at the elementary level, McGrady predicts online learning will continue to grow slowly but steadily in the future. He points to offering the best education that is suited for each student’s unique needs.

“I continue to try and drive conversation about the “why” … to be sure we are making the decision that best suits each scenario,” said McGrady. “While there are many benefits to online learning, we must be sure the fit is right for that student, family, and educational situation. We will continue to focus on making these experiences meaningful and of high quality.”

Districts and online learning providers can certainly agree on that. Creating opportunities so that every student can enjoy academic success is a vision shared by each and forged by strong partnerships.

Today’s educators embrace online professional learning services

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Today’s educators embrace online professional learning servicesPerhaps no profession understands the power of continued education more than educators. Add in a historic event, such as a pandemic, and teachers turned to multiple sources for adjusting to diverse students’ needs.

While teachers fully embrace the importance of continued education, the rush to emergency online classrooms served as a dynamic catalyst for new, customized professional learning services. Many turned to the Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance (VLLA) members who had the trusted experience needed to develop new learning pathways.

“Our professional learning services are pretty diverse,” said Rich Copeland, supervisor of teacher quality, Office of Technology Services, Georgia Virtual, and a VLLA member. “We serve our faculty, the Georgia Department of Education and other agencies. For school districts, we provide the tools, resources and the pathways that district leadership can create for their students.”

Funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant in 2020, Georgia Virtual’s PartnerUP program provides district- or school-based digital solutions powered by local teachers. Along with these personalized learning solutions, Georgia Virtual provides the professional learning services necessary for successful implementation.

“We offer all of our Georgia Virtual School’s courses for them to use along with the tech expertise to integrate into their schools,” said Copeland. “We offer Canvas, our learning management system, branding and professional learning to fully integrate digital learning into their schools. We are here to help and support them realize their vision for what they want out of digital learning.”

In 2021, eight Georgia districts served as PartnerUP pilot programs. Today, Georgia Virtual works with nearly 30 districts in some capacity.

Educators appreciate access & cost of online professional learning

Just as Georgia Virtual intentionally couples tech with teaching, VirtualSC believes in the power of making professional learning services accessible and affordable for today’s educators. This state-sponsored online program, also a VLLA member, focuses on creating affordable courses that teachers can take to renew knowledge and further their education.

“We want to help teachers keep up with current trends in education,” said Tammy Hegler, team leader for VirtualSC Professional Development. “We provide teachers with affordable courses to further their knowledge to help students.”

Online teaching endorsements and graduate courses “blew up” in 2020 due, in part, by the pandemic. VirtualSC offers a variety of professional learning courses, including those for gifted and talented, advanced certifications, and literacy coaching and specialist endorsements.

“The cost of education courses can be astronomical especially for endorsements and certifications,” said Hegler. “Our online courses are accessible and easy for teachers to take, benefitting them, their students and their schools. They can take courses anytime and anywhere with no limit.”

VirtualSC has grown the number of professional learning courses to 64 with hopes of expanding its offerings to cover every subject matter and aspect of education.

“Professional learning services are a passion of mine. I am ready to build new and innovative courses,” concluded Hegler.

Her VLLA colleague in Georgia cannot agree more regarding the future of professional learning services.

“We’ve taken small steps with our standards for professional learning,” said Copeland. “I’d like to take in some more wisdom … to learn what other members have done with professional learning.”

Both Hegler and Copeland share excitement for the future of online professional learning services. They envision a multitude of quality courses that are easily accessible, affordable and meet the needs of modern educators. They appreciate that continued learning enhances the individual and all those whose lives they enrich.

Opportunities for education post-pandemic

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The COVID-19 pandemic brought immense changes to our everyday lives, especially in the way our children learn. For many students, success did not come easy due to several factors, including a school’s inexperience with online and blended learning, inadequate teacher training and student lack of familiarity with digital learning.

At the same time, schools and teachers with experience and an understanding of online or blended learning were able to move to instruction and student learning remotely.  Many wondered about the impact on school systems around the country. With more schools moving to add virtual learning options, teachers, administrators, students and parents are beginning to adjust to new options in education.

