online learning

Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Education Leadership, First Year Teachers, Teachers

6 Best Practices for Internal Communication in Public Schools

Written by Eric Walters and Karen Gerberry

Internal communication may be more important than many think. 42% of communication is  delivered   through   other   people.  Whether  it  is  information   needing  to  be communicated  to  teachers,  students  or  administration  a  student  success  is highly dependent on the frequency and quality of communication. Successful communication between teachers and parents is most common in schools with well-informed, effective educators.

Schools, realizing this, have implemented practices to communicate valuable information within their school systems. What are some of these strategies and what benefits do they provide to these school districts?

  1. Developing New Policies

School systems can often be dispersed, making meetings and collaboration difficult. With advancements in technology, however, sharing thoughts and ideas is becoming increasingly easier. In the past, in order to make policy changes, the school board would have to coordinate meetings between all interested parties to develop new policies. Now, with the use of wikis, administrators can access information regarding changes in the school district and make adjustments accordingly.

Not only has technology made it possible for people to access this information from anywhere at any time, but it has also expanded the reach of this data. Before the use of wikis, many parents and faculty were left out of the policy­making process altogether. Whether the problem was logistical or time related, some would argue that there was not an accurate representation of all interested parties.

By using technology to streamline an antiquated process, school districts have afforded many people the opportunity to provide insights and opinions on some of their most important educational concerns.

  1. Schools Employing Internal Communications Managers

With all of the responsibilities involved with being an educator, it is easy to get caught up in day today activities and lose sight of larger issues within the school district. Schools are realizing that a disconnect exists in the communication process and are becoming more active in increasing engagement with employees.

To assist teachers in becoming more involved with internal communication, some districts are employing Internal Communications Managers. These managers act as facilitators of information throughout the school district. Their primary responsibilities are to keep employees informed on major initiatives, events, and news affecting the school district.

Although this method is slightly different than wikis, the idea is essentially the same. The Internal Communications Managers help teachers stay involved by gathering the information and releasing it to interested parties, thus reducing teachers’ time devoted to the discovery of this information.

  1. Developing Employee Portals

There are many facets and resources on school districts’ websites that provide valuable information to visitors.  But, often, what lies within these sites are valuable portals tailored for specific audiences.

At this point, it is commonplace for both students and teachers to have portals in the school district website. Portals are valuable resources for educators to find information that pertains strictly to the data that is important to them. With the obvious value that these portals provide, think of the value that may be added if every school made these resources available to their employees.

  1. Being Recognized by Leadership

Few things at the workplace are more satisfactory than hearing how much your boss appreciates you.  So,  when  we  talk  about  internal  communication  in  schools,  it is important that we address the interaction between the school board and the educators. It is vital that the school board keeps acknowledge educators that are making an extraordinary effort to enhance students’ education. When board members recognize these educators, they need to implement positive reinforcement practices to encourage future innovation.

On the other hand, if the school board notices teaching practices that are less than expected, they can communicate this to educators and push for corrective action.

  1. Using Digital Signage

The challenges of communicating with staff in a public school system are apparent. Whether checking and responding to emails or logging into portals, communication can require a great deal of effort.

Because of this challenge, we are now seeing schools take the “billboard” approach throughout their buildings. These digital signs are easily recognizable and don’t require additional effort to absorb the information. Schools are using these billboards to display both general and emergency information.

If these signs are placed throughout the school, educators will also see them as they pass by. This eliminates the need to have a phone conversation or to send out a memo

to all interested parties. The digital signage creates a platform to simultaneously provide all of the necessary information to the entire staff.

  1. Remembering that Communication is Key

If we want educators to be as effective as possible, we need to keep them informed. Parent­teacher communication is crucial to student success, and in order to maximize the effectiveness of teachers we need to master the internal communication process.

With these 6 best practices for better internal communication in public schools you are sure to see an improvement in overall employee communication. A school that is engaged together will have students that succeed together. To kick off your communication this school year sign up for your FREE trial of Ving here. It is time to start using a tool that allows you to be in control of your communication and start knowing what is and isn’t working at your school.

