the Future is Now A Guide for Parents

the Future is Now! A Guide for Parents and Students

About VHS z A non profit collaborative of 200+ high schools offering innovative online courses z Currently in 8 th year of online course delivery z $10 M and 5 years of R&D effort 3/18/2018 2

A note to parents and students Thank you for your interest in Virtual High School. Please take a few minutes to review these slides – we hope you’ll learn enough today to speak with your school administration about participation in VHS. Many of these slides have Notes with additional information. To access Notes: click View (on the top of your screen) and select Notes Page. You will be able to see the slide as well as the accompanying narrative. Or, move your mouse pointer toward the bottom of the slide until it turns into an arrow, then click and hold your mouse and scroll up until you see the white Notes box below the slide. Thanks, Liz Pape, CEO 3/18/2018 3

When was Virtual High School developed? z Founded in 1996 y. Concord Consortium & Hudson Public Schools, Hudson, Massachusetts y. Grant funded 1996 -2001: US Dept of Ed. Technology Innovation Challenge Grant z Purpose y. Develop Internet-based online courses for high school students. y. Research and evaluation by SRI (Stanford Research International 3/18/2018 4

y. Broadened course selection y 21 st century and ICT skills y. The opportunity to participate in virtual communities of global learners y. Learning with technology, instead of about technology 3/18/2018 5

21 st Century and ICT skills z Students gain skills needed for the workplace: y ability to research, filter and assess information y find the best information possible y develop better inquiry skills y develop rich multimedia presentation skills y experience collaborative working groups y extend vision and community beyond the geographic community 3/18/2018 6

VHS Net Courses are INTERACTIVE z. Interaction ystudent to student ystudent to teacher z. Threads ydiscussion group threads yprivate threads yteam threads 3/18/2018 7

2004 -2005 VHS Course Sampling z A Shakespeare Who-Dun-It: Introduction to Shakespeare z Academic Writing z Access: Database Structure and Application z American Foreign Policy z American History: All History is Local History z American Multiculturalism z American Popular Music 3/18/2018 8

More VHS Courses. . . z Pre-AP Calculus z AP Biology z AP Economics z Pre-AP English Lit. z AP Statistics z Astronomy: Stars and the Cosmos z Pre-veterinary medicine 3/18/2018 z Constitutional Law z Genes and Disease z Folklore and Literature of Myth, Magic and Ritual z The Holocaust z Introduction to Programming in Visual Basic 9

Role of VHS Site Coordinator y. Monitors student progress y. Enrolls students in VHS courses y. Provides technical support to VHS students and teachers y. Serves as physical link to VHS teacher for students y. Serves as teacher presence to parents of VHS students y. Course materials coordinator 3/18/2018 10

What about Quality Control? z. VHS design and delivery standards y. VHS courses are written to National Curriculum standards, and VHS design standards y. VHS faculty advisors and professional growth model ensure adherence to VHS course delivery standards 3/18/2018 11

Quality Control z How we achieve it: y Strict adherence to approved curriculum and design standards y One-to-one mentoring for new instructors y Weekly monitoring for speed, quality and quantity of teacher feedback y All teachers are certified and “highly qualified” 3/18/2018 Customer survey results: þ 98%+ overwhelmingly satisfied with their VHS membership þ 99% say their school board members, parents and community perceive VHS as a positive offering þ 95%+ are very satisfied with the quality of VHS courses 12

z Asynchronous y. Teachers and students live in different time zones y. Students can access class at any time z 25 students or fewer in each class y. Students work on a computer connected to the internet at least three times a week y. Teachers and students communicate via a written discussion area located in the Web classroom area 3/18/2018 13

Students logon to VHS via the Internet http: //student. go. VHS. org 3/18/2018 14

After logging in with a private password, students can access their course and other content. 3/18/2018 15

The Course Menu lists the separate areas for students in each course. Lessons Discussions Grades Private Threads Teacher Info Tools 3/18/2018 Media Center Teams Announcements Classmates 16

The Lessons area lists student assignments and gives the due dates 3/18/2018 17

The Discussions area is where students communicate with the teacher or classmates in their VHS course. 3/18/2018 18

The Media Center contains resources for the class. Students can learn about their classmates in the Classmates area. 3/18/2018 19

How VHS Meets School Needs þ Instantly expands curriculums by over 150 courses þ Scheduling flexibility þ Expert instruction and training to VHS teachers and site coordinators at your school þ National & global experiences, locally þ Continuous new program offerings 3/18/2018 20

VHS Success Rates z 90% course completion rates z 76% of students taking a VHS course receive a C or better. z 79% of students taking a VHS Advanced Placement (AP) course receive a 3 or higher. y National average pass rate 3+ = 60% 3/18/2018 21

Students say: z“I wish that this opportunity were available all throughout my high school years. Now I know hard I have to work to really compete outside my school. ” 3/18/2018 22

Contact Information y. Wendy Papkoff xwpapkoff@go. VHS. org or 978 -450 -0500 y. Sandra Rowe, VHS Director of Membership & Marketing xsrowe@go. VHS. org or 978 -450 -0413 3/18/2018 23

VHS will help YOU …. 4 Expand your curriculum offerings 4 Provide flexible scheduling options 4 Encourage national and international collaboration among students and teachers 4 Participate in high quality professional development 4 Adopt cost effective solutions 3/18/2018 24