Will some of these changes stick around? Education in a post-pandemic world must embrace the advantages of online instruction. It is very important for districts to truly reflect on what worked and what did not as we look to the future. This presents an opportunity to reimagine what schools will look like in the future and evolve so students get the most rewards from virtual learning.

Remote learning

If there’s one thing that students appreciated about virtual learning this past year, it’s the flexibility. Students can choose from a variety of remote learning types, including:

  • Hybrid: A portion of the instruction is online but also includes traditional, face-to-face instruction.
  • Blended: Integrates online learning into the traditional in-person instructional setting.
  • Online: A series of structured learning engagements aligned to standards and delivered over the internet that allow learners to demonstrate mastery of a defined skill set.

Flexibility is key when it comes to remote learning, and each remote learning option offers that. Teachers may distribute assignments on Mondays and provide a recommended schedule for completion, but learning is planned over multiple days to allow students to move at their own pace. To be successful, distance learning makes allowances for disruptions outside the student’s control.

Remote learning can be achieved through partnerships with supplemental programs that specialize in virtual learning and utilize online learning best practices.

The Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance, an association of some of the most innovative virtual programs in the U.S., is supporting school districts by:

  • Becoming the virtual option for a district that is not designing its own program, enabling students to enroll with a virtual program for courses and remain a student of the local district;
  • Supporting districts with infrastructure, courses and professional learning to help develop their own virtual option; and
  • Continuing to offer supplemental virtual courses.

A study by Rand Corp., a nonprofit research organization, found that about 2 in 10 school systems are adopting virtual schools or considering the idea. Having quality virtual instruction helps students learn skills for the workforce and become a contributing citizen in an everchanging society. The pandemic shows us that fully virtual or hybrid options are possible. Bringing in partners who provide high-quality, long-term online solutions can be an effective way to supplement local offerings and bring success.

Asynchronous Learning

Asynchronous learning is a form of learning that does not require interaction with others to occur at the same time. Students access information, demonstrate what they’ve learned, and communicate with classmates and instructors on their own schedule. This provides a more flexible range of times when other participants may not be actively present in the same moment and proves successful when course design is implemented properly.

Instructional design standards set apart high-quality online environments from digital tools in the classroom. An instructional designer coordinates the design and creation of efficient, effective, and engaging courses and interactives in conjunction with a subject matter expert. This helps create more structured learning methods, not the emergency remote tactics that we’ve seen being used throughout the past year.

There are six standards the online teacher curates and creates to ensure success among students, according to the National Standards for Quality Learning. These standards are:

  1. Designing learning experiences that use technology to efficiently engage learners
  2. Using a formative approach to lesson design
  3. Incorporating diverse media into online learning modules
  4. Incorporating subject-specific and developmentally appropriate digital learning resources
  5. Continuously reviewing and aligning all course content with applicable course objects and standards
  6. Creating, selecting and organizing appropriate assignments and assessments to align curricular content with associated standards-based learning goals.

With the prevalence of emergency remote learning this past year, asynchronous learning is becoming widely known among parents and school districts. Other advantages of asynchronous learning are:

  • Students can move through content at a pace that works for them. They may revisit content they did not understand, giving time for more questions or moving through lessons they have already mastered.
  • Students do not have to be in a classroom seat at a certain time.
  • Taking courses not offered locally especially CTE, AP or other courses of interest.
  • Some asynchronous programs are scheduled-asynchronous, allowing students flexibility but within established deadlines that help the students stay on track and move forward.

This type of learning is advantageous for students as well as teachers and staff for training and professional development.

Faculty Development

Some teachers were not prepared for the abrupt shift to emergency remote learning caused by the pandemic. Whether hybrid or full virtual learning continues, faculty will need ongoing training to provide students with the best education experience.  Training provides the skills and literacy to build a new skill set for virtual instruction.

Skills and pedagogy practices are needed for new learning environments for teachers to support learning and facilitate presence. With the NSQ Online Teaching standards, teachers can embrace the importance of personalizing instruction by incorporating tools and resources to support individualized learner needs, communication, collaboration, interaction and more.

