WCON- Reach out and Touch Someone by Janel

Ways to communicate online...

Hands on experience with
moodle, email, im, chat, discussion thread, chatrooms, whiteboard, voip, video conferencing, web conferencing, blogs, wiki, elluminate, skype

Skype- loaded into a network in less then 5 minutes, computer to computer is free, can call landline for free as well, recently bought out by ebay, originated in Belgium, works on dialup,

Elluminate- conference software, can also share the screen and more.

WCON -David Warlick Keynote Speaker by Janel

David Warlick- Landmark Project
(I have seen this guy at the NECC conference in San Diego adn have resources from that) EXCELLENT
david@landmark-project.com

"The iliterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn adn relearn."

Online handouts- http://handouts.davidwarlick.com
Blog with: redefine,literacy, warlick

We spend too much time teaching kids to use paper when we need to teach them how to use light.

Our job as educators is to prepare students for a future we cannot describe.

We should STOP integrating technology and start integrating literacy. INFORMATION LITERATE. We need to teach our kids how to teach themselves.

Wikipedia vs Encyclopedia (this is not a competition) each have different strengths. The encyclopedia is published by experts but is not as updated. The wikipedia is published by anyone, but is VERY current. Each has a different strength and use.

Reading as a literacy needs to expand to a range of skills including exposing truth. (find it, decode it, critically evaluate it, organize it into personal digital libraries) Kids start with informaiton that is billions of "pages" big. Being a digital detective. uncover the truth behind the information.

Math as a literacy. You ned to understand the language of numbers. Two things have dramatically changed the world of numbers. There are a lot more of them out there. There are thousands and they are digital. EXAMPLE- earthquake search thing. APPLICATION is the second thing. Applications have become more important as technology has become more commonplace.

Languages of technical areas become less important. Music tools for example. You can compose without formal training in music based on sound, technology and music programs.

Anatomy of the long tail. Books, music, movies that don't sell enough to be sold in a store. But the long tail provides a market online for us to produce things and make them available to others. Huge amounts of content made available this way.

Classroom Blogging- published two hours after done writing. Lulu.com self published and will upload the book in Word, saved as a pdf, library of congress stuff, made covers in photoshop, uploaded them, asks how much you want to make $3.00. they said OK we can sell it for $20.00. They make a webpage for it. They then accept credit cards and print and ship on demand. Interesting... look at this... Very cool.

Teach kids to be effective and responsive producers of materials. Everyone has something to say and do. The long tail doesn't make a living, but it is a nice supplement.

Writing expands into expressing ideas compellingly.

Expand our notions of literacy
1. Exposing truth
2. Employing logic
3. Express ideas compellingly
4. ETHICS (love and protect the truth)

Ethics
-seeks to express the truth
-do no harm
-be accountable
-respect and protect the information and its infrastructure

Stop integrating technology, redefine literacy and integrate that.

We see technology, kids see information. Information is at the center of their focus NOT technology. We need to concentrate more on the new information landscape and less on the machines.

How we go about convincing people that we need to retool education in this country.

Funny Internet cartoon-
You have reached the end of the internet. You will have to turn around, Use your back button to do so.

WCON- Organizational Readiness by Janel

Who is here?
New Holstein-looking to implement online learning classes in one department
Menomonee Area SD- planning for online learning last 3 years, board policies, etc
Janesville- has a planning grant for a charter virtual
Westfield- initial research stage of online learning
Sun Prairie- looking at online learning for a planning grant some time in the future
Milwaukee High School- looking at online learning
CESA 3- Looking at professional development online opportunities
CESA 11- Consortium of 29 schools that ar elooking at online learning
Hayward- HS staff is doing hybrid courses
New London- School of Online Marketing with an online component
Arbor Vitae- GT kids doing online learning
CESA 6- Professional Development
CESA 12- Creating Distance Learning Network

Online Curriculum
-Where do you get it?
-What is its quality?
-Do we buy it or develop it ourselves?
-Purchase curriculum only or a teacher too?
-Do we do synchronous or asynchronous curriculum?

Policy and Procedure
-services to provide- guidance, libraries, etc
-extracurriculars online
-preplanning with students using WiscCareers and learning styles inventory

Technical Infrastructure
-Access to internet ready computers with minimal tech specs
-proxy servers, filtering systems, popup blockers
-student email access
-technical staff to assist local teachers and students
-accomodations for after hours access

EMAIL-- Student names can't go out over the Internet according to CIPA--- check into this.

