NCVPS/LEO Strategic Plan

Follow this link to see the NCVPS/LEO Strategic Plan.

Curriculum and Instruction Celebrations

NCVPS Teacher of the Year

Congratulations to Emily Parrish who has been selected to be the 2010 NCVPS Teacher of the Year!

Emily is a Credit Recovery and OCS teacher as well as the Credit Recovery Department Chair. Her nomination has been sent to SREB to put her in the running for the National Online Teacher of the Year. I know you will all join me in congratulating Emily!

We also want to congratulate the following individuals for being nominated by their peers for this honor:

Beth Wolz, Rebecca Stone-Danahy, Kendra Gallos, John Spicer, Stephanie Thurow, Heather Yungbluth, Robin Filter, Karen Carroll, Maguy Yancey, Jose Sequera, Elizabeth Lovelady-Alfonso, Celine Ascas-Wormhood, John Chen, Kim Small, Dolka Vindas, and Consuelo Schwatrz.


National Art Education Award

We are excited to announce that Rebecca Stone-Danahy, one of our Digital Photography teachers, has been named the National Art Education Association National Art Honor Society Sponsor of the Year!! This is also exciting because last year’s recipient was Arts Department Chair, Debra Pylypiw. Back-to-back honors for NCVPS AND North Carolina Art Educators.

LOCK Session: NCVPS's Funding Formula

John Brim, NCVPS's Chief Operation's Officer, discusses the NCVPS funding formula.

EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP, EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS

[Blog post by Melissa Davis, Virtual Learning Consultant]

Interestingly, during this time of economic hardship, many best practices in e-Learning have emerged in North Carolina’s public schools. During recent site visits throughout Region 4, I witnessed educators who have embraced the digital learning era and are providing students with optimal access to online and blended learning opportunities. Many factors have influenced this shift in educating our young people. Perhaps the economic downturn forced educators to reevaluate modes of delivery, cost effectiveness of various programs, and implement best practices that are supported by data that tracks student success.

High flying districts across the state have embraced the digital age and are providing students with a variety of learning opportunities through the use of blended and online instruction. In my recent visits to Gaston County Public Schools, Union County Public Schools and Charlotte-Mecklenberg Public Schools, I noted several common threads in this paradigm shift taking place in education today.

Around the World in One Hour: A World Language Tour with NCVPS

Catch the tour here! This is the archive from Nov. 30 where NCVPS presented a webinar that give parents and schools a primer on what NCVPS offers, why world languages are critical to 21st-century future-ready students, and why NCVPS is a leader in online world languages.

The Virtual Advantage Digest highligts our recent blogs, tweets, bookmarks, check ins, e-lerts, and social mentions. Read the Nov. 29 Digest here.

Latin Culture Cafe Session Nov. 18

Check out the Latin Culture Cafe Session at the NCVPS Culture Cafe. This archived session was live on November 18th. The event was hosted by NCVPS teachers Lisa Stanioch, Robin Farber, Frank Williams, and Tom Sears. Former and current students joined in the discussion.

Watch the archived session here:

Follow the link to SchoolTube here.

Curriculum and Instruction Celebrations

Congrats to the C+I team on their most recent success!

Culture Cafe

On November 16th our former Spanish student Brandon J. presented in Spanish and English "La Comida Típica de las Comunidades de España". 30 students participated actively in the session. Brandon took Spanish I through IV with NCVPS. He is actually studying Chinese I with NCVPS and teaching himself Italian! He is going to present another Culture Café session for his Chinese class. We are proud of Brandon!


National Boards

Congratulations to Andrea Stewart and Lorie Poff who got their National Boards renewal. Congratulations to health teacher Sonya Smith who passed her National Boards.

Karen Ragazzo (AP GOovt.), David Phillips (AP Euro), and Frank Felicelli (AP Euro) have met and passed all of the requirements for their National Board Certification.

District Recognition

Anthony Barton (African American Studies) was chosen as the Certified Employee of the Month for the Public Schools Of Robeson County.

History Department

Matt McLean (World History) paid a visit to his students at West Montgomery High School on November 4th. He got the chance to meet his students and they got the chance to meet their teacher face to face!


NC Science Teachers Association Conference

At the NC Science Teachers Association Conference, Carrie Jones won the election for Treasurer, and Sam Wheeler won the District Director election for Wake and its surrounding counties. Congratulations to both Carrie and Sam.