The National Standards for Quality (NSQ) Online Learning has made available to educators a free professional learning portal aligned to the NSQ Online Teaching.  The NSQ Online Teaching Portal powered by 2gnoMe “unpacks” the standards for educators and uses a teacher’s own reflections to match high-quality and aligned learning resources to individual needs and strengths.

The pandemic tested education in many ways with student engagement, funding, technology and more. We know that remote learning is possible and has many benefits, if done correctly utilizing established best practices. Schools can implement partnerships with virtual schools to offer more options to students.  These changes will help students succeed in their studies and prepare them for a successful future.

Key words: technology, hybrid, remote, virtual, learning, development, faculty, staff, pandemic, skills, opportunity, students, teachers, programs, asynchronous

 

Keep Learning: How Indiana is Supporting our Students

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There is no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major interruption in daily life. Even though we are paused from seeing our friends and family, going out to eat, shopping and moving freely about, education is moving full steam ahead. Schools have transitioned from traditional learning to a whole new way of learning in a matter of days. While it may not be perfect, our profession has shown an amazing amount of strength, positivity, and growth during this uncertain time in history.

In Indiana, we are choosing to keep learning afloat. Our educators and working tirelessly to transition to what our Department of Education has titled Continuous Learning. Schools and educators who have little to no experience with digital learning, virtual learning, online learning, or blended learning, or even understand the difference in the terms, have jumped in to keep the learning happening for our students.

Here to Help

Indiana Online and PLConnect, two departments with the Central Indiana Educational Service Center, teamed up to provide Keep Indiana Learning, which was modeled after our partners at Michigan Virtual. The 1500+ members of the Keep Indiana Learning Facebook group have access to resources posted from members all over the state.

Leading the charge are Kara Heichelbech, Innovation and Learning Manager with Indiana Online, and Carrie Rosebrock, Professional Learning Specialist at PLConnect. They are working to support educators through the community by sharing resources and best practices in online and continuous learning activities.

Resources

Keep Indiana Learning resource board

How did you find joy today?

In addition to the Facebook group promoting various resources, Kara and Carrie created a Keep Indiana Learning resource board compiled of 25 short videos from not only them, but also from educators across the state. The board features resources for curriculum, eLearning 101 and tools, advice for support roles and a few longer webinar videos. Each day, a video from the board is featured to the Facebook group.

While these resources are valuable to our educators, keeping our community in the discussion was a priority. Therefore, each day, a discussion post is also featured. A few examples are:

  • I would love to see a lesson about…
  • Share an act of kindness you observed this week.
  • Complete this sentence: I hope my students know…
  • Share a must-have for your at-home teaching environment.
  • How did you find joy today?

During this time of isolation, it is important to create a sense of connection, even if it is done virtually.

Keep Indiana Learning will continue even after the pandemic recedes, so we created a website (keepindianalearning.org) to promote and house all of the resources developed. We hope to launch the website in early May, and we invite you to check back to see some of the resources we have designed and shared.

Building a Community

In developing Keep Indiana Learning, our community network is the most valuable piece, and our number one priority is for our educators across the state to know we are here to support them no matter the situation in education. We are excited for this opportunity to learn and grow with some of the best in the profession, and to continue to help build a strong community of educators across the state. We are all in this together, and our community goal is to Keep Indiana Learning.

And I think we are doing just that.

About the Author

Kara Heichelbech is the Innovation and Learning Manager at Indiana Online, which serves over 25,000 students annually. Kara graduated with a BS in Marketing from Indiana University, and after 10+ years in corporate America, she completed a transition-to-teaching program and earned her MAT and MBA from the University of Indianapolis.

As an educator, Kara has served many different roles, including classroom teacher, department chair, instructional e-coach, and administrator. She has been involved in many technology-related aspects at her various schools and serves on the Indiana Connected Educators board. She also presents at various conferences, sharing her love for technology with colleagues.

How Yoga Helps Create Better Online Courses

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My yoga teacher often calls Warrior II the “stuck-in-traffic” pose. This standing posture encourages strength, stability, and focus. It has a way of redirecting us away from distractions and discomfort, a helpful skill for dealing with “road rage.” This got me thinking. If yoga can help us become better drivers, could yoga also help us create better online courses?