Ving

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education

Half of black college students graduate $25,000 in debt

A recent Gallup poll found that in the last 14 years, around half of black college students graduated with student loan debt exceeding $25,000. Only 35 percent of white students had loan debt that high.

Often the only way for black students to afford a college education is by taking on these loans. Four out of five black students take student loans to attend college and typically have nearly $4,000 more student loan debt compared to white students, according to a 2013 report by The Center for American Progress.

There is deep inequality here in the U.S. In 2013, the median income for black households was $34,600, and the poverty rate is 27%, nearly three times that of white Americans.

Michelle Obama visited Booker T. Washington high school in Atlanta in September. She had an important message to deliver: Do not drop out of school. Go to college. Get out of poverty. Giving up on education is not an option.

President Obama admits that loans helped finance his and the First Lady’s education, and the President tried to convey to America’s youth that he sympathizes with the burden of student loans – they just paid off their student loans ten years ago. He also shares that he and Michelle are saving money for their daughters’ tuition.

Higher education has long been considered the key to escaping poverty, but it doesn’t come without a price tag attached. For black students, the cost is often higher than their white classmates. It is unfortunate that the burden of loan debt often follows students for decades after their graduation. This cycle only reinforces the income and racial inequalities so prevalent today in our country.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Matthew Lynch

K-12 Online Learning as a Life Skill

Online learning is more than a fad. The facts are staggering: According to the International Association for K-12 Online Learning, there are nearly 1.9 million K-12 enrollments in online courses every school year, up from under 50,000 in 2000. The current number does not even include students enrolled in primarily online schools. Thirty-one states have full-time online schools that serve on a statewide basis.

The top reason that districts give for offering online options is for credit recovery, with 81 percent of urban schools citing this reason. Are online courses really equal to ones in the classroom though? It really depends who you ask. Recent news reports out of California show that high school graduation rates are at an all-time high of 78 percent, with even higher numbers in areas like San Francisco and San Jose. While some educators use these numbers to point to student success, critics say the rise in graduation numbers does not necessarily mean that students are college ready. The rise of online courses as a means to “make up” failed or incomplete classes are part of the reason more kids graduate – but do they know what they should?

It is of course impossible to answer that vague of a question but the debate rages on just the same. Just how rigorous is an online high school course? This is likely a cloudy area for those of us who grew up before the Internet forever changed the face of distance education. On a basic level, if a student reads the material, and is able to give correct answers on a test, that means he or she has “learned” the content. When an educator takes into account other influential factors like learning style, intelligence and work ethic, that basic definition becomes murky. The general consensus in the education community seems to be that even though online courses have merit, they are less rigorous than classroom settings.

Then there is the issue of online learning as an overarching ideology. Embracing the inevitability that online learning is a very real part of the average college education, the state of Florida began requiring in 2011 that high school students in the 24-credit graduation option to take at least one online course. The public, Internet-based Florida Virtual School leads the way in this innovation and is considered a national leader in the e-Learning model. So in this example, Florida is not simply offering online courses as a backup; the state mandates that students on a college prep path get early exposure to the type of learning they are likely to see in college.

This point really accents the two very different ways to look at online courses in K-12 education. On one hand, there is educational merit, though that education is debatable as to the actual extent of its effectiveness. On the other hand, there is the practicality aspect of exposing students to online learning long before the college years. The second point paints online learning as a life skill of sorts – something for kids to understand before entering the real world as adults, much like balancing a bank account or learning how to create a resume. Without a solid understanding of online learning before graduation, students are less prepared for what they will face academically following high school.

The K-12 online course dissenters are just wasting their breath, in my opinion. The momentum of online learning is gaining speed.

The educators I know love online courses, because they can teach online from anywhere. What are your thoughts?

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Matthew Lynch

Cheating and Technology – Unethical Indifference

Academic dishonesty is nothing new. As long as there have been homework assignments and tests, there have been cheaters. The way that cheating looks has changed over time though, particularly now that technology has made it easier than ever. Perhaps the most interesting caveat of modern-day cheating in U.S. classrooms is that students often do not think that what they are doing is wrong.