Funding Strategies
-Operating budgets from multiple sources
-Grants: state and federal
-Potential sources of federal funding
-Funds preserved by holding onto students who might otherwise leave

WCON- Online Course Evaluations- Exploratorium by Janel

presented by Appleton eSchool, iQ Academy, Wisconsin Virtual School, Madison Virtual Campus

Appleton eSchool Connie Radtke-Content Demo
2D Art Examples
-Scan in work or taking digital pictures
-At the beginning of each module it identifies the tasks they are going to be doing and the approx time it will take them to complete
-Students have pace charts and due dates as well
-Flash drawings and ask about what various artists were trying to sketch out. Game format, etc. -Virtual tours to museums

Don't like this session jumping to a new one...

WCON Supplementing Curriculum with Online Options by Janel

Presented by Sue Steiner Keil eSchool

Keil
-application process is through the guidance office
-primarily purchase from Florida Virtual School

Why do students enroll?
health problems
-want a challenge
-scheduling conflicts
-drop outs
-alternative to expulsion
-expelled
-at risk
-flex schedules
-transfer students
-transient students
-ap
-low enrollment courses
-out of sequence courses
-homebound
-travelling
-gt

Quality Online courses
-QUALITY teacher is number one!!!!
-consistent organization from one class to the next important to consider this when setting protocols

How do you know students do their own work
-proctored exams
-frequent communication
-teacher discernment

Tools to use when developing online courses
- http://www.edutools.info/ allows you to compare course management systems and it will provide you details and comparisons for them. This is a VERY useful tool to use. Tons of great information here.
- Moodle http://moodle.org/
- Online Course Evaluation Project (also on edutools) this helps you to look at content providers AND most useful for the categories that are listed on what items are important to look at in curriculum and more. VERY NICE. Put in a rubric that you develop for evaluative purposes
- Ncrel and Research projects portion of edutools
- National Repository of Online Courses- high school and ap. Growing. Quality courses.

Supplementary Content
-adds diversity even in F2F classes
-high quality and content beyond the means of the teacher
-addresses various learning styles
-multimodal learning
-why reinvent the wheel

Course Vendors
-put an rfp together
-piloted a few vendors the first year
-developed some locally developed courses as well
-FVS http://www.flvs.net/ they have course demos so you can look at lessons from many of their courses

Supplementary Providers
-Can license all of these individuals as well
-United Streaming
-Brain Pop
-Get A Clue
-SAS inSchool
-Horizon Wimbda/Wimba (voice email sending)- foreign language, $25 a license
-Geometer's Sketchpad

Web Conferencing Software
-Elluminate (highest quality)- look into this!!!
-WebEx
-Wimba
-Skype
--question to ask- is it VoIP or the Internet AND a phone line. Not sure what she said here... investigate further

Learning Objects
-mini lessons that are out there
- www.merlot.org/Home.php
- Fox Valley Technical College Learning Objects are all together online http://www.wisc-online.com/
- WiscNet http://www.digitaldistricts.org/

Wikis and Blogs

Virtual Field Trips and Projects
-www.twice.cc/rbib.html

Advantages and Disadvantages
-pay for high quality content
-CD/DVD supplements to textbooks
-ABILITY to CUSTOMIZE (check this if you want to be able to add units or lessons)
-updating and support offered by vendors
-Are you purchasing courses or modules? This is important.
-upfront vs. ongoing costs
-cost per student or one cost for course
technology issues

Considerations
-who hosts it?
-security issues
-intellectual copyright issues (if teachers develop) can't copy and paste
-ada compliance
-licensing agreements
-infrastructure support
-content fit the management system?

Teacher training
-need an ongoing mentor
-monthly staff development
-tech support
-other trainings
-Learning Point Associates NCREL- great online 6 week course for online teacher facilitation courses, offered in January, 3 grad credits with Cardinal Stritch, contact Sue Steiner about enrolling in this course

Student Considerations
-orientation course for students
-is their a teacher at the other end of the course
-quality directions
-tech support

Content
-not all text based, needs multimedia
-bandwidth

Start Small
-just go with a few sources at first
-resource that supports a large number of media rich sources
-decide whether to buy, license or build your own
-consider consortia for purchasing power (NL has indicated an interest in partnering with us)
-need to establish buy-in, very important

As far as grants and sustaining go- perpetual licenses are the key!! May not want to consider the rent a course options because they require continual monetary support

WCON- Keynote speaker by Janel

Susan Patrick: NACOL: CEO and President

More technology in our toothpaste factories measuring effectiveness than there is in our schools today.