At VirtualSC, we build online courses using collaborative design teams. Since teamwork can cause “traffic jams,” we are continually working to improve our course-building process and how we work together.

The author Stephen King calls a metaphor a kind of miracle because it can change the way we think or talk about something. So I began using yoga as a metaphor for instructional design. Here’s how: I compare how we build quality online courses to the sequence of a yoga class.

#1: Community

Often a yoga class starts with easy seat, a simple cross-legged position. While seated, yogis (people who practice yoga) set an intention for their practice. It helps the class come together and each person to be fully present.

We hold a kickoff meeting for new course projects at our summer conference. We invite design teams to attend the session. During the meeting, we set the expectations for design teams. We define the requirements for a completed course, clarify roles for design teams, and review the course project calendar. This is how we come together.

#2: Integration

Next, a yoga class begins to match movement with breath using cat-cow pose. This gentle flow stretches the body and prepares for other, more energetic activity. It helps the body get started.

We use the “Working on a VSC Design Team” course to orient design teams to our process for course building and quality control. The course includes two projects similar to what design teams do to create a new online course. We start our process by practicing.

#3: Energy

Sun salutation is a sequence of poses that create energy, increase blood flow, and strengthen the body. It is where the work of yoga occurs in the body and mind.

Like sun salutation, we repeat cycles of creation and review throughout our course-building process. We plan the course, workshop the plan, then revise it. We develop each unit, then review and revise it. By repeating these cycles, quality becomes our habit.

#4: Stability

Yoga is about balance, and most balance poses, like tree pose, require two sets of muscles to provide stability for the body. Balance also impacts the grace we extend to ourselves and others. Chinese philosophy sees yin and yang as opposite but complementary forces that interact to make the whole greater than its parts–like the two sets of muscles in a stability pose.

For a course project, this idea suggests that when we disagree, we have the potential to create something better. Mark Twain said, “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” Perfectionists have trouble sharing their work and receiving constructive feedback without getting defensive. Within a design team, this can make the process of quality review difficult. But we must disagree skillfully, kindly, and productively.

#5: Reflection

At the end of class, yogis lay on the mat completely still, like a corpse, to renew both body and mind. This posture helps us to reflect on how the yoga practice has affected us.

When we finish a course project at VirtualSC, we update our documentation. For courses, this includes the syllabus, instructor resources, and standards alignment. For our process, this involves instructions, templates, and agendas. This reflection looks back on the process and allows us to capture lessons learned.

A yoga practice finishes with the Namaste gesture, bringing hands together at the heart. It serves as a symbol of gratitude and respect between yogis. As you finish this blog, I hope that the metaphor of yoga has had a positive effect on your ideas about creating quality online courses. Namaste.

Clay Alan Ham, Ph.D., PMP is an avid yogi. He serves as an instructional designer/project manager supporting teams in developing online courses for VirtualSC, a program of the South Carolina Department of Education. He regularly leads review teams for Quality Matters as a certified K-12 Master Reviewer. Clay received the 2019 Directors’ Award for Exceptional Service to Quality Matters for K-12.

Setting Online Learners Up For Success

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Who is learning online?

A natural place to start when discussing K-12 online learning is by asking who is taking courses online? In the 2017-18 school year, over 112,000 K-12 students took at least one online course, representing 7% of all Michigan K-12 students; nationally, 34 states had full-time online schools representing over 278,000 students (Michigan had over 25,000 ) (Molnar et al., 2017).

How are students doing in their online courses?

During the 2017-18 school year, a majority of the over 500,000 enrollments (from the over 112,000 students) were at the high school level. The overall virtual course pass rate was a rather discouraging 55% (the same group of learners passed their non-virtual courses 79% of the time). Another discouraging statistic is that of the over 112,000 students, 23% did not pass any of their online courses. That being said, nearly half of the over 112,000 students passed all of their online courses (Freidhoff, 2019). Clearly, there is huge variation in student success patterns with poverty status, number of online courses, gender, and part- or full-time online status playing key roles in contributing to students’ success.

What is driving the growth in online learning?