A study by the Josephson Institute of Ethics interviewed 23,000 high school students and asked them a variety of questions about academic ethics. Of the teens surveyed, 51 percent said that they had knowingly cheated at some point on an exam but that they had no qualms about the behavior. A Common Sense Media survey found that 35 percent of students had cheated via cell phone, though the parents surveyed in that particular study did not believe their kids had ever cheated. In many cases, students did not realize that tactics like looking up answers on a smartphone were actually cheating at all.

In today’s K-12 classrooms, students who cheat are rarely caught. There are no formulas written on in the insides of hands or students looking across the aisle, or whispering answers to their classmates. Today’s students use smartphones, tablets or even in-class computers to aid their cheating endeavors and leave no trace of their crimes. Since cheating through technology is not listed specifically as being against the rules in many school policies, students do not view the actions an unethical.

Consider the following ways that technology aids in modern-day academic dishonesty:

• Storing notes on a cell phone.
• Purchasing prewritten papers online, or ordering them to be customized.
• Writing a paper that is basically the same as something else found online, but changed enough to look original.
• Students text messaging each other answers.
• Using a smartphone camera to take a picture of a test or exam.
• Using voice recorders or virtual assistance programs to record or ask for answers.

Most of the tactics on this list were non-existent 10 years ago, or at least the technology was not in common use by young people. A Pew Internet survey found that 78 percent of teenagers have mobile phones, up from just 23 percent in 2011. The technology is being adopted so quickly that school districts cannot adequately keep up with cheating policies, or even awareness campaigns that alert students to the problem with using technology to find answers in a certain way.

From a young age, students learn that answers exist at their fingertips through search engines and expert websites. It is more efficient to just look up the answers through the hard work someone else has already done than to find the answers on their own. K-12 students are not the only culprits though. When was the last time you went to the library or dug through physical records or documentation to find the answer to something? Adults take advantage of the convenience of technology all the time – even in the workplace. The difference, of course, is that most adults grew up at least partially technology-free. Today’s students will not have that life experience and instead will have learned the quickest ways to find answers – not necessarily the right ones.

Schools must develop anti-cheating policies that include technology and those policies must be updated consistently. Teachers must stay vigilant when it comes to what their students are doing in classrooms and how technology could be playing a negative role in the learning process. Parents must also talk to their kids about the appropriate ways to find academic answers and alert them to unethical behaviors that may seem innocent in their own eyes.

What do you think can fix the technology/cheating issue?

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in Higher Education, Matthew Lynch

Diversity at College Level Bolstered by Online Offerings

Each year online learning initiatives becomes less of a fringe movement and more of an incorporated, and accepted, form of education. More than 6.7 million people took at least one online class in the fall of 2011 and 32 percent of college students now take at least one online course during their matriculation. It is even becoming commonplace for high schools to require all students to take an online class before graduation as a way to prep them for the “real world” of secondary education.

The flexibility and convenience of online learning is well known but what is not as readily talked about is the way distance education promotes diversity of the college population. With less red tape than the traditional college format, online students are able to earn credits while still working full time, maintaining families and dealing with illnesses. Whether students take just one course remotely, or obtain an entire degree, they are able to take on the demands of college life more readily – leading to student population with more variety.

The Babson Survey Research Group recently revealed that while online college student enrollment is on the rise, traditional colleges and universities saw their first drop in enrollment in the ten years the survey has been conducted. This drop is small – less than a tenth of one percent – but its significance is big. A trend toward the educational equality of online curriculum is being realized by students, institutions and employers across the board. The benefits of a college education through quality online initiatives are now becoming more accessible to students that simply cannot commit to the constraints of a traditional campus setting.

A controversial experiment that could lead the way to even more college credit accessibility is MOOCs, or massive open online courses. As the name implies, these classes are offered to the general public at a low cost, or no cost, in the hopes of earning their students college credit. California-based online course provider Coursera recently had five of its offerings evaluated by the American Council on Education for college credit validity. Four of the courses were recommended for college credit by ACE, and one was endorsed for vocational credit, providing student work verification through a strict proctoring process.