40% of the high schools in the US don't have PA or advanced classes. This is horrible since we live in a knowledge based economy.

The Tipping Point- get that book

NEA Guide to online teaching for teacher union information. This is a great tool showing how they support online learning so the union doesn't fight so much.

Virginia county- gave all students a laptop (26,000) and still spent less than the state average because they got rid of the financial support for the old school model and invested in the new one.

NGA Gates Foundation Study just published. Challenges all students to complete college preparatory coursework whether they want to go to college or not. This reverses our thinking.

National- what is happening in elearning
#1 reason for offering online curriculum in hs in the US is because the course is not currently offered in their high school.
#2 reason offered by districts is to meet the specific needs of student groups

For policy making and presentations- get all the things you need to make on an index card
1-online learning expands options
2- online learning is rapidly growing (30% annual enrollment)
3-Research shows it is equal or better to traditional academic environment (based on federal study of student achievement scores)
4- Susan Loews. It improves teaching. Rethink content and strategies and go through significant training.

Measures of success
Are online students engaged?
What are the completion rates? (95% FVS, 90% AeS, 70% HS grad rate)
AP exam scores (national 60%, FVS 70%)

If we could enroll all of the kids who wanted online courses today there would be enough to everyone. There are 12 states, primarily in the Northeast, that are not in tune with online learning either locally or statewide.

2006 what's new
-Michigan requirement for all students to have an online learning experience (20 hours or more of intense)
-Georgia allows cybercharter programs
-New state led programs in many states opening up
-CA opening charter schools
-Nebraska distance ed law
-Washington developing guidelines for online learning
-Corporate America 30% do online training, will go to 50% in a few years time

We still spend money on globes. How many college programs buy globes?
Libraries are still spending money on subscriptions, how many students just go online to get the information
Text books- or laptops??? Which makes more sense, looking at 4 year leases. $250 a year. (1.11 per student per day)

System design- we need to focus on how we design the world, because things can only go as fast and as far as they are designed to do so.

Last time the high school system has been redesigned? 1905. Decided that they did not have to prepare all kids for college. Systemic effort to sort kids so 75% would go to industrial jobs and 25% would go to college. Valued efficiency above all else. Bell system, lock step kids by age NOT by how fast they learn, no choices, 30% drop out. 26% make it to 2 years of college. This model does not work.

Majority of drop outs 88% had passing grades, 69% are not motivated or disenfranchised, 66% would have worked harder if more had been demanded, At Risk kids. Losing these kids in our schools

We start schools as a question mark and end as a period.

WCON- Opening Session by Janel

WCON conference is the only one in the state that focuses exclusively on K12 online learning
_________________________________________

Appleton e-school skit- focused on what it was like to look at and take an online class, oral exams and phone call office hours

_________________________________________

Appleton eSchool and IQ Academy parent and student panel

-Parents feel that online classes allow them to be more involved than traditional classes
-Students felt that one on one communication was better online than traditionally
-Students liked that they could take required courses online to leave room for the advanced and elective courses they wanted to take in school
-Cheating- eSchool requires proctored final exam that students must pass can be taken in Appleton, at a library, in a local school, etc

I had more in this post but experienced Internet problems with the connections and lost the original post.

WCON Conference by Janel

Janel attended the WCON (Wisconsin Collaborative Online Network) http://www.wcon.info/
Conference in Fondulac at Marion College
November 16-17, 2006

I have a flash drive with most of the powerpoints from this conference on them (presented by Appelton eSchool and Kiel)

Marcia's Summarizing Statements from the Dallas Conference

Summary—and my opinions

Parents
Parents are an important factor in a student’s success with online courses. Only one of the sessions I attended stated that the parents are not expected to actively participate. The rest expect the parents to motivate/encourage students, as well as make sure the students are logging in and working in their classes. Some expect regular interaction with the teachers.

Students
Students say traditional classes are boring. I partially agree—nothing can be exciting all of the time. I think the problem is that schools are designed to provide a general education, and this education is paced according to the needs of the “middle” students—leaving the gifted and talented unchallenged/underchallenged, and the lower students lost and confused. I think this is what the students really mean when they say classes are “boring.” I can see how online classes would be more stimulating. Students are able spend as much or as little time as they need to learn individually, as opposed to a daily 40 minute classroom experience. Furthermore, the students are quite “connected,” and online classes would be appealing.