From the 2016-17 school year to the 2017-18 school year, online learning in Michigan grew by nearly 10,000 students and 60,000 enrollments. So, what is making online learning so attractive–despite the fact that for many students online learning presents serious challenges? For many students (and schools or parents of students who enroll), online learning is an attractive option because it is flexible, accessible (in ways strictly scheduled face-to-face courses may not be), offers the greater possibility of personalized learning, is self-paced, and is always available to the student.

Who is learning successfully online?

There are clear advantages to online learning; however, students must possess requisite skills such as good time management, effective communication, self-motivation, and critically academic and technological preparedness. With specific regard to academic preparedness, students who enroll in online courses for credit recovery, that is to gain course credits for which they previously failed, underperformed compared to students enrolling for any other reason, even while controlling for factors such as gender and instructor type (Kwon, 2019).

How can we help students who are not having success online?

Considering an online course

Before students even enroll in an online course, there is a lot to consider on the part of the enrolling entity (usually the school or parent). What kind of technology is required for the course, and can that be provided for your student? What kind of communication and support does the online teacher provide? Does the course meet state and national academic requirements, and is it approved by the student’s school of record? Answers to these questions cannot determine a student’s probability of success, but it can help schools and parents select courses with high levels of support, something critical to student success.

The role of mentors in supporting online students

All students benefit from having a supportive and engaged on-site mentor, a personal connection that provides face-to-face support for students enrolled in online courses. Successful mentors establish regular contact with their students and build trusting relationships. They also hold students accountable for completing their online coursework and serve as a liaison between the student and online teacher when necessary. There are several strategies mentors (and parents, too) can employ to support students: schedule time to work on the online course, make sure students are able to access and navigate their courses, and check in with students regularly and before they are having issues with their course. It’s also important to help students build self-confidence and skills as lifelong learners such as helping students advocate for themselves and track their own learning and course progress.

Supporting online students

Quite simply, online students need many of the same supports students in face-to-face schools need as well: dedicated time and space to complete their lessons and coursework, support from a trusted adult, and help and intervention when they start to get off track. Overall, communication between students, parents, mentors, and schools is key to successful online learning, setting clear expectations, defining roles, and most of all working in conjunction to support students.

References

Freidhoff, J. R. (2019). Michigan’s k-12 virtual learning effectiveness report 2017-18. Lansing, MI: Michigan Virtual University. Retrieved from https://mvlri.org/research/publications/michigans-k-12-virtual-learning-effectiveness-report-2017-18/.

Kwon, J. B.(2017). Examining credit recovery experience at a state virtual school. Lansing, MI: Michigan Virtual University. Retrieved from http://media.mivu.org/institute/pdf/creditrec.pdf.

Molnar, A., Miron, G., Gulosino, C., Shank, C., Davidson, C., Barbour, M.K., Huerta, L., Shafter, S.R., Rice, J.K., & Nitkin, D. (2017). Virtual Schools Report 2017. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. Retrieved from http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/virtual-schools-annual-2017.

About the authors

Kristen DeBruler
Dr. Kristen DeBruler received her doctorate in Educational Psychology and Educational Technology from Michigan State University. She taught in the Master of Arts in Educational Technology program at Michigan State University for three years. Her work focuses on K-12 online learning policy in Michigan and nation wide as well as understanding online learning best practices.

Christopher Harrington
Dr. Christopher Harrington has served public education as a teacher, an administrator, a researcher, and a consultant for more than 25 years and has experience assisting dozens of school districts across the nation in the design and implementation of blended, online, and personalized learning programs. He has worked on local, regional, and national committees with iNACOL and various other education-based organizations aimed at transforming education through the use of technology.

Improving Online Credit Recovery Success: Enhancing Support and Timeline

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For years proponents of online learning have been touting the benefits of allowing students to experience a personalized learning approach tailored to their needs and schedules. This is certainly true of original credit courses and completion and pass rates are positive numbers for most virtual schools to share. Credit recovery success, on the other hand, is more difficult to document. As one might expect, completion and pass rates are often much lower than original credit numbers.