These credits are not earned through community colleges or online-institutions; Duke University, the University of California at Irvine and the University of Pennsylvania are on Coursera’s list of places the courses will earn credit for students that pay a nominal fee. Students that obtain these credits through Coursera can approach any higher education institution and seek their inclusion in a degree program, but the final discretion is up to the particular school.

MOCCs are certainly in an infancy stage and do not provide a “sure thing” yet for students that participate. In the Babson survey mentioned earlier, only 2.6 percent of schools offer a MOOC, but an additional 9.4 percent are building a MOCC plan. The potential for further diversity and equality in education through MOCCs is certainly on the horizon. This form of online learning means that students do not have to commit to an entire course of study to obtain credits or even commit to a particular institution upfront.

MOOCs will further eliminate the socio-economic barriers that keep promising students from seeking out college credits. Students are given more flexibility in scheduling at an affordable price. Though the MOOC trend has its dissenters, I believe it will win over even the most skeptical and increase accessibility for all people that seek higher education. After all, at one time the mention of online courses raised a few eyebrows in the educational community and look how far the concept has come. Further development of online initiatives, specifically in the area of MOOCs, represents the next big step for enriching the diversity of the college student population in America.

 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Matthew Lynch

Strategies for Seamlessly Integrating Technology into Your Classroom

Words like “technology,” “digital devices,” and “modern media” sound flashy and attractive. Of course teachers want to have those buzzwords in the classroom! But when it comes from moving to virtual reality to concrete curriculum, what does introducing technology in the classroom actually look like? What do all those buzzwords really mean?

Technology-focused education is based on a constructivist approach to learning. As described earlier, the teacher in a technologically advanced classroom is seen as a facilitator rather than a pure instructor. A teacher’s function is to help students use the technological resources appropriately to find the information rather than presenting it to them. Students need to learn how to find the information they need and take ownership of their own learning. Working in small groups is also a crucial factor in acquiring these skills. Small-group instruction versus massive class instruction provides opportunity to develop a group dynamic, to make group decisions, and to share knowledge. Classes working under these principles promote cooperative rather than competitive group dynamics.

The degree of ease with which you’ll incorporate technology into your teaching methods will depend on how much technology you’ve been exposed to during the course of your life. You may have grown up in a home where a computer was used every day, or attended a school where learning was predominantly based on technology. Teachers who are less familiar with technology and have used traditional methods of teaching can also incorporate technology into their classes without having to change their entire teaching system. Teachers in schools commonly communicate via e-mail and text messages, incorporate the Internet into lessons, and encourage the use of productivity tools such as Microsoft Excel and Word.

This method of teaching also changes the way educators assess knowledge. The fact that students play an active part in knowledge acquisition implies a better understanding of the content provided. Formative assessment in this model of teaching becomes more important than ever, and teacher feedback is a crucial part of the process in order for students to achieve the content learning goals of the lesson.

If you’re interested in learning more about the ways that you can capitalize on today’s modern inventions to bolster your teaching, take some time to look through our other articles on specific resources available out there in realm of hardware and software.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Equity

Closing the achievement gap using iPads

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding a P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

By Kristi Meeuwse, ADE

Where’s the Beef? Show me the money! What’s the bottom line?

In today’s results-oriented, data-driven mentality in education, we all fall under the large accountability umbrella of test scores. Certainly, there are skeptics who question putting iPads in the hands of young children. It is asked, “How can we justify the cost of this technology when school budgets and programs are being cut and teachers are being furloughed?” I too, asked those questions at the beginning of this pilot. After all, my pay has been decreased from furloughs and no step-increases for experience or cost of living. My answers came directly from the very people for whom I work…my students.