CTE Department

Congratulations to the Early Calendar Success 101 team who had 3 sections with a 100% and 2 sections with 97% Pass Rate.

Congratulations to the Early Calendar Health team. Their final grade for the 9 week course was 96%.


The Arts

The North Carolina Poet Laureate, Cathy Bowers was in Residency with the Advanced Placement Music Theory course. The Poet Laureate discussed the use of metaphor and the use of an abiding image. Tom Moncrief, AP Music Theory teacher, used the music of Beethoven to illustrate the use of the musical motif in relationship to the key components of the literary arts. This Virtual Residency was supported by the North Carolina Arts Council. Great example of using our Wimba Tools to bring this exciting opportunity to our courses.

The North Carolina Art Education Association recently held its annual Professional Development Conference in New Bern. Many of our teachers were selected to give presentations. These included Debra Pylypiw, Rebecca Stone-Danahy, Michelle Harrell, and Sara Gant.

Birth Announcement

Congratulations to our own Ann Spencer! Ann teaches CR Physical Science and her family has expanded by one. Asa Ray Spencer was born at 10:55 PM on November 20th. Asa was 8 pounds and 3 ounces, 20 inches long. Everyone is doing great!

Around the World in One Hour: A World Language Tour with NCVPS

NCVPS will be presenting a webinar to give parents and schools a primer on what NCVPS offers, why world languages are critical to 21st-century future-ready students, and why NCVPS is a leader in online world languages.

DATES:
 Tuesday, November 30 at 8:00 pm
 Thursday, December 9 at 8:00 pm

LOG ON INFO:
Access via the web at -
http://ncvpsclassroom.wimba.com/launcher.cgi?room=_ncvps_s__4100_1_883357

PIN number for conference – 15007821

Call In Access – (201) 549-7595
* Use same PIN number for phone access.

Modular Learning

The modular learning concept was born from this question: "Why should we wait until a students fail a course to offer them credit recovery help?" Now when students fall behind in a course, schools can now enroll them into any one of our 24 modules from English, math, digital communications, and science courses. Students will have the opportunity to master the module's concept (usually over a 1-2 week period) and catch back up with their peers in class.

Right now modular courses are open just to pilot districts, but they will be offered statewide in Spring 2011.

Watch the Flypaper presentation here: http://www.ncvps.org/preso/Modular%20Blended%20Learning/

Thanks to Jennifer Nobles, one of our modular learning specialists, for the great presentation.

Virtual Advantage Digest for Nov. 12, 2010

The Virtual Advantage Digest highligts our recent blogs, tweets, bookmarks, check ins, e-lerts, and social mentions. Click here to see the digest.

NCVPS OCS Courses: Blending Learning

Michelle Lourcey, our Director for Credit Recovery and Occupational Course of Study, discusses NCVPS OCS courses for Spring 11.

Please follow the two links below to view the archives for the Nov. 9 presentation. The third link takes you to our OCS page.

1) OCS Blended Learning Part 1: Michelle gives an overview of the program and gives numerous testimonials from the pilot districts.

http://www.schooltube.com/video/71262ea7f4aecc0552ad/OCS-Part-1

2) OCS Blended Learning Part 2: Michelle explains how to register for OCS courses and what training is involved for the classroom EC teacher.

http://www.schooltube.com/video/3e275d869bea24e5424f/OCS-Part-2

3) Here's the link to our OCS information page. Schools will need to complete the survey before they can register for OCS courses. The survey will be available on Nov. 15.

http://www.ncvps.org/courses/ocs/

Virtual Desktop on the Latest Tech Blog

Virtual Desktop is really a hot topic. Virtualization has been hot in Information Technologies for several years now, and that is moving into the education arena .... fast! Since my blog post in April of 2010, much discussion about virtual desktop solutions for students has gone on in the face to face and virtual school ecosystems. Race To The Top funding has only feed this fire. States such as North Carolina have been granted the resources to revolutionize their computer infrastructure to educate a new generation of students, and Virtual Desktop is seen as a cornerstone in the base foundation.

Continue reading here . . . .

Director's Blog: Stalker Apps or Immersive Intelligence?

I will probably lose my digerati card for this, but I’m embarrassed to say that I had not spent a lot of time with Foursquare until very recently. Immersed into trying to figure it all out and make connections to education, I also had the pleasure this past week of reading Rich Karlgaard’s, Ten Rules of A Cheap Revolution as well as hearing Chris Dede speak about his Virtual Assesment Project.

