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| Feature Articles |
10/1/2008 |
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| 21st-Century Learning |
| Written by: |
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Cathy Downs |
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The idea of earning a degree or taking a course without classroom experience didn’t necessarily sound legitimate in the days of mail-order correspondence courses. But current technology makes e-learning and distance learning fun and acceptable. Students embrace these new learning tools and navigate them with amazing ease.
While e-learning and distance education programs for students occur mostly in public and private high schools across the state, teaching the fundamentals of online learning begins much earlier. By the time many children reach kindergarten, they have already been exposed to computers to some degree in preschools or homes.
Early online experiences empower young learners
Some schools incorporate online learning with traditional classroom experiences. For example, Durham Academy uses an online learning tool called Moodle, says Michelle Gutierrez, the computer teacher and technology coordinator for the lower grades and the parent of a fourth-grade student at the school. “We have courses online that kids do with the teacher,” she explains.
A primary lesson for students who use Moodle is the difference between chatting with a friend and contributing to online discussions — using their academic voice, as Gutierrez describes it.
The school’s online environment provides students with opportunities to practice keyboarding or math facts, check their spelling words or send a message to a friend. “Our goal is to teach students to be anytime learners,” Gutierrez says.
The environment empowers students and teaches them to be in control of their own learning. “This online learning has given my daughter and other children the power to problem-solve. It’s a very positive thing,” Gutierrez says.
Options expand in high school
North Carolina offers high school students two great options for e-learning: the N.C. Virtual Public School (NCVPS) and Learn and Earn Online. NCVPS offers high school-level courses for high school credit, whereas Learn and Earn Online allows high school students to take college-level courses online and earn both high school and college credits.
NCVPS resulted when three other N.C. Department of Public Instruction programs consolidated and reorganized, explains John Brim, assistant director of NCVPS and chief operations officer of Learn and Earn Online.
Online courses provide additional classes
Brim’s office has a charge from the legislature to create virtual learning programs for high school, middle school and elementary students. The high school program began during the summer of 2007.
“We’re doing a middle school pilot program and will offer it in the future,” Brim explains. Once the middle school program is up and running, his office plans to start a pilot program for elementary grades.
Brim says there are three reasons parents and students may want to consider distance learning:
The student may live in an area of the state where the local school system doesn’t offer certain courses, such as Latin or AP Physics.
It allows students to take courses they wouldn’t otherwise be able to. For instance, distance learning helps solve scheduling problems if a student is interested in a course but his class schedule doesn’t allow attendance during the school day.
Some students with extraordinary circumstances, such as medical issues or those attending alternative schools, also benefit from distance learning.
According to Brim, NCVPS doesn’t have specific rules for course eligibility, and there is no necessary minimum grade point average, but it does require students to have appropriate prerequisite requirements. “It’s left up to the individual school to determine a student’s eligibility based on the need of the student,” he says.
Learn on your own time
Johanna Woods, a ninth-grader at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane, took a NCVPS course during the summer called Success 101. “The course was about managing time with homework, getting ready for jobs and college, and preparing you for the real world,” Woods says.
Her mother had heard about the program and wanted Johanna to sign up for a class. Some of her friends had also signed up for classes, and Woods thought an online class would give her something to do during the summer.
She logged in every day to work on assignments, completing the course in eight weeks. “Students can log in when it’s convenient for them, whether it’s during the day or at 1 a.m.,” Woods notes.
What Woods liked best about the program was that she didn’t have to get up and get dressed for school. “The environment was great,” she says, because she had the opportunity to “chat with the other kids online in class, and the kids learned from each other.”
Earn dual credit
The Learn and Earn program enables students at participating public high schools in North Carolina to enroll in college-level courses online or at a community college. The program is a partnership that the N.C. Department of Public Instruction forged with the N.C. Community College and UNC systems. “It’s available to all high school students, but each school system and school has to decide to participate in the program,” Brim says.
Students receive a dual enrollment credit, earning college and high school credits at the same time. But because the high school must award the high school credit, the school has to approve the student’s attendance in the courses, Brim explains. Students talk with a guidance counselor to see if they’re ready for college-level courses.
Some students are offered a fifth year of high school so that when they graduate they receive both a high school diploma and an associate’s degree, Brim says. In essence, they’ve received two years of higher education for free.
Resources
The following are some programs offering online educational experiences:
E-studies through Duke Talent
Identification Program
www.tip.duke.edu/e-studies
Duke TIP’s e-Studies Program provides advanced high school and college level coursework to students in grades 8-12.
Learn and Earn Online
http://NCLearnandEarn.gov
Students at participating high schools can take a variety of online college-credit courses at no cost to them, earning both high school and college credits.
N.C. School of Science and Mathematics
http://online.ncssm.edu
The NCSSM offers NCSSM Online, a two-year program of online learning blended with on-site activities. Also offers interactive videoconferencing for students and teachers (www.dlt.ncssm.edu/distance_learning).
N.C. Virtual Public School
www.ncvps.org
NCVPS provides high school courses online that students cannot take at their local high schools.
Online Learning for Adults
Here are some things to consider for parents who are thinking about enrolling in an online course.
Take a Test Run
To determine if online learning is right for you, George Proudfoot, vice president of product line management at American Research Institute in Morrisville, suggests taking a course to see how you like it. “If it’s well-done and the subject matter is interesting for you, you will enjoy learning this way,” he notes. American Research Institute uses the latest technologies to provide education and training services primarily for corporations.
Early online learning courses were akin to reading a textbook, Proudfoot says. “Newer online courses offer a much-improved experience,” he adds. “There are more interesting graphics, animations, and often audio and video to enliven the material and gain and hold learner interest.”
“The biggest advantage to online learning is the ability to learn at your own pace,” he says. “Online learning also affords the flexibility of being able to learn when it’s the best time for you to learn. You can take the course on your own schedule.”
But there are drawbacks. “Because there is no teacher and scheduled class time, you need to be self-motivated to make time to learn,” Proudfoot says. “Also, a lot of classroom learning involves what you pick up from fellow students who ask questions, and this is largely absent in online learning.”
Common criteria for being a good online student includes familiarity with using computers for e-mailing, researching using the Internet and word processing capability, among others.
Local Colleges and Universities
Check your local college or university for online learning opportunities. Options include:
Central Carolina Community College: www.centralcarolina.org/distanceeducation
Durham Technical Community College: http://online.durhamtech.edu
Johnston Community College: www.jccc.net/home/depts/S00008
UNC-Chapel Hill Friday Center: http://fridaycenter.unc.edu/cp/index.htm
Wake Technical Community College: http://distanceed.waketech.edu
Other Online Options
Online Learning through Community Schools
http://cs.wcpss.net/wcpssonline
Wake County Public School System offers numerous online courses to the general public.
NC REAL
www.ncreal.org
North Carolina Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning is a nonprofit organization that provides online courses, workshops and training opportunities for adults and youth throughout North Carolina interested in entrepreneurship.
eLearners.com
www.eLearners.com
eLearners.com is a Web portal that connects learners to educational institutions that offer different course and degree levels, from certificate to Ph.D. programs.
Written by Cathy Downs
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