Let me say that I teach children, not tests. I want my students to find a love for learning that sustains them for a lifetime. In a previous post, I described what kind of reader I am. I want my students to be filled with wonder and inquiry and to find joy in reading and learning. A commentary written in USA Today states that the goal of education should be to prepare students to be competent and original in their thinking and that focusing on test scores hurts innovation. When we start focusing on scores, we often stop focusing on innovative teaching methods and divergent thinking. Don’t get me wrong…teaching involves assessment and assessment drives instruction. The problem comes when we stay focused on the one-dimensional scores and not look at the whole child. William Arthur Ward states “Wise are those who learn that the bottom line doesn’t always have to be their top priority” Sermon over.

All of that being said, I do understand that the purchase of the iPads was intended to close the achievement gap and raise scores. So far, they’ve delivered on that. I’ve been using the iPads for 13 months. Last school year, we began implementation in late January. My class results are here. ipad-data pdf We were thrilled! Systematic teaching in Reading and Writing Workshop, along with differentiated instruction with the iPads allowed all 30 of my students to end the school year reading on or above grade level. This year, with 12 weeks of school remaining, 92% of my students read on a first grade level or higher and the remaining 8% are on grade level. Interesting to note, the 8% are students who came to my class after Christmas from other schools. They have moved from being non-readers to reading on-grade level in 3 months.

While I don’t solely focus on test scores, I can’t deny the results I am seeing. These are results that can’t be overlooked. If good teaching, and iPads as educational tools, result in higher achievement, then how can we argue that our children aren’t worth the investment?

This post originally appeared on iteachwithipads.net and has been republished with permission. 

Click here to read all our posts concerning the Achievement Gap.

—

Kristi Meeuwse teaches kindergarten in Charleston, South Carolina. In January, 2011, her kindergarten class started a 1:1 iPad pilot for the school district and the results so far have been very successful. You can read more about it on her blog iteachwithipads.net.

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

3 Drawbacks of Bringing Tech to the Classroom

As much progress as technology can help a classroom make, it isn’t always a positive force. There are some drawbacks to trying to introduce technology into classrooms, even when the implementation is done in the most thoughtful and well planned out of ways.

Most dramatic shifts in how humans act and interact are accompanied by difficulties, especially at the outset. Though these difficulties may not outweigh the benefits of the new paradigm, they are nevertheless real. Technology in schools is no exception. Here are some of the problems associated with technology:

  1. Technical difficulties. We all have memories of a teacher struggling to get a projector or program to work, or of losing a week’s work on a project because of a glitch in a system.
  2. The issue of access. Many schools must deal not only with students who lack access to technology, but also with those who have too much access. Some students spend most of their free time at home playing computer games, surfing the Internet, or texting on their cell phones. This obsession with technologically based entertainment spills over into the school environment. Teachers must be aware of students who are surreptitiously playing games on cell phones or tablets in the classroom, who are using school computer time to communicate with friends, or who are not getting the social contact or exercise they need because they are hunched over their device at every free moment.
  3. Harmful information. Another difficulty is that the World Wide Web contains not only beneficial information, but also information that may be harmful. Young people may not have the skills or desire to filter out the negative elements from the positive. As a teacher, you should be aware of this and should make an effort to tutor children in possible danger areas on the Internet: chat rooms, sexual trolls, and so on.

Just as you as a teacher must do your research on how to best extract benefits from technology, you must also do your homework when it comes to being prepared to combat the negative impact technology can have. Make sure you’re equipped to handle not just the best, but also the worst of what happens when the modern age comes to school.

Let’s hear your opinion. Educators – how do you deal with the difficulties of seamlessly incorporating technology and teaching?

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation

How to revolutionize STEM education amongst millennials via social media channels

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.**

A guest column by Dahlton Grover

Millennials grew up in a unique era of transition as the Internet began to flourish and social networking was born. They were the first generation to have seemingly unlimited resources to learn from, which altered the way they learn, think about and feel about knowledge. The result is a world of visual learners craving digital content. With this unique disposition, millennials don’t learn the same way baby boomers did, so our education techniques must grow and change accordingly. Educators have the opportunity to utilize a plethora of new technologies in order to increase student engagement, and encourage what is known as a participatory culture. For STEM education, this type of culture optimizes results.