Why is this? One can say that the average credit recovery student comes into class with the odds stacked against him/her. The student has already failed the course at least once. Their confidence in the material is probably low. Perhaps they failed the original course because of lack of self-motivation or poor time management…both of which are very important success indicators in an online course. Once a credit recovery student comes into an online course it may be too late to change some characteristics or behaviors…but not all. What if the program was tailored to support students who are not natural self-starters, tech savvy or motivated…the non-traditional online learner?

At the Virtual Learning Leadership Alliance, we have been sharing best practices and strategies to target the credit recovery population in hopes of demonstrating that credit recovery students can be as successful in credit recovery as those in original credit courses. Over the past year Montana Digital Academy (MTDA) and Illinois Virtual School (IVS) have independently made improvements to their programs to better support credit recovery students. In the August 30, 2017 edition of this blog, you learned about the MTDA efforts. Today you will learn how Illinois Virtual School (IVS) took steps to raise up more of our credit recovery students towards successful earning of credit.

In November 2016, the IVS team started an initiative to review our credit recovery program. The goal was to explore what was working as well as what could work better to improve the overall success rate of the program. During the 2015-2016 school year, our credit recovery success rate was 61% compared to an original credit rate of 93%.

The IVS Credit Recovery program originally had a course timeline of 10 weeks. If students did not complete the course, a failing grade was entered. The student could re-enroll to continue working in the course, but the initial failing grade was maintained on their overall completion report. We found many students that re-enrolled were successful in the course the second time around, they just needed more time. Also, support for the credit recovery student was directed to the local school, so if a student had trouble logging in or turning in homework, they were to rely on local school staff, not IVS, personnel. Taking a closer look at the average student experience, the IVS team found many students working in the program with no support or encouragement from their school or family. They were completely on their own. Certainly, anyone would agree that a key factor for student success in an online credit recovery program (in any educational program) is support! An Education Week article (At-Risk Students Face E-Learning Challenges, August 24, 2011) stated, “Stepping into a virtual learning environment can help struggling students interact with curricula in a new way, begin learning with a clean slate, and provide more flexibility to accommodate work or family obligations, say educators and experts working online with students who are at risk of academic failure. But none of those factors will make such students successful unless they have the support and resources they need to engage with the material and the motivation to work hard for their credits, experts stress.”

IVS re-focused its efforts to improve the Credit Recovery program regarding both time and support. Starting in January 2017, IVS made the following changes to the Credit Recovery program:

  1. The initial time available to the student to complete a competency-based semester credit recovery course was extended 12 weeks. Students that demonstrate progress are given extension options for more time to complete the course. To qualify for an initial extension of 3 weeks, students must have completed 50% of the assignments in the course. Another 3-week extension may be granted if the student continues to progress and submit assignments. In total, a student may be granted up to 18 weeks to complete a semester credit recovery course.
  2. Students that do not start their credit recovery course in the first two weeks of enrollment are dropped without a charge. Students who are dropped are given the option to re-enroll in the course. This process of dropping students that did not start working in their course allowed IVS staff to discuss the situation with the local school and student resulting in identifying the best start date for the course as well as establishing a support network for the non-starters who wish to re-enroll.
  3. IVS designated an administrative team member as the Support Lead for credit recovery students. The IVS Support Lead continually monitors student progress, communicates with the student, parent and school regarding progress, and intervenes with technical support when needed. While the certified instructor is grading submitted assignments and providing feedback (IVS CR includes written work, not computer graded), the Support Lead is helping to remove technical and logistical barriers to student progress so teachers focus on student learning.

Did it work? When IVS revisited the data for January 2017 – June 2017 we found 85% of students earning a passing grade compared to 70% for the same time period, the previous year. Therefore, we hail a resounding YES!

Upon reflection of the program at large, the changes made were logical and non-invasive to our current operations, the transition being relatively smooth and positively received by IVS staff and much appreciated by our partner schools, parents and students. We encourage all schools to take a hard look at the support, not just being offered, but what is actually happening with students to see if there is room for improvement. At IVS we work every day to ensure a positive student experience and meaningful credits toward graduation, and are always open to self-reflection to push positive change.

Understanding the Generation Z Student

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As state virtual school leaders, it’s naturally important for us to understand and connect with our students. Students are learning in schools that are increasingly more and more “powered up” with digital technologies. It is likely a mistake to assume that today’s students are similar to the previous generation of students. They are, in fact, a new kind of student.