As all of the presenters stated, online classes are not for every student. The students who spoke to us stated that they (and their friends) thought the classes were easy, although the presenters stated that the classes are not easy at all. Online classes require responsibility as well as motivation, and the students need interaction with their teacher, according to one of the students.

Some things that might inadvertently help students succeed…
The fact that students choose to take an online course gives them some ownership. They receive a computer, and all the components necessary for their class, and this is “cool.” They can set their own time schedule, and they know they can contact their teacher (and they know how to contact their teacher) if they need help. They do not have the distractions that happen in traditional classes, and there are no face to face classmates who can bully or tease them. There is some freedom in the anonymity—if you said/wrote something embarrassing during a group discussion, you don’t have to face the others all day.

Mary Rich, one of the students who spoke to us, made a point I hadn’t considered. When discussion distractions at school, she said, “There are distractions at home, too, but they are YOUR distractions and you know how to handle them.”

Teachers
“A good classroom teacher is not necessarily a good online teacher.” This was repeated throughout the sessions.
Teachers need a great deal of initial and ongoing training and support, and need a mentor for guidance. They also need a mentor or a trustworthy group with whom they can “vent” confidentially and to combat/conquer frustration.
There is a “time factor” that will have to be considered, not only with training teachers, but with managing their online classes. The symposium attendees who were not teachers generally thought that online classes/teachers actually save time, but those who teach online stated that, initially, it takes more time, and eventually becomes about the same amount of time as a teacher would spend in a traditional class. Most classes contain at least ten, but not more than twenty, students. One group allows a veteran online teacher to accept more students.

Starting a Virtual School
I received some excellent information, and even a worksheet to help plan a virtual school.

Plan, plan, plan!

Creating policy is very important—have all of your ducks in a row and you will avoid many problems.

All presenters stated that you need to find a partner to help financially. It is important to determine at the beginning which partner will be responsible for providing each aspect of the virtual school. Again, planning—know exactly “who” is responsible for “what.”

A man from Colorado told us that they were creating their own curriculum materials, because the cost of purchasing curriculum is prohibitive. He and his team are quite computer-savvy, and have access to many community/business resources we do not have. At this time, I do not feel I have the ability or knowledge to create an online course that would have the “bells and whistles” of a prepackaged curriculum. The little bits of these courses that I saw were truly fabulous. According to the presenters, there are all kinds of prepackaged programs, and some of the least expensive are basically correspondence courses. “You get what you pay for” was the phrase they used, and said it definitely applied to prepackaged curriculum programs. They suggested that whatever program is chosen, it should be one that can be altered to meet state standards, and can be updated.

All presenters suggested that starting small was the best way to begin; it’s better to be successful with something small, than have something large that is just OK. A successful experience will fuel progressively large ventures.

“Yes, but…” or “Yes, and…”

During this symposium, I think Chic Thompson has managed to change our way of thinking. Instead of thinking a negative “Yes, but…,” we are thinking “Yes, and…” and seeking the positive. Turn things around—look at “What would we never do?” Sometimes, changing your viewpoint makes all the difference.
_______________________________________________________________________

I went to this symposium because I wanted to see what other people are doing with online education, and how they are doing it. I wanted to learn what others did “wrong”(in hopes that we could avoid it), as well as what they did “right.” As a teacher, I wanted to see the quality of the curriculum available, and I wanted to discover what I would need to do to become an online teacher. (The only thing I’d still like to do is view the Language Arts courses from various programs.)

I left the symposium feeling that a virtual school is something that we CAN create, and it will be successful. The “road” to that virtual school is going to be difficult, with many decisions and a ton of planning…and it will be a great learning experience for everyone. And… I am willing to be one of the teachers,… but I have to test drive the curriculum first!
Marcia

Links from the Dallas Conference

Link to information about What A Great Idea and Chic Thompson
http://www.whatagreatidea.com/

Companies that specialize in virtual school products:
--Pearson digital learning http://www.pearsondigital.com/
--Virtual School K12 Programs http://www.educators.k12.com/
--ecollege virtual Sage, online curriculum publishers http://www.virtualsage.org/



Virtual Schools that presented
--Minnesota Virtual Academy, Kim Ross Superintendent Houston, MN
--IQ Academies at Wisconsin, Lisa McClure lmcclure@kcdistancelearning.com See Marketing Ideas Sheet. Very useful. (In Janel's file) #1
--Michigan Virtual University Online Experience Guidelines (useful framework- In Janel's files) #2



