C)+Online+Learning+Options

Regulation for Online Credit Flexibility The option of online Credit Flexibility offers a number of unique policy and regulation requirements for the Worthington Schools. Due to the flexible nature of the online courses, and course offerings it is nearly impossible for every scenario to be predicted. The hope is that this policy will address the majority of the options students will choose and give us guidance on the unpredictable options that may also arise. Regulations: Online courses offered by an organization outside of the Worthington School District (WSD).
 * Students are free to arrange for an online course offered from another educational institution other than the WSD. The student is responsible for all aspects of this course including payment for the course, access to the course, internet access, computer equipment, textbooks or other course materials, etc.
 * The WSD will grant credit for the course which may or may not apply towards the credits a student needs for graduation.
 * Students are encouraged to complete a Credit Flexibility form prior to taking the online course so the student will know what course credit will be granted from the WSD, how much credit will be granted, and when the credit will be awarded. In some cases, students will also be able to learn what the requirements will be to earn each letter grade in the class.
 * All online courses must be offered by an accredited educational institute.
 * Students should know that online courses may or may not meet the requirements of NCAA or OHSSA eligibility.

Online courses offered by WSD. Students that choose to take classes from the WSD which are offered online must abide by the following regulations:
 * Students must submit an application for the online courses prior to attempting to take the course.
 * Students must meet all requirements of the course. For example, if a course has a laboratory requirement the students must participate.
 * Students will be monitored for progress with the online course by the assigned teacher. This progress monitoring will meet the eligibility requirements for the OHSSA.
 * Courses will credit will be granted at predetermined times during the school year.

=Vetting Vendors for Online course offerings=


 * April 21st at TWHS room 127** - We reviewed the offerings from 5 different vendors and 2 free versions. This was a long and tiring day. Every vendor that presented offered some real positive experiences for our students. These vendors represent only the vendors that were recommended to me, and since the meetings were set up, numerous others have also been recommended. Only one other of these vendors has really sounded interesting enough to ask for a presentation, and that was Apex Learning. Below are the summaries of presentations. Please feel free to add, and/or delete comments or even augment what is there.


 * 8 am** - Udemy was reviewed. Udemy is not really a Learning Managment System (LMS) but rather a limited collection of classroom relevant tools. For example, links, videos, and documents can be shared but there is no grading or work submissions or even a set series of topics to be learned. Very limited but this might be useful for some professional development or as an ancillary to a traditional classroom.

We also looked at School Fusion. School Fusion is closer to an LMS but still quite limited. Susan Kucharek and Gavin Meeks at WKHS have had some limited exposure to the system, and Gavin is even looking to implement an online course using School Fusion next school year (2010-11). This looked promising, but with the other presentations later in the day showed, there is a lot more to be offered online than what School Fusion is offering for free.


 * 9 am** - Advanced Academics - This was our first formal presentation of the day. Advanced Academics has been around for 10 years and is used around the nation. They have local representatives that can help us if we choose this the platform.

Positives Drawbacks
 * Teachers are Ohio Certified and trained for online instruction
 * Offer a free course to all of the students which covers how to use the LMS and function in an online environment.
 * Exams must be given at school to prevent any academic misconduct.
 * Includes Gizmos which are online interactives for math and science content and process knowledge.
 * Teachers are available for online "chat" from 7 am to 11 pm daily
 * North Central accredited
 * $300/course - Regular courses
 * $350-$400/course - AP courses
 * Classes are only 120 days in length regardless of student progress during those 120 days
 * Extra time can be purchased at $30/week
 * Ohio aligned but product was created and then aligned rather than using the Ohio standards to create the courses.
 * Cannot customize courses

Positives Drawbacks
 * 10 am** - Treca - Treca has been around since 2001 and offers a mastery model of learning with two different tracks: Angel Learning and Plato. Treca can extend a less expensive price for these platforms because they purchase in bulk. The Plato LMS is much more student based than the Angel Learning LMS. In Plato student assignments are autograded and need an 80% or better to move on to the new material, but it also includes exemptive pretests and end of course exams.
 * Ohio only so courses are made from the Ohio Standards exclusively
 * Offer 3 varieties of options:
 * iCredit - $250/semster/student/course
 * Students takes the course from Treca
 * Treca provides everything
 * iClassroom - $75/semester/student/course
 * Treca has the teachers and Worthington would provide the management of the courses
 * must have 10 students
 * school must have enough for an entire class
 * iCourse - $20/student/course
 * Treca houses the course
 * Treca will do a PD day for $650 to teach Worthingtonhow to use the LMS and make a course
 * Worthington has the teachers
 * Worthington writes the courses
 * Angel LMS only
 * Offer summer school and credit recovery
 * No official accreditation - currently under Ohio Public Community Schools