Social scientists have labeled this current group of K-12 students as “Generation Z.” Generation Zs are those students falling after the Millennial Generation, born in the late 1990s or through the mid- 2000s. They are markedly different than their Generation Y (also known as the Millennial Generation) predecessors, and they already seem “old school” when compared to their successors, Generation Alpha.

Generation Z Background

Generation Z is the product of a turbulent time in our nation’s history that is punctuated with an incredible upswing in technology. We might think that today’s young students live in very sheltered, cushioned life with every convenience in the world at their fingertips. Some of that might be true, but it does not tell the entire story. Generation Z has grown up during a very difficult recession that they have seen firsthand. They have seen foreclosed homes in their neighborhoods. They know someone with a parent who couldn’t find a job.

Generation Z, or Gen Zs, consume more media than any generation in the past, but it’s a different type of media that often comes to them unfiltered. The GenZ media is filled with stories of terrorism and school violence. Gen Zs generally know someone who’s been to war. They’ve never known a time when they have not had to take off their shoes before boarding an airplane. School violence does not get lost in the news cycle for them. It’s frighteningly real. In a sad commentary, Gen Zs ranked the top events (Cassandra Report, 2013) that have had the most impact in their lifetimes.

Here’s a reverse order look at the top three:

3. The first Black President was elected

2. The emergence of social networking

1. School violence

Do you know how much of an impact something has to have to unseat Twitter, Vine, Instagram, and Facebook from the number one spot?

Resilient Z

Gen Zs are resilient. Digital content and constant gaming have not only rewired their minds, it’s also led them to disregard “no-win scenarios.”

From Emily Anatole’s Generation Z: Rebels With A Cause

Gen Z is smaller in numbers (than Gen Ys), but there is evidence to suggest that their influence, fueled by an innate and constant connection to the world around them, will outstrip their size.

Whereas Gen Ys (ages 18-34) are optimistic, Gen Zs are realistic. They understand how scary the world can be, having grown up post 9/11, in the wake of the Great Recession and amid countless reports of school violence. They’ve seen the effects of the economy firsthand and are more aware of troubling times. These dark events will undoubtedly make them more cautious and security-minded, but will also inspire them to improve the world.

The Gen Zs are proving to be more socially responsible, but don’t count on their blind loyalty. They’ve not shown brand loyalty in the marketplace, and they’ve witnessed the lack of corporate loyalty when their own parents and older siblings lost their jobs during the recession.

The Internet is allowing Gen Zs to do things that their previous generations couldn’t do. The Internet and digital apps are letting them become entrepreneurs and make exciting breakthroughs at an early age. If they need funding, they’re finding it on Kickstarter. Teens like Sam Washko, Shree Bose, Christopher Tate, and Rachel Davis exemplify exactly what this crowd of young students can produce.

This is the common model for success with this crowd of high achievers:

Challenges + Internet + Digital Tools + Models of Innovation = Success

Classroom Translation

What are our takeaways for our classroom, virtual as well as brick-and-mortar? First and foremost, we have to make education relevant for them. They see way too much of the real world and are connected to it through social media in ways that we never were. NCVPS teachers are required to make daily announcements in their courses. One of the features of the daily announcement is to show the relevancy of what students are learning to what is happening in the real world. We do not just rely on course content. Our teachers are creators, as well. We’ve always known that relevance is essential in education. Now it’s imperative.

We also need to make education engaging. We need to play on the strength of Gen Zs and appeal to their need for multi-media consumption and engage them in online communities. At NCVPS we have graphic user interface (GUI) specialist who adds engaging game-like learning objects to all of our courses, and we design our courses to meet a variety of learning styles, including text, video, audio, and images.

Phil Parker writes in “Do you know how Generation Z pupils learn?”

They are kids with brains rewired by the internet – answers to questions come from Google and YouTube, but they lack the critical-thinking skills to evaluate sources. According to Stanford University, this is freeing up brain capacity to develop such skills far earlier than previous generations. Gen Z are fast becoming the most successful problem-solving generation.