Presentation Links
--Starting a Virtual School Program for Your District- The Virtual Campus Rapid City, SD: www.rcas.org/thevirtualcampus
--Virtual Veterans Top ten lists (interesting stuff- in Janel's file) #3
--Nacols research trends and statistics sheet with links to a lot of research (in Janel's file) #4
--Nacol's paper Virtual Schools and 21st Century Skills (in Janel's file) #5
--How to Start A Virtual School PreConference Packet (in Janel's file) #7
--Keeping Pace with K12 Online Learning State Level policy and practice book (in Janel's file) #8
--Quality School Checklist from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (in Janel's file #9)




Next year's conference is in Louisville Kentucky. http://www.nacol.com/ November 4-6.2007

Critical Issues Relative to Charter Virtual School by Deb

Critical Issues Relative to Charter Virtual School
Submitted by deb Gerard

In considering what is most important, the following come to mind:

We need to nail down specifically what it is we are going to do-exactly what kind of school we are looking to develop (and it has to be more detailed than “charter virtual school”!)
Determine who our target students will be specifically.
What we will offer those targeted students.
If we determine to buy curriculum, we will need to make decisions on what curriculum and from where
Once we determine what we want specifically, we need to determine WHO and what we need to bring it about. That includes:
personnel and how we use them,
policy and what it needs to include,
student management and how and by whom that will be accomplished,
marketing and how it will be done and by whom and
how we will evaluate (DPI just told us that we must always make evaluation a part of the original plan for anything!).
The role of our current staff
How and through what medium(s) staff will be trained once we decide their role
There needs to be a specific timeline for this project over the course of the next few months as the next deadline for the grant is not all that far away!
We need to set the next meeting and soon!

New London Collaboration

Joe Pomrening principal at New Londaon high school contacted us to see if we would be interested in collaborating on some of the curriculum. They are writing a planning grant for a charter school that has a virtual school as one of its components. He indicated that a collaboration with Keil or Appleton is $100,000 for each of two years. His phone number is 920-982-8420 x1001. He attended the Dallas virtual school symposium as well.

Janel's Overall List of Ten Important Concepts from the conference

1. Policies- we need to research policies like mad. There are many things to consider in the set up of our policies and how they will effect the outcome and viability adn effectiveness of our school.

2. Curriculum options- We have to decide if we are going to buy courses and provide our own teachers, have our teachers develop the curriculum adn teach it and sell our curriculum to others, have our teachers teach in a consortium and "exchange" seats (Wisconsin e-network, private companies), purchase on an individual course basis per student like virtual school

3. Community building is important. ways to use the technology and "new space" to create a school community of interactive learners, community, teachers and parents. Therewere some really good ideas of how to accomplish this.

4. Marketing ideas. Marketing the school is very important. Getting training inthis and being able tobrainstorm and network is key. Ideas of getting your name, mission and WHAT IT IS YOU DO out there.

5. Quality Measurementand program evaluation Online progam perceiver by Appleton Virtual School is a great way to measure program effectiveness and monitor what is going on. This shouldbe builtin.

6. Chic Thompson Ways to brainstorm and develop yes and habits. The power of opposite thinking when solving a problem. Turning it into opportunity. What would we never do?

7. Resources Use SREB resources. Lots there.. Also our worthiest competitors will be out best allies.

8. Concentrate on LEARNING not the medium of instruction

9. Student Management System- the current "traditional" (skyward) system will not work. It needs to have many moreoptions and tracking communication piece. This is key so make sure to research both it and the adminstration of it well.

10. Teacher and Student Preparation All teachers and mentors should have to take an online course first. All studnets should have an orientation course so they know how the system works and to troubleshoot technology problems (add-ins, speed, etc) before they are in an actual class.