So as is the case with many of my blogs, I was looking for a common thread when I dropped my son Ben off for his first week at his immersion preschool, http://www.spanishforfun.com/. As it turns out, his preschool allows webcam access for parents at anytime. In addition, they blog about classroom events and experiences, and they have an RSS subscription feed for updates and tips.

Continue reading at edReformer!

LOCK Session - Oct. 19: Curriculum and Instruction Presentation

Dr. Tracy Weeks leads the Curriculum and Instruction Presentation at the Oct. 19 LOCK session.

Part 1

Part 2


Part 3

Creative Commons: What Every Educator Needs to Know

Are your students using multi media for projects and assignments? You'll want to see this!

From the K12 Online Conference 2010

For more on Creative Commons, follow this link.

Primary Digital Portfolios

Teaser for Primary Digital Portfolios at the K12 Online Conference 2010. Is your district ready for this? Are your teachers ready for this?

K12 Online 2010 Conference

Here is Dean Shareski keynote which looks at the new obligation of sharing for educators. With stories from the a variety of sources, the fact that we now have the ability to teach and share beyond our classrooms is moving from “nice to do” to “necessary to do”.

Leave a comment if you agree or disagree.

The 2010 K-12 Online Conference starts on Monday, October 11th 40 presentations by educators and students from around the world will be posted both to the conference blog and the conference Ning over the next two week. Come here to The VLC for updates, too!

Director's Blog: Paging Lois and Clark

The furor over the move Waiting for "Superman" has me thinking this week about Lois Lane and Clark Kent. As you are aware by now, the movie’s “Superman” title stems from an homage to an anecdote told by Geoffrey Canada, the charismatic leader of New York’s celebrated Harlem Children’s Zone charter school program. As a poor but ambitious kid growing up in the crime-ridden South Bronx, Canada liked to fantasize that Superman would save him; ultimately, of course, he had to save himself.

Yet, I submit that it is the Clark Kent assistant principal or the early adopter Lois Lane teacher that can shake up our kids daily planet right now. If you are tired of waiting on superman, keep reading about the power of Lois and Clark to transform your school site.

Director's Blog: Teacher Transparency Is Transformational

With the national debate around teacher effectiveness, it is curious why e-learning and blended learning are often left out of many of the conversations. I3 reviewers did not get it, and many state Race to the Top plans seem to be propping up the old system, not transforming it.

E-learning and Blended Learning teachers know well that their social media discussions, learning management system archives, and synchronous online webinars can be continuously monitored for coaching, learning, mentoring, and/or evaluation.

In short, there is no classroom door to close in our world. The proverbial one room school house has been moved for these teachers, and transparency helps them do their job as effectively as face to face teachers and even more so when the approach is blended.

On 9/23/10 this week, I’ll be involved in an Edweek webinar with Pam Birtolo, Chief Learning Officer for Florida Virtual School to discuss the “Evaluation of E-educators’ Evolving Skills”. This webinar should also provide context to the recent Edweek article: E-Evaluations: Watching your Every Move”.

Director's Blog: Blended Strategic Planning

For the past few years at NCVPS, we’ve held bi-annual leadership retreats in a blended format. We’ve used our Blackboard, Wimba, Moodle, and Google Sites to pull off the delivery of key processes and feedback loops, and this week’s blog serves as a guide for blended leaders and learners mapping out their next strategic planning session based on the lessons we’ve learned.

This past week, our leadership retreat agenda kicked off with a welcome and a Socratic Seminar on Tom Vanderark's, Ten Shifts That Will Change Everything. Feedback from the seminar was catalogued on a free Google discussion board, and the Socratic format set the tone for how these key shifts would influence our future planning at NCVPS for the 2010-2011 school year.

After a classic face to face break, our staff took an assessment on Moodle to guess each person’s favorite candy. The winner gained a Starbucks gift card, and we were off to Session 2 – a Lino walk through edits on our mission, vision, and values. Subsequently, we will explore edits and suggestions from this session this week during our regular Friday e-learning community work on Wimba. During these follow-up sessions, we will dive deeper on singular issues from the retreat in order to put the recommendations that resulted from our work in Raleigh this week into action.