When it comes to STEM education, people are starting to really take notice. STEM certainly had merit 20 years ago when the term first came into use, but recently it has taken seed and grown enormously. Why now? Social media is certainly one force driving awareness. Some experts believe the exorbitant use of social media has effectively created a culture of instant gratification and lessened learning, but is this really accurate? As the millennial generation grew up with social media in a fast paced information-age, they also helped to transform it into something more useful. The first social sites such as MySpace were out of style as soon as millennials had their fun and were ready to move on. Next on the landscape was Facebook, which statistics now indicate is also on the decline in terms of millennial usage. So what have millennials moved onto? Fast-paced, information-rich sites that incorporate bite-sized pieces of data coupled with visual stimulation in the form of either photo or video.

Instagram and Tumblr are exploding because of the seamless flow of information they have created, which also satisfies the craving for visual stimulation amongst millennials. How are these new sites revolutionizing the way people see STEM? Not only do they easily connect people with like-minds and interests, but it also allows the world to see innovation in action. STEM-based hash tags like #EdChat, #STEMEd and #Dronestagram are proof that social sites are creating a world of participatory culture by showcasing STEM in its raw, honest form. Sites like Reddit are encouraging this on an even grander scale.

Reddit is a community news forum.  Unlike Instagram and Tumblr, Reddit does not allow images or visuals in the posting system, but it still delivers a continuous stream of information on a variety of topics.  With Reddit, the world is getting smaller, meaning getting information and finding a community with similar interests is becoming increasingly easier. For example, Reddit hosts what are known as AMAs or Ask Me Anything forums. Many of the hosts in these forums are STEM professionals ranging from NASA astronauts to geologists. Students of all ages have the opportunity to question them about the work they are doing and their profession in general. This type of forum is exactly what STEM students need to get them excited about learning, and encourage STEM dialogue to become a part of their daily lives. It has been proven that people gain the majority of their science knowledge outside of formal classroom, and social sites like Reddit are helping to encourage this more and more.

Learning outside the traditional classroom is also driven by the large amount of free, open-source software and hardware available which generate active, vibrant social communities. For example, Arduino is a computer programming language which is open-source and enables anyone to learn to code and control devices from simple robots to wearable technology. Instead of established companies controlling the markets, the social nature of the Internet has created an environment of learning that encourages users to use, create, invent and improve upon what is already available. Participation in community forums about such open-source software and hardware empowers students to learn and develop confidence in their skills, through relevant, real-world projects. Social sites are used to share new discoveries and new skills around open-source software and hardware used in STEM fields.

So what does all this mean for STEM educators around the world? How can they utilize this information within their unique teaching methodologies? The answer to this is not black and white. Creativity is needed and student input is extremely helpful. If students have a lot of fun learning through organic Reddit feeds, researching STEM feeds could be a potential project. If students are Instagram-lovers, encourage them to find some of the most popular STEM-based accounts and put together a compilation of their top posts and explain the STEM content each illustrates.  Or, if students want to learn computer coding, open-source software can be easily used in classrooms to encourage student-driven learning. Whatever the project may be, social media and learning go together hand-in-hand. Social networking is so much more now than where it began, and has generated a world of self-taught, lifelong learners. Even more important is that many of these sites encourage dialogue, which reinforces the idea of a participatory culture and fosters confidence in student’s abilities. Social media can be used in so many different ways within the classroom, and often inspires students to continue actively seeking information outside of school, which many STEM educators work to achieve.

_________________

Dahlton Grover is the resident Curriculum and Content Coordinator for PCS Edventures, and is in charge of overseeing final products, marketing collateral, photography and videography. Additionally, she works on Investor Relations, runs monthly webinars, served as a project manager for the Saudi Arabia international project and occasionally spends time teaching students in the Lab. Ms. Grover received her B.A. in Global Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2013. Following her education at UCSB she pursued a 200 hour Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher training program in San Luis Obispo, CA, after which she returned home to Boise, ID. Ms. Grover has extensive experience in writing, sales and marketing and her Global Studies background fuels her passion to change the face of education worldwide. In addition, Ms. Grover was an original PCS Edventures student, as she attended their preschool at a young age and grew up around their curriculum and technology for many years; because of her experience Dahlton brings a unique student perspective to the production of developing new curriculum.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