Break Out 2 Tues-Collaboration by Deb

Focus on people not places in virtual world
Lots of self-organizers
Weekly collaboration meeting-always agenda and purpose
Comments from new teacher:
Connection is critical
Sharing of best practices
Consensus building-unified front (great idea!)
Broadens perspective
Confidence builder knowing you can talk together

Special Ed collaboration:
Not a lot of guidelines in place nationally
Part of SE job is assigned to VS-come together F2F weekly though also email
Sometimes more difficult to get things done and the collaboration helps here
Lots of discussions relative to policies
Principal involved in meetings
Operations
Pulled into the team and give input on what they believe policy should reflect
Weekly collaboration with adm
Sense in which “we are there for each other”
Collaboration has to be a required weekly thing-part of the job
Collaboration restores community
Marriage at a distance
Three legged stool-people/technology/processes all under the umbrella of purpose
SIT process:
Student Improvement Team-meet monthly collaboratively
Teachers email one week prior on student strengths/weaknesses
Can help all students because of brainstorming even though working on individual student
Can effect change quickly by calling attention to parent and providing tools and methods and very individualized
Part-time contracted teachers are assigned collaboration (well worthwhile)
Mentor for each new teacher
Teachers add informal collaborations with students (ie. 5AM 2 times a week) can build bonds even without sight
Informal parent collaboration: Can deal with issues but will need to address with administration
Analyzing student work: Talking about grading in the same way
Important to know how to do appropriate feedback/communication virtually
Handout: Rubric-apply this rubric to collaboration meetings
Much of the collaboration is NOT administration driven-can give guidance and support and wait to be invited in!
Key to collaboration is that it is safe and secure to express and agree/disagree

Break Out 3: Data and by Deb

FLVS overview:
36,000 students enrolled-looks like a district now
School House concept within this district-now have 11 houses with 45 teachers each
35% from EEcon
Wisc is beginning to look like this within partnerships on a smaller basis
Driving factors:
Accountability-proving that we do what we say we do-every three months
Funding-only funded for students that is successful (d or above)-ongoing enrollment
Transparency-hierarchy
If students take this class after school day, state pays for it; if during school day, district pays for it(1/6 of cost/student)
Less than 500 students, can do data on spreadsheet
Ideal model is that the FTE is never received by the district-it goes directly to the state
Accountability:
Hierarchical approach
Accountability: state-district-school-class,
operations: students-parents-teachers-counselor-adm) makes this very transparent
The system:
Diff between leading data and laggard data
Leading-making sure you can impact students in front of you today
Laggard-when data still impacts the new students when designed to impact the students who WERE there
Can’t make decisions outside of data

Operational:
Rolling enrollment-no beginning or ending-serving as needed
Wait lists-a way to provide for all kids to get what they want and to start when they want-most are placed within a week or so, no longer than 3-4 weeks (if that long, will hire a new teacher)
Kids willing to wait max of 4 weeks but evidence shows that longer wait results in higher % of drop-outs
Kids have “weigh factors” (mission is to serve the ones at most need-impoverished, minority, medical, etc)
Student progress and communication:
Looking if students are on schedule or not and when they submitted work-after 3 weeks, no longer a student usually
Principal can access data as well as teachers to determine what is going on
Teacher dashboard-gives teacher all the class information
So much data provided and it is integrated daily to the other management systems
All contact is logged and all can be sort (common comments so all can see it)
28 days to decide if they are going to be a student of that course-if within, WD-no grade--if over, WD-F
Strategic:
Benchmarking data
Trends-Looking at big picture (year to year) data
Retention data
Accountability data
Students who are 65% complete in a course, there is an online survey to evaluate the course!!

Tues Breakout 3- 5 Myths of the Mind by Janel

Myths

1. Your mind is that single voice in your head.
-concious internal talk is not all you are
-mind is much more conplex and most are unconscious resources
-learning starts by paying attention and then skill/knowledge becomes natural
-difficult to explain thought process of things that become natural
-awash with data, bt not necessarily to make it conscious
-Things you learn so well that are natural become your basic skills, fast to use, and almost invisible and INDIVISIBLE
-Conscious thought is for the HARD problems, it builds on all of our unconscious- what is already there.

2. Minds are like a computer
-old model- computers have processors andstograge and education makes this faster and stronger and fills the mind with seperate data
-new model- the mind is an association engine, expert minds identify different patterns and see things differently

3. Expert minds just know more than non-expert minds
-professors often know less facts than their students
-nonexperts do not have the associative and problem solving skills that experts do
-all human expertise seems divisible into 10-20 big ideas. same types of structure of knowledge with a lot of stuff tucked in underneath
-the structure of knowledge is subconscious
-experts have had a lot of practice
-most experts are VERY self critical
-get teacher and material experts be able to sncourage kids and guide them rather than frustrate them

4. Your mind works like other minds
-different minds learn best in different ways
-ALL minds can learn more than we expect

5. Talent makes things easier
-American peculiarity- if I were good at X, it would be great, because it would be EASY
-other cultures- mastery is a matter of work not talent
-practice and hard work make mastery
-obsession makes mastery
-mastery is about fluency-the unconcious process

Use flexibility and technology to make the vast amount of work required to make kids masters. HOW DO WE DO IT?