Their brains have become wired to sophisticated, complex visual imagery. Audio and kinesthetic learning is out. So is talk – or lecturing as Gen Z sees it. They’re avid gamers, they’ll spend 30,000 hours gaming by the age of 20. They want learning to be the same: a sequence of challenges with instant feedback on progress, clear goals and rewards linked to them. Their gaming profile is shown at the end of the challenge which displays their overall accomplishments; e-Learning profiles are what they demand. You want to engage Gen Z? Turn lessons into video games!

Sarah Fudin adds in “GEN Z & WHAT DOES IT MEAN IN YOUR CLASSROOM?“

  • Leverage technology to provide immediate feedback and use game-based learning.
  • Engage students in a variety of collaborative projects that use social media.
  • Make lessons visual.
  • Focus on critical thinking and problem-solving lessons.
  • Teach students how to validate online content.
  • Have students work on projects in depth and complexity.
  • Exercise!

We would love to hear your feedback on your Generation Z observations. Are they demonstrating these characteristics in your classroom, or in your home? How are you satisfying your digital needs? Drop us a note or leave us a comment.

By Adam Renfro, Outreach and Support Coordinator, North Carolina Virtual Public School

 

 

 

 

 

 

Integrating Longitudinal Data Systems and Virtual Schools

By

An inherent challenge for supplemental virtual schools is that they do not “own” their students. In most cases, the local school that will ultimately issue the credit for the course, and graduate the student, does. However, with many of the state data systems now available, the capability exists for online schools to have immediate access to all the information gathered by the local school. By sharing data on each student, online classes can more seamlessly integrate with the larger educational plan of a student at a face-to-face school. Over 20 states have begun or completed the process of incorporating longitudinal data into state record systems. Georgia Virtual School’s integration with the Georgia State Longitudinal Data System (SLDS) provides an example of the integration that is possible between traditional schools and a part-time virtual course provider.

Georgia Virtual School is embedded inside the Technology Services division of the Georgia Department of Education. The Technology Services department includes data collections from local districts and application development in addition to the virtual school. Over the last five years, Georgia has rolled out a SLDS that allows local district teachers and administrators to access individual student records as well as aggregate data. For example, on the dashboard, teachers can see average reading lexile scores, the percentage of students with chronic attendance issues, the percentage of students who passed a variety of standardized tests, and grades in relevant previous courses. All of this information is available for current classes as well as previous years. The images below show examples of the teacher dashboard.

SLDS dashboard top half

 

SLDS dashboard bottom half

Anywhere there is a number presented in SLDS, you can hover the mouse to find out more details and most numbers can also be clicked to show a list of students in that group. Any student name can be clicked to pull an individual student profile with all the records for that student.

With access to so much information, teachers want to know not only how to access the system but what to do with the data they find. Carrie Madden, a GaVS science teacher and the iNACOL 2014 online teacher of the year, uses the SLDS when making calls home for students who are struggling academically. While making those calls, she pulls up that particular student’s SLDS profile. By seeing the historical test scores, reading levels, prior class grades, and attendance, she gains additional perspective that allows those calls home to be more constructive. For example, a student with lots of attendance issues for years may have personal and family struggles more than strictly academic concerns. If a child is well below the target reading levels for their respective grade, remediation and support in reading science text may be more helpful than additional work in a particular science topic.

Through a combination of web conferencing and self-paced online modules, teachers are trained by GaVS on optimal use cases for the SLDS. The first idea the training presents is to focus on one student a day to better understand the educational background of one student at a time, and eventually the entire class. Over time teachers begin to know and understand the challenges of their students. A second use of SLDS is for grouping students by ability. A variety of test scores are aggregated for the teacher by performance levels in addition to the lexile reading ranges. During test preparation, the domain and strand breakdowns of previous tests can shed light on the specific needs of any student, thus providing the foundation for a more personalized learning experience.

The SLDS was built specifically for traditional schools to access through their own student information systems (SIS), but online students can benefit from virtual school access to statewide data. It warrants the efforts necessary to use this data for better online instruction.

Joe Cozart, Associate Director of Strategic Planning, Georgia Virtual School

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