Director's Blog: Class Schedules Don’t Matter – Class Services Do

As Hurricane Earl approaches the Outer Banks of North Carolina this weekend, I am reminded of how important blended class services are for students who need academic continuity in times of crisis. While many of the schools on the outer banks of North Carolina will close for some days ahead due to the impending storms, NCVPS students in the Outer Banks will still have a variety of ways to access their course materials in a multitude of service settings. Class schedules and numbers will not be a factor this weekend and into next week, because the virtual environment of NCVPS can be there to provide online courses, support, mobile monitoring, and school from anywhere the evacuation route takes them. Yet, when the storm surge subsides, a crisis of class schedules and lack of class services will still exist in many schools across the nation.

Why can’t we be like Singapore who actually practices taking a week off of face-to-face school to provide e-learning services? It is truly a shame we have to wait for a time of environmental crisis to provide class services the way they need to be. Thus, I think it is important to learn from these times, not just to deploy a model of academic continuity when hurricanes and healthcare catastrophes happen, but to actually use the lessons learned during these events to fuel a class services transformation to replace our existing structure of class schedules and grade cohort models of teaching and learning.

David Edwards' Blog: Supporting Online Students: A Mission Impossible?

In 1975, the USS Kirk took on a seemingly impossible mission to rescue those fleeing from the fall of Saigon. According to the NPR story, the ship’s captain decided to take on this rescue mission regardless of the costs. Thus, many are being recognized for the “above and beyond” service.

As I listened, I thought of the distance learning coordinators and the distance learning advisors in our districts and schools who are working diligently to make a difference in students’ lives. Many of these coordinators/advisors are doing this seeming impossible mission in addition to their “normal” jobs. Why? They do it because it is in the best interest of the students they serve. For that, I am truly grateful, because being student-centered is one of the core values of NCVPS/LEO and our school support division.

Working towards a true partnership between NCVPS/LEO and the district has to be a priority in order for the mission of “rescuing kids” to be a success. Though with a new funding formula in place, budget cuts, position constraints, it may feel like a mission impossible on many days.

So, how do we make this work?

NCVPS/LEO has committed to helping districts become leaders in online and blended learning support. We have launched our GOLIVE initiative to provide the districts with the Why, What and How of integrating online and blended learning into your curriculum. These resources include checklists, videos, podcasts, whitepapers, etc. for just about anything you need to know to be effective in support your online/blended learning students. Please visit the GOLIVE site and share the information with your education stakeholders. I have found that those that use this site have a better foundation for supporting online students and become empowered to lead the transformation in their district. So, we want to keep this from being a mission impossible for you!

In closing, I wanted to give you a few tips/reminders for supporting your online learners.

1. NCVPS/LEO has established a strong rapport with a central point of contact in each district. This Distance Learning Coordinator (DLC) will lead the cascade of information flow and logistics for the districts/schools. NCVPS/LEO has provided numerous resources to help the DLC to train and communicate with school-based Distance Learning Advisors (DLA) effectively.

2. DLCs need to own the process of setting a structure in place for DLAs and other online learning stakeholders to communicate and implement best practices from NCVPS/LEO. NCVPS/LEO has training available for the DLC in order to make their role effective and efficient. Contact your Virtual Learning Consultant to get access to the archived training materials.

3. Establishing a good relationship with teachers can help make student support much more effective. Teachers need good/current contact information for the school/district. DLCs can work with DLAs to make sure registration system information is correct and current.

Resources for DLCs/DLAs

- www.thevlc.org

- GOLIVE

- DLC Online Manual

Director's Blog: Baby Ben’s Blended New World

A few hours after Benjamin Marcus Setser’s birth on August 21, 2010, my wife and I were busy building his digital dossier. This term, coined in the book Born Digital, held true to form in that our son was twitpiced, Facebooked, and e-announced in a barrage of digital information. Thus, those who know, care about, and love him could have instant access to details such as length, weight, hours his mother spent in labor, and the general euphoria of our family. In a few short months, he’ll interact with My Pal Scout and then I’m sure move on to Webkinz or Club Penquin after that. Forget the term digital native; rather, Ben is a “blended baby” in a brave new world.

Just three days into his blended experience, North Carolina was recognized as a Race to the Top Winner by the U.S. Department of Education. Not only is this great news for Ben in terms of the innovation that will soon follow in our state, but his Dad’s work at NCVPS just got a lot more exciting as well.