Talent allows you to do truly extraordinary things with enormous effort. Your staff has an incredible amount of unconsious mastery to utilize. Talent only gives you permission.

Tues BreakOut #2- Online Professional Development by Janel

Professional Development pitfalls
Quick fixes rather than systemic
Don’t utilize data
Happiness quotient
Insufficient time
Sit and get
Initiative overload
Pd as frill
Teachersonly
Expert dissemination

Barriers to Online Teaching
Online Textbooks
Banker Design
I'm Already a teachers
Practice Patience
Presence not predominance
quantity vs quality

Online Readiness Checklist

Monday notes 5 by Marcia

Monday
Session: Effective Methods for Training, Supporting, and Retaining Quality Online Instructors
Presenters: Lisa Watkins, Sandra Richards, Jamie Sachs--Georgia Virtual School (state funded)
According to presenters, Georgia Virtual School has the online program for what it does best—train, support, and retain teachers

To be successful, you must first determine what the term means.

Defining success:

Look at completion rates (“successful” completion rate = 70% score)
Compare standardized test scores
Compare instrucxtional techniques
Teacher evaluations
Student evaluations

Factors that Affect Success:
Teacher standards
Teacher training
Instructional techniques
Teacher evaluation
Student support

Georgia Virtual School has these online teacher standards:
National and State Standards
Organizational Standards

Georgia standards
Instructor manual
SREB Task Force Standard Development
Teacher training (ongoing)

Teacher forum

Application for online teaching positions through Georgia Virtual School is a rigorous process, and entrance into the training program does not guarantee employment.

Teacher Training
Based on set standards
Provides an opportunity for teachers to perform as online learners
Provides the opportunity for teachers to learn the pedagogy of online teaching and learning and the technology requirements for teaching online
Mirrors expectations set in virtual student classrooms

Veteran teachers develop the courses for Georgia Virtual School; Georgia DPI owns the content of the courses.

Georgia Virtual School hires teachers based on need—there are no full time teachers.
There are three semesters, and three pacing models (4 week semester, 16 week semester, 13 week semester). (Explanation was requested several times by several people, and we still did not understand this.)

Questions regarding funding—for example, does funding follow student?—were answered, “That gets worked out among theirselves(sic).”

Fall and SpringTeacher Training
“Desire to Learn” is their trsaining program

Content Requirements:
Well defined learning objectives
Clear and organized content
Varied assignments and assessments that address learning objectives

Instructor techniques
Address individual learning styles through:
Course content
Live chats—“Elluminate” program
Other communication methods
All available sources

Create a community of learners by:
Providing opportunities for collaboration and interaction
Providing timely and targeted feedback
Encouraging communication

Successful completion=mentoring
School provides access, Georgia Virtual School provides materials
______________________________________________
Whoever trains your teachers, be sure to--
model the teaching and dealing with problems
relate to standards set for teacher
have experienced mentors for each teacher
have new teachers shadow veteran online teachers (and teach a unit of the course)

Marcia

Monday Notes 4 by Marcia

Marcia’s notes…
Monday, November 6 3:00 PM
SESSION: Supporting the Online Instructor: Best Practices in Teacher-Training, Community-Building, and Professional Development Online
Presenters: Jo Wagner and Robin Winder, Florida Virtual School
Janna Vega and Jennifer Quintero, Idaho Digital Learning Academy

What do teachers need to be effective online teachers? It’s all about relationships and support.

This presentation states the professional development and support offered by Florida Virtual School and Idaho Digital Learning Academy

Basic Outline:
Florida Virtual School:
Annual Face to Face Conference
Ongoing Professional Development Online
Outstanding Performance Tool with Bonus Pay
Training and Mentoring
Idaho Digital Learning Academy:
Support Network
_________________________
Face to Face Faculty Conference—one week long

Train new teachers and assemble veteran faculty
Workshops
New technology and resources
Online teaching practices
Online instructional design
State standards
Up-to-date research of online education
Special topics, such as cyberbullying
Team Building! A sense of community…

Ø Teachers are paid for the week, and paid for travel.

