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Online Learning

Please check out our 2014 Newsletter!

Newsletter April, 2014

What is the online learning program at Pittsfield Middle High School?

Pittsfield Middle HighSchool’s Online Learning Program enhances student education by providing them with the opportunity to enroll in online courses scheduled during the normal school day. Recognizing the educational importance of the valuable skills learned through online course experiences, Pittsfield Middle High School affords students the option to enroll in an online course and is equipped with the technology to support online learning.

For more information regarding the online learning programs at Pittsfield Middle High School, please contact Sarah Carri, Dual Enrollment/Online Coordinator at 603-435-6701 x4212 or scarri@pittsfieldnhschools.org.

Online educational offerings are available for all students who want to:

♦ Earn college credit (eStart & uStart), students can earn college credit at reduced cost to families

♦ Enrich knowledge and skills

♦ Learn new knowledge

♦ Meet high school graduation requirements

♦ Prepare for post secondary education

♦ Recover high school credits

Why Online Learning?

♦ Achieve successful academic results 

♦ Advances learning (AP, Pre-AP,CP, Honors, NCAA, gifted & talented) 

♦ College preparatory classes 

♦ College courses 

♦ Enhance career pathways 

♦ Expand course offerings 

♦ Expand student learning with minimal cost 

♦ Experience and learn new technologies and software applications 

♦ Alternatives when course scheduling conflicts arise 

♦ Help students graduate on time 

♦ Improve chances for college scholarships 

Pittsfield Middle High School students can enroll in the following online schools and programs: 

 

Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS) (www.vlacs.org)

The Virtual Learning Academy Charter School is New Hampshire’s first statewide, online high school that is available free of charge to all high school students who live in New Hampshire. Some advantages of VLACS are:

♦ Learn Anywhere, Anytime at your own pace

♦ Tuition Free for all students residing in NH

♦ We accept out-of-state students

♦ Students are part or full-time

♦ An approved NH Public School

♦ Over 125 certified instructors (HQT)

♦ Over 100 MS, HS and college classes

♦ Ongoing registration-start anytime!

♦ Full credit classes, honors classes and competency recovery

 

Virtual High School (VHS)(www.thevhscollaborative.org)

 

Virtual High School is a leader in online education and professional development. It has proven in its eleven year history that the collaborative is committed to quality course design, online education standards and pedagogy, student assessment, teacher professional development and teacher certification. Some advantages are:

♦ Five seats offered per semester

♦ Must be approved and meet pre requisites for some courses

♦ Weeks start on Wednesdays and end on Tuesdays

♦ Assignments have due dates and semester long classes have end dates

♦ Some classes are year-long classes

♦ Full credit courses in semester time

♦ Provide own Highly Qualified Teachers

♦ Flexibility to work on outside of class

♦ Interesting and engaging classes

♦ 21st Century Learning

♦ Registration deadlines

♦ Advanced Placement classes, Honors, College Preparatory, Gifted & Talented classes and NCAA classes

 

ODYSSEYWARE (Student login: pittsfieldsd.owschools.com, Informational website: www.odysseyware.com)

ODYESSEYWARE is a self-paced, independent student courseware designed by education specialists. ODYSSEYWARE deploys broad curriculum to effectively instruct as many students sensitive to unique learning styles. ODYSSEYWARE is a leading provider of online curriculum and eLearning solutions for charter, public, and virtual schools across the United States. With more than thirty years of experience, ODYSSEYWARE provides innovative, 21st century learning opportunities for today’s tech-savvy learners. Some advantages are:

♦ Fully Internet-based curriculum designed with maximum flexibility, students complete courses completely on their own time 

♦ Correlated with state standards  

♦ Development team creates core and elective classes using the three fundamental steps of “backward design”. 

♦ Courses are organized into sequential units that build upon each other and include a completed scope and sequence. 

♦ Guided Learning Process: Identify, Recommend, Guided Learning, Analyze & Evaluate 

♦ Available for full credit class or competency recovery 

♦ Competency recovery option allows students to “test out” of lessons to move on to the next lesson 

♦ PMHS teachers are assigned to each student course to grade assignments 

 

 Dual Enrollment Opportunities:

Dual enrollment is a class that is offered both as a high school credit and college credit. There are currently three programs available for dual credit opportunities:

  (http://www.ccsnh.edu/academics/estart)

 eStart is a partnership between VLACS and the Community College System of New Hampshire. These are high school courses that have been designed to meet college standards. Credits earned through eStart are dual credits: high school and college. Any New Hampshire junior or senior from high school, private school, alternative school or home educated can take 100% online courses taught by CCSNH instructors. eStart follows a college calendar for registration, course schedule and finals. Tuition is just $150 per course which covers the cost of the college credit. Those credits can be used toward a degree program at CCSNH or other post secondary institutions. Course grades will be included on VLACS transcripts as well as CCSNH transcripts.

Running Startis a partnership between the Community College System of NH (CCSNH) and area high schools. Students can earn college and high school credit while in high school, giving them a “running start” on a college degree and saving money on tuition. The community college courses are part of the daily class schedule taught at the high school by a high school teacher during the regular school day. Tuition is $100 per course. The high school teacher partners with a faculty member from a NH Community College.

 

uStart is a dual enrollment program available through Southern New Hampshire University to qualified sophomores, juniors and seniors. The dual enrollment program provides students the opportunity to earn college credit prior to high school graduation. Qualified high school instructors teach SNHU courses in the high school during the regular school day as well as online through VLACS. Instructors teaching through this program must meet specific academic requirements to be approved to offer the course in the school for dual credit. Tuition is $100 per course.

*** Scholarships for covering the fee for dual credit classes are available for those who qualify. Please contact Sarah Carri for more information.

Key K-12 Online Learning Stats: (http://www.inacol.org/press/docs/nacol_fast_facts.pdf)

♦ 40 states have state virtual schools or state-led initiatives.

♦ 30 states, as well as Washington, DC, have statewide full-time online schools. There were an estimated 1,816,400 enrollments in distance-education courses in K-12 school districts in 2009 – 2010, almost all of which were online courses. 74% of these enrollments were in high schools. This estimate does not include students enrolled in most full-time online schools which were approximately 200,000 students in 2009-2010 and 250,000 students in 2010 – 2011. These figures represent phenomenal growth as a decade ago, it was estimated there were 40,000-50,000 enrollments in K-12 online education.

♦ The top reasons why school districts make online learning opportunities available to their students is to provide courses not otherwise available at their schools, and providing opportunities for students to recover course credits from classes missed or failed.

♦ The College Board estimated that in 2010 only 33.7% of school districts offered AP® or IB course in English, math, social studies, and science.

♦ The types of online courses with the highest enrollments in school districts are credit recovery and dual-credit.

♦ The most common provider of supplemental online courses to school districts are universities. 75% of districts offering online learning options for their students indicate that all courses were developed by an organization other than the school district.

♦ 74% of school districts with distance education programs planned to expand online offerings over the next 3 years.

♦ The most common location for students accessing their online course is their school, with 92% of students accessing courses from school and only 78% of students accessing courses from home.

♦ In April 2006, Michigan became the first state to require online learning for high school graduation. Since that time Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Virginia, and West Virginia have added requirements. There are currently some school districts in New Hampshire that now require at least one online class for graduation requirements.