In a review of all Race to the Top applicants and winners, iNACOL has posted a wiki regarding the planning for online education. At NCVPS, we are already hard at work on our efforts to execute on the next generation of blended education in North Carolina fueled by this once in a lifetime grant. Through our Race to the Top grant, North Carolina will offer online learning opportunities for entry teachers' course completion. NCVPS will work to make virtual and blended courses with highly effective online teachers available to students in schools with limited course and teacher availability. North Carolina will expand virtual school courses and work to improve learning opportunities for students in low-achieving schools - especially in math and science.

LOCK Session August 17: IEP and 504 Responsibilities

The virtual learning consultants discuss the IEP and 504 responsibilities when districts enroll EC students.

NCVPS Student Video

Will Hamilton shares his NCVPS experience through his webcam. Will took advantage of one of NCVPS's many Advanced Placement courses. Congrats, Will and good luck!

Virtual Advantage Radio: August 23, Parts 1 and 2

J Bell and Adam Renfro discuss LEO courses with Chief Learn and Earn Online Office Deborah Pedersen.

Part 1



Part 2



See more Audio at TeacherTube.com.

Director's Blog: Elevating Engagement: Watching Others Share, Comment, and Produce Blended Learning

In many classrooms, schools, and districts across America, passive watching of digital content is the norm. The notion is that if students have access to technology and media, then good things will happen. Indeed, computers are turned on, neatly arranged, and hardware purchasing fanatics are united that they are on the cutting edge of educational technology.

As a result, technology often becomes an add on and is not integrated into any significant teaching and learning approach in the school to truly transform student opportunities and results. Moreover, in this model, students are not blending face-to-face learning with e-learning; rather they are passively reading blogs, listening to pod casts, and/or watching videos that give them just enough information to receive a “rigorless” checkmark that the work has been completed, if there is any accountability at all.

For blended learning to move past watching the environment to students “sharing” work, students and teachers must feel compelled to do far more than just view learning objects. Instead, they have to be motivated to share work with others. In the e-business world, a Forrester study found that sharing can make up to 5 to 10 percent of a website’s overall traffic, and it drives up to 50 percent more page views per person than a search (ShareThis, 2008). So, how is a classroom, meeting, and/or school like a website? Where does learning go in the traditional face-to-face classroom? It goes in notebooks, in book bags, on boards, and in hard copy projects and documents.

DLC Training for August 10, 2010

Watch the archived session of the August 10 Distance Learning Coordinator Training Session.

LOCK Session for August 3

Joe Baisley, the distance learning coordinator from Currituck County, presents "Different Options for Managing DL Textbooks."

Director's Blog: Finding Fidelity in a Blended World

The North Carolina Virtual Public School, www.ncvps.org, enters new territory this Fall of 2010 as we have our first ever funding formula mandated by our state legislature. For the first time in our history, school districts have to compare the value of our services amidst a sea of online and blending learning providers. The question school districts are asking right now is how do you find fidelity in a blended world? Because ncvps.org also operates under a state board policy that requires us to approve all e-learning courses for credit in North Carolina, I thought I'd share this week the three big ideas we advise school districts on when looking for fidelity in a blended world of learning providers.

First, all content is not created equal. United States students took courses from state virtual schools, education management organizations, higher education institutions, and corporate e-learning providers to the tune of “75 % of United States school districts having one or more students in a fully-online or blended course environment this past year" (Patrick, 2010). Yet, content experiences often vary. In many instances, many players in this space struggle to align with state standards, invoke existing research on blended learning, and/or focus more on technology
engagement, than rigor.

Director's Blog: Exceptional Times Call for Exceptional Designs

In the fall of 2009, The North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) began discussions with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) around the requirement that Occupational Course of Study (OCS) students would soon need a highly qualified subject matter expert in their exceptional children's classrooms.

The problem was a difficult one in that even though many OCS teachers were certified as exceptional children's teachers, their certification did not meet the new standard of highly qualified subject matter experts in each classroom. Enter NCVPS.org. As we began to thought partner around the possibilities of our blended model with NCDPI, a new blended model emerged - exceptional times call for exceptional
designs.

In this model, the face-to-face OCS teacher supports the student's unique needs and co-teams with the NCVPS.org teacher who is both certified in the unique content area (Algebra I for example) and trained to meet the Individualized Education Plan (IEP) needs of the student as well.

LOCK Session for July 27, 2010

Beth Bock and Gwen McCormick, both recently retired distance learning advisors, discuss the impact of NCVPS and e-learning in their districts.




See more Audio at TeacherTube.com.