  • no reactions
0
Share
Matthew Lynch published in EdTech & Innovation, Secondary Education

Online school provides unique curriculum in rural areas

By Barb Meidinger —

The North Dakota Center for Distance Education on-line learning opportunities provide the perfect venue for inquisitive students who want to explore the world through their fingertips, without ever stepping foot into a classroom. They have made it one of their priorities to expand the minds of students in rural areas by offering unique online classes and a high school diploma program to students who never thought it was possible to learn in this unique manner.

In largely populated areas students are typically able to choose from a wide variety of core and elective level classes with a hands-on learning experience in a classroom setting. In districts with only a handful of students, combined with a tight budget, the variety of options outside the core curriculum isn’t always possible for a district. Because of this situation the North Dakota Center for Distance Education (NDCDE) chose to expand their curriculum offerings with courses provided by the #1 publisher of online career and elective courses, eDynamic Learning.

“It is our responsibility to ensure ALL students receive the best education possible, no matter what the circumstances,” said Barb Meidinger, NDCDE’s secondary principal. “With the addition of eDynamic Learning elective courses, schools and students can select from over 50 engaging, relevant courses to round out their education.”

Today’s tech savvy students enjoy the user-friendly format and the freedom to access classes anytime from anywhere. At the North Dakota Center for Distance Education students have the option to take as little as one class per semester, or they can enroll in the high school diploma program and graduate from NDCDE ready for college. These unique opportunities would not be possible without the ala Carte list of classes and the flexibility and vision of eDynamic Learning founder and CEO, Kevin Viau.

“I met Kevin back in 2007 when he was just starting eDynamic Learning. At that time he only offered two Social Studies classes! The eDynamic portfolio might have been limited, but I knew our students would benefit from the high-quality, relevant content the courses had to offer,” said Meidinger. “It was easy to make the decision to work with Kevin in 2007 and here we are 8 years later still engaged with him and the company! His vision and his ability to understand the type of content that engages students keeps eDynamic Learning at the forefront of online learning.”

Over the years NDCDE has adopted dozens of core and elective courses offered from a select group of vendors, including eDynamic Learning. However, students gravitate toward eDynamic Learning courses to study unique subjects as: culinary arts, forensic science, public speaking, law and order, criminology, and so on, because they are so different from a traditional course.

“We receive a lot of positive comments about eDynamic Learning courses from students on the evaluation survey we send to them after every course they take,” explained learning management systems manager, Mike Miller. “They are learning new information with every course and it is refreshing to hear them say they are being challenged in a good way.”

NDCDE staff believes they are filling the educational gap between electives and core curriculum by providing the courses that smaller districts can’t offer. They couldn’t do it without the courses offered and created by eDynamic.

“We asked Kevin if he could create a new mythology and folklore course because ours was tired and uninteresting and he granted our request! eDynamic Learning created the course just for us, and now it’s part of their course catalogue and one of our most popular classes,” stated Meidinger.

In the early 1930’s, North Dakota led the way in recognizing the learning limitations that were forced on rural students. The state championed NDCDE as one of the first schools focused on correspondence courses. The school, once dependent on snail mail, is now ahead of its time with 24-hour accessibility to a quality education with course variety and career exploration thrown into the mix.

“The mission of the school is to introduce students to things they may have never seen or thought of, and self discovery is one the best parts of being in education,” said Meidinger. “Teachers like teaching the eDynamic Learning courses and students like taking them! You can’t get any better than that.”

NDCDE hopes to expand student opportunities even more by opening their first ‘Learning Lab’ where students K-12 are able to go for additional hands-on learning experiences. The lab, located in the offices of NDCDE, will open in late summer 2015. The Center for Distance Education will work with schools throughout North Dakota to make similar labs available for their students.

Read all of our posts about EdTech and Innovation by clicking here. 

_____

Barb Meidinger is the Secondary Principal at the North Dakota Center for Distance Education.

 

  • no reactions
0
Share