The Oklahoma Virtual High School is a way for students to achieve credit recovery, come back after dropping out and graduate with a diploma while doing it all from the comfort of their home, on their schedule. 90 courses are available AP Calculus, Art Appreciation, Career and Technology Skills, French, Mandarin, History to Chemistry.
This morning we were fortunate to have a tour of the Advanced Academics facilities and receive a peek into the world of the virtual high school.
We spoke with English teachers who are certified in 17 states, principals without discipline problems, retention specialist who call students weekly to check on them and instructors who had over 900 students!! Everything that you would expect to find in a high school was there, teachers, counselors, principals, all without "butts in seats."
We had the opportunity to watch one instructor interact with 4-5 different students through their "whiteboard." Students can get help in real time from instructors who came to Advanced Academics from a very traditional route, one teaching in Norman High School for almost 30 years before going "virtual!" Teaching assistants come from local colleges who are actively pursuing their education degree and it all happens from Bricktown! Students can access courses 24/7!
Their curriculum is developed with both instructor and specialist. They are moving to a new building and will occupy three floors allow them to have closer interaction in the development of their offering.
What can career and technology education learn from a virtual high school? On their website an intro video plays a old style phone with the word "then" as it transitions to a blackberry with the word "now." Learning to adapt is a must for any organization if it is to survive. Some technology centers are making use of the Oklahoma Online High School to offer students an alternative way to attend their campus. Can some aspects of CTE classes be taken online? Can an online class serve as a supplement to regular learning? What are the changes that we need to make?
One final thought, is it worth the investment? According to some experts online education will be a $2 billion market by 2011! Devry University purchased Advanced Academcis for a cool $27.5 million in late 2007. According to their Blog, they have served over 20,000 students before being aquired, that is a lot of lives touched with educational opportunities. What are your thoughts?
Here is their latest video...
I would be curious to visit with the curriculum designers to see what goes into choosing course content, what objectives they follow, etc. Also I spoke with a speech teacher who was grading a speech, and I asked her about rubrics. She told me that rubrics are designed by curriculum people and that the teachers follow those. They do have some input in the shaping of the rubric if they see a change that needs to be made.
ReplyDeleteI would also be curious to know the percentages of their students at each particular level. ie what percentage are 7th graders versus what percentage are 11th and 12 graders. I think that would be interesting.