Ongoing Professional Development Online
Online training for teachers
o Using Blackboard
o Instructional design
o Formatting and file size
o Creating assessments
o Structuring a course
o Screen design
Online Professional Development Course
o Required annually for all teachers
o Specific focus each year
§ Using digital media online
§ Creating a classroom community online
College credit is always available for the conference and online course

“Outstanding Performance” Measurement Tool

A rubric to measure and guide teacher performance and practice
Clear communication of expectations
Opportunity to earn “bonus pay” for outstanding performance

Students also rate teachers.
Semester classes are 18 weeks.
A score of 32 qualifies the teacher for “bonus pay”--$25 per student
Bonus pay is available each semester

Areas evaluated include:
Ø Quality of feedback
Ø Communication
Ø Teacher’s participation in professional development
Ø Administrative requirements (reports, student grades, up-to-date class schedule, etc.)
Ø Student evaluation of relationship with teacher

Student is charged $50 per semester.
A 9 week course pays the same as an 18 week course.
Teacher is paid for all students who stay after two weeks.
____________________
Support Network—Idaho

Support provided:

Online principals—assigned by subject area (principals take care of problem if student is cheating, for example)
Site coordinators—in student’s home school
Regional coordinators—coordinate individual schools
Technical support specialist—full time 8-5
Team leaders
Content specialists—experts on content
Content area teams—a sense of community
Provide teachers an arena to practice modifying content without doing any “real damage”
Facilitate regular, open communication within a subject area about current issues, “how to” questions, or future development ideas
· Content Area team leaders
o Mentor new teachers
o Act as communication hubs
o Facilitate the work and administration of the team
· Constant Communication
o Email
o Instant messaging
o Online Instructor Handbook/Workbook
o “How to” guides for technology use
_____________________________

FLVS
Training and Mentoring
Ø Establish and model relationships with students
Ø Support teacher development
Ø Institutional support
Ø Community building
Ø Mentoring—improves instructional performance, provide teacher support

Online Training courses—45 days long?
Ø New hire training course
Ø Graded and facilitated by the mentors
Ø Models effective feedback and communication
Ø Content area orientation

Timely Trainings
Ø Mentor corners
Ø Rapid reminder
Ø Monday Mentor Minutes
Ø Thirsty Thursdays
Ø Telephone
Ø Web conferences
All of these are communications aimed at correcting specific problems

Program Accountability
Ø Monthly checklists
Ø Contact logs
Ø Mentee surveys
Ø Teacher retention

Teacher teaching 135 credits is considered full time
Maximum 25 students in class
Majority of staff begin as adjuncts
Currently have 9000 teachers on waiting list
94% teacher retention

Lessons Learned
Ø Mentoring and training teachers is critical to success
Ø Set expectations very early regarding training commitment
Ø Build in accountability at all levels
Ø Simulate student learning via teacher training
Ø Use “just in time” information delivery to reduce frustration
Ø Allocate human and financial resources for mentoring program—this is critical
Ø Work in “chunks,” not chips
Ø Pace charts for students are given to parents

Wow!
Marcia

Monday Notes 3 by Marcia

Marcia’s notes…
Monday, November 6 1:45
Session: Structured For Success: Online Lessons That Work For Every Learner

Presenters:
Dr. Steven Guttentag Connections Academy Sr. V.P. and founder
Patricia Hoge Connections Academy
Camissa French Arizona Connections Academy

This session was basically a sales pitch for Connections Academy.

Connections Academy has full time students in 11 states and is asynchronous, and uses print and online resources. Students use a textbook. One semester equals 90 hours, or .5 Carnegie Units (this was not explained, but it is what students earn for “completing” each semester class—I don’t know if the students must “ successfully complete” a class, or what score must be achieved to successfully complete a course.) The Connections Academy works with Glencoe, Pearson and other publishers. There was a reference to “Wisconsin Observance Days,” and it was not explained.

Basic information:

Parents are involved with their students and the teachers, and are expected to implement and motivate.

Connections Academy works on a five part model.
Lesson components of that model:
Getting Started—access prior knowledge, journaling, graphic organizers, predict, infer, draw conclusions
Instruction—movies (interactive), streaming movies, textbook, CA developed activities
Activity—interactive “itext,” workbook or web extension, projects, science lab
Review—studymate games, text quizzes, online quickchecks
Assignments (Assessments?)—dropbox essays, supportive website, discussion board, online quickcheck, online quiz, unit tests