Director's Blog: The Value of Virtual

21st Century Leaders and Learners:

LEARN NC (http://www.learnnc.org/) and NCVPS have been partners for the last three years in providing innovative programming for North Carolina educators and stakeholders. Recently, my Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Chanin Rivenbark and I were asked to do two separate webinars from our GO LIVE effort (http://sites.google.com/site/ncvpsgolive/) for 30 Chief Technology Officers around the state as a part of LEARN NC's partnerships with the School of Government's CeCTO program http://www.sog.unc.edu/.

The focus of these webinars is how students and teachers use Web 2.0 for learning, with some discussion of open source, cost savings, implications of a remix & share culture, moving toward modular/blended learning, and how CTO’s can support and lead this type of environment. Because of NCVPS' unique work in the areas of 21st Century Leadership and Innovation, Dr. Setser and Mrs. Rivenbark have recorded two short, fifteen minute webinars below to help Superintendents and CTO’s in their planning for district wide technology savings, strategic planning, and implementation. In light of the funding formula discussion last week, these services continue to highlight the "value add" of your North Carolina State Virtual Public School.

Dr. Setser's webinar for Superintendents and CTOs:
http://www.ncvps.org/docs/home/LearnNC-CTOtraining/NCVPS-LFIfocusWithBryanSetser.html

Chanin Rivenbark's webinar for CTOs:
http://www.ncvps.org/docs/home/LearnNC-CTOtraining/NCVPS-SystemsFocusWithChaninRivenbark.html

Have a great week with the virtual advantage of ncvps.org and www.learnandearn.gov
--

Smart Technologies

Dr. Bryan Setser leads the discussion on smart technologies and working with CTOs in North Carolina districts.

LOCK Session: July 20, 2010

Today's topics: NCWise updates, LEO updates, fall enrollment.

NCVPS Funding Formula: The Why, What, and How for NC School Districts

See the Webinar with NCVPS's CEO, Dr. Bryan Setser, and state superintendents.

Dr. Setser and the superintendents discuss the new funding formula and its why, what, and hows for the North Carolina school districts.

Director's Blog: Leaders Leverage "Both/And" Options for NCVPS Students

A few years ago, I participated in two district's sessions about Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High - http://www.vitalsmarts.com/. During these workshops one concept, known as the Sucker's Choice, resonated with me and continues to ring true today around the NCVPS Funding Formula. By definition, A Sucker's Choice is limiting thinking to "either/or" options when "both/and" options are available. In assessing the reaction to this week's budget legislation regarding the NCVPS funding formula, I want to explore how leaders can be savvy in their approach to planning for virtual/blended learning by focusing on “both/and” solutions.

We have heard some "crucial conversations" around the state this week that flow as follows; "We’re not enrolling kids in NCVPS, because you guys are taking our ADM. You can tell me all the great stuff you want about what it does for kids, teachers, and our community but we are going to do our own thing locally and we'll figure out how to leverage the Internet on our own.”

However, innovative leaders understand the benefits of using online and blended learning in their districts and are already contacting NCVPS with "both/and" questions and solutions. District leaders have decided that "free or not," NCVPS provides unprecedented access to courses they cannot offer in their district. Leaders realize that students are succeeding with these options: Learn and Earn Online (www.nclearnandearn.gov), emerging modular learning units, and occupational course of study opportunities that NCVPS provides.

Leaders choose “both/and” options, because they've seen the value of NCVPS’ credit recovery and they understand how to balance NCVPS with other service options like Novanet and/or Plato. More importantly, leaders are asking the right questions about the 75/25-budget model and how to strategically plan their instructional technology approach for the future in this budget climate. Student and parent needs for advanced placement and world language courses taught by highly qualified instructors are not going away, and school leaders realize that NCVPS has become synonymous with results for today's students (http://www.ncvps.org/results/). I am very encouraged by several school systems who invited our staff to help them co-develop their fiscal and learning management approach based on the new funding formula so NCVPS can assist them in tough budget times with courses they would otherwise have to abandon.

As district leaders make choices to limit or expand options with NCVPS, it is very important that leadership teams ask key questions regarding what their goals and objectives look like without NCVPS’ professional development, resources, and thought leadership. Simply put, technology and online/blended learning challenges will not cease and desist. Rather, tomorrow's world will require even more exposure to our offerings.