Positives Drawbacks
 * 11 am** - Lincoln Interactive - Lincoln was initially not available for the presentation on this date. When I informed them that I would not be planning any other dates they became available. The presenter they sent out was not vey polished and had only been with the company for one year. As with all of the online courses this LMS is asynchronous - meaning when the students want to use the system they can without having to wait for a teacher or anyone else to make the course happen.
 * Has a special education liason for the accomodating courses for students
 * Asynchronous
 * Accredited by North Central, NCAA
 * We cannot offer our own classes, but the statements was made that topic is "open for discussion."
 * Generic courses aligned to national standards and then to state standards - not Ohio specific


 * 12 pm** - Lunch

Positives Drawbacks > > Positives Drawbacks
 * 1 pm** - NovaNet - Pearson - NovaNet was much more complete than any other LMS we saw throughout the day. This was the Cadillac of the LMS presentations of the day.
 * They will train our staff
 * The courses are under Worthington School district control
 * Three ways to customize the courses
 * Traditional - a sequential course
 * Prescriptive - used as credit recovery
 * Open Mode - chunking of information, with embedded assessments to serve as gatekeepers to future lessons
 * Offers objective level assessments - 80% is not sufficient to pass on to new materials. Students must earn 80% in each of the learning objectives. Has embedded diagnostics throughout coursework.
 * Self paced / asynchronous
 * Complete courseware - all of the course is online, no textbook needed, and it offers Pearson interactives
 * Has a closed email system
 * Written at a 6th - 7th grade reading level
 * Prices are set by the concurrent logins in the system, not by students or courses.
 * Seats costs anywhere from $699/year to $525/year based upon the number of years purchased up front and the volume of seats purchased.[[file:NovaNet Pricing 2-2010.xls]]
 * NCAA approved
 * This would be difficult to use for a student who is home-instructed/out of the building.
 * Students should be assigned a schedule of when they can log in after school/weekends; only as many students can be logged in as seats purchased.
 * 2 pm** - Jefferson eSchool - Worthington already has a relationship with Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) with the credit recovery courses currently offered in both WKHS and TWHS high schools. JCPS started offering credit recovery in 1986 as a paper and pencil course and made the transition to an online option slowly over time. JCPS uses the Angel Learning LMS.
 * All courses have a "Unit 0" for introduction, policies colect demographic data, etc.
 * Asychronous courses - student paced
 * They offer some dual credit options
 * Proctored final exams
 * 8 slots cost $1,400/year
 * Must pass the final exam to pass the course
 * No communication between students
 * Currently working on NCAA approval
 * Not sure how they can customize courses
 * No diagnostics

Other Options:
 * Free Online versions
 * Udemy- Free version (from their website) Udemy's goal is to enable anyone to teach and learn online. In less than 5 minutes, you can create your own online course on Udemy. You can upload presentations, videos, host live classroom sessions and write blog posts. It's fast, easy and free.
 * School Fusion - (from their website) SchoolFusion is THE premier solution for developing, hosting and maintaining cutting-edge K-12 website solutions. Using our product, schools are able to build thriving 21st century learning communities that enhance the classroom teaching environment and empower districts to communicate more effectively. Our feature list is not just a checklist of items you should consider before making a purchasing decision-- it is actually a roadmap to unparalleled teacher adoption, parent involvement, student engagement and community participation. Click on the features below to learn more about how SchoolFusion makes every user more effective.
 * eCot - (from their website) ECOT (Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow) is the first and most popular tuition-free online public school in Ohio celebrating its 10th school year with over 10,000 enrolled students in grades K-12.
 * K12 Online - (from their website) Help your students get the boost they need to stay competitive and graduate on time with K¹². Our online courses in math, English, science, history, and world languages might be just what they need to stay competitive, recover credit, explore new interests, or graduate on time.
 * Apex Learning- (from their website) Apex Learning is the leading provider of digital curriculum for secondary education to the nation’s school districts. The company’s comprehensive, standards-based online courses help schools successfully engage all students in rigorous coursework and prepare them for high school graduation and beyond.
 * Angel Learning - (from their website) Colleges and universities worldwide choose the ANGEL LMS to deliver powerful online teaching and learning experiences. ANGEL provides the comprehensive LMS features institutions need in a simple interface that promotes adoption. A recognized innovator, you can count on ANGEL to deliver on the promise of technology to improve education

Contacting other area schools using Online Courses
 * Delaware - Steve Webb - no reply yet
 * Dublin - Leslie Bamford
 * In Dublin, we currently use **NovaNET** by Pearson. When we first began looking, we explored several different programs (Plato, A+, ect), but found NN fit our needs the best. Over the past few years, we have continued to explore alternative options, but have continued to be extremely happy with NN at our Alternative School, as well as in the traditional high schools (Coffman, Jerome, Scioto). Pearson is getting ready to launch a new platform, which is student focused and friendly. It will also be a web based program, that students can access from any computer with internet, instead of loading the program on individual computers. We have also had great customer service from their two reps, Jon Weiss and Sherm Perkins. They go out of their way to assist us in any way possible and keep us up to date and educated on all of the new NovaNET courses.
 * Westerville - Steve Coolihan
 * We have used the NOVEL web-based curriculum for the last 11 years in our alternative high school program. This curriculum was purchased from EdOptions Inc.--corporate office is in Arlington, VA. and website. is www.edoptions.com. It is fully-accredited by NAAS (Northwest Association of Accredited Schools) and SACCASI (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools).
 * When we received the Alternative Challenge Grant dollars way back in 1999, we purchased NOVEL as our web-based curriculum of choice for these reasons:
 * 1. It would serve our target population (i.e., expelled students, overage/under-credited, and dropouts) well because it was user-friendly and it was written at a high school reading level. We were looking and are still primarily operating from a credit-recovery approach.
 * 2. The curriculum offerings are extensive enough for our students to earn all of their high school credits in all curriculum areas except for PE.
 * 3. The curriculum is correlated with Ohio's academic content standards, even though, there are some gaps. They have developed a specific matrix for this purpose.
 * Over the years, with our specific target population, students have earned, on the average, within a semester's time frame anywhere from 1 to 2 credits all the way up to 12 to 13. This is possible as our students work for three hours every day; however, they also can work from home whenever they so choose.
 * We now have a regional rep and her name is Elaine Vrable--retired high school principal from Maple Heights OH. She would also be a good person for you to touch base with in order to look at costs and the full array of services that EdOptions can offer. Let her know I referred you.
 * Olentangy - Chris Ondrus -
 * OLSD is still in the process of researching various online course vendors, but the two that have been highest on the list are Apex and Lincoln Interactive. Lincoln is more expensive, but each course comes with a Lincoln HQT teacher... The same option is available through Apex, but you can also save some $ if you provide your own teacher within the district as the point person. We also use Passkey, but more for supplemental learning or certain credit recovery situations. I think it is cheaper to get Apex through the ESC- I've heard they will be buying seats in bulk, so they might be a good place to go next.
 * Rockbridge - John Johnson
 * John has been working with online credit recovery for a number of years and more specifically with Jefferson eSchool. He will be joining our group for the Jefferson eSchool presentation.

Goal for next meeting: to begin putting together the online component for credit flexibility such as guidelines, practices, regulations, etc. March 29th - Online subgroup meeting notes **__Definition of online classes__**: Although many learning experiences offer online opportunities for their educational objectives, online courses are a defined course of study. An online course can be offered from the Worthington Schools or other accredited educational institutions. Online courses have the majority of the work done online, but they do not necessarily have to be exclusively done online. Online courses are not student defined. Student defined course fall under the category of Educational Options. Online classes can be offered either by the Worthington Schools, or by other accredited educational institutions. **A) Worthington Schools Online Courses** – Initially courses must be currently offered within our school district. These would be an online version of what is currently offered. **B) Other accredited educational institutions** – a. Treated as transfer credit – guidance department will pre-approve courses and follow the guidelines set forth on the Pre-Approval Form (see below). b. Students will accept responsibility for difference from the Ohio Standards c. Create a different name for the online courses for internal tracking purposes (i.e. BESS in schools, Biology as online course) d. The district will create and manage a database of approved online courses

Online Guidance Department Pre-Approval

This is a draft version – please add or change whatever you feel needs to be adjusted. All students wishing to take an online course must complete this pre-approval form prior to starting each and every online course. Failure to do so may result in the online course not counting for high school credit with the Worthington Schools. Issue to be addressed: 1) **What class will be replaced by the online course?** 2) **What is the name of the online course?** 3) **What is the name of the accredited educational institution offering the online course?** 4) **Expenses –** All expenses associated with the online course are the responsibility of the student. This includes course enrollment fees, online access fees, transportation, computer access, subscriptions, books, lab equipment fees, other fees, etc. The Worthington School District will continue to support our students through the normal school operations but not incur extra expenses due to online course work. 5) **Athletics –** Students that wish to participate in OHSSA athletics must be aware that online courses will still count just as traditional classes. To verify eligibility to participate in OHSSA athletics, students must comply with a set timeline to show progress in the online course. 6) **Timeline –** Although the online courses are designed to be completed at the student’s discretion, a general timeline to monitor progress will be required. Students should plan to meet with their guidance counselor on a regular interval to show progress, discuss issues and monitor the effectiveness of the online course in meeting the student’s needs. This will allow the students to change the plan, manage timelines and maintain a good educational status. 7) **Ohio** **Content Standards** –online courses may not fully address the Ohio Content Standards yet students will still be responsible for knowing and understanding the content of these standards even if the online course they choose to take may not completely address all of the Ohio Content Standards. The students will be provided a copy of the Ohio Content Standards for the courses they wish to take online. Upon request, Worthington Schools will continue to provide all supplemental materials that are traditionally provided for students who are taking the Worthington Graded Course of Study. These materials could help fill in any gaps between the standards and online courses. This includes textbooks and other supplemental materials. This does not include assignments, assessments, or other teacher-based material. By signing at the bottom of the page, you have acknowledged that you are aware of the possibilities that the online course may not fully prepare students for passing state mandated end of course tests. 8) **Signatures required** – This form would require the following signatures: the student taking the course, the student’s parent or guardian, and the guidance counselor of that student. If the course is offered by Worthington Schools, the guidance counselor would be replaced by the course instructor.

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