This fall the State Board of Education will consider a policy that would establish a graduation requirement for e-learning as is required in states such as Michigan, Alabama, Arkansas, and Florida. In addition, we are focused on developing a catalogue of services for districts and schools based on modular, mobile, and blended learning. Leaders know that now, more than ever, they have to define the "both/and options" for students in their district.

As one Superintendent stated in a board meeting this week, "When I first came to this district, very few students had access to advanced placement courses and/or college credit. NCVPS and LEO have increased these choices from 35 courses to over 609 during the past few years. While I know we will have a price tag for distance education in the future, I am confident that this board will elevate a choice to fund it as a top priority for our students. It levels the playing field, brings the world to their doorstep, and is easily prioritized over other technology efforts that have not yielded such results for kids."

The following steps are what I'm seeing from innovative leaders across the state who will continue and expand their partnership with NCVPS. First, they learn. As more details are released regarding the funding formula, they examine their district’s budget line items that support 1:1 computing, servers, professional development, and other items to decide how to prioritize their funding.

Second, they seek the truth. They are not giving in to rumors and “what-ifs,” but ask principals to evaluate schedules, needs, and gaps that NCVPS and LEO can help serve. In addition, they know that details about the funding model are being developed, including white papers and presentations, which NCVPS will craft with the Department of Public Instruction leadership.

Third, they are focused on results. As one superintendent stated to me, "There will always be a finite pot of money, yet how we use it is the real genius of leadership." Therefore, savvy leaders look at data on NCVPS/LEO. They get a feel for opportunities to augment teaching positions and services. They assess the climate and resources and act with intentionality regarding blended learning. However, they do not do it alone. Leaders talk with peer districts, evaluate how NCVPS/LEO can help with coaching and support, and adjust their plans to not fall for the "either/or" choices. Rather, the best in class leaders that I have the pleasure of working with everyday “vent about funding and then invent solutions for ‘both/and’ thinking for their districts kids.”


Bryan Setser

Executive Director, NCVPS

Director's Blog for June 17, 2010

21st Century Summer Learners and Leaders:

NCVPS is proud to announce another record breaking summer. With over 10,000 enrollments, we have worked very hard since our last e-letter and vidcast to help school districts solve problems and fill gaps for North Carolina students. While our summer enrollment period is now closed, we are continuing to ramp up for fall and year long enrollment, and we have many exciting programs ahead for the Fall of 2010 including modular learning, our occupational course of study pilots, and our mobile learning integration in our courses.

However, this week's eletter and subsequent vidcast focuses on using this summer to become a blended learner and leader. 5 steps are provided for superintendents, central office staff, principals, and distance learning advisors to really hone blended learning skills to build capacity for blended learning in North Carolina School districts.

Step 1: Enroll in an Online Course, Module, and/or Feed

The reason NCVPS built our World Is Open Book Study : http://sites.google.com/site/ncvpsgolive/book-study-world-is-open is so you would not have to. Take some time to go through the modules themselves. Have your staff do so? Set the items as a summer agenda at your leadership cabinet meetings and discuss how an open world is impacting your school district.

LOCK Session: District Planning with NCVPS

Hope Johnston, the distance learning coordinator from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, shares the district's planning strategies for implementing NCVPS courses.

Virtual Advantage Radio: May 19 Episode 2

J, Adam, and Melissa discuss how the VLCs support NCVPS instructors.

Instructors can read more at this Quick Reference Guide.

Virtual Advantage Radio: May 19 Episode

J and Adam discuss NCVPS summer school with a parent.




See more Audio at TeacherTube.com.

LOCK Session for May 18

NCVPs was honored and privileged to have three central-office distance learning coordinators (DLCs) present in the Live Classroom today. The presenters were Richard "Dick" McFall (Durham), Sharon Rhodes (Buncombe), and Joe Baisley (Currituck). The key topics included NC WISE & NCVPS business principles & user requirements, best practices, AdHoc reporting, and also Summer Semester start up.

Here's the mp3 recording of today's session:





Here is the support material that the presenters used:

From Richard McFall, DLC in Durham County



From Sharon Rhodes, DLC in Buncombe County

Follow this link for directions on how to create and use the ad hoc reports.

From Joe Baisley, DLC in Currituck County

Chapel Hill - Carrboro Schools Are Going Google!

Check out Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools new Google Site here.

Virtual Advantage VidCast: Parental Support

David Edwards, James Bell, and Adam Renfro discuss parental support in e-learning.



Be sure to read Melissa Davis's blog post on parental support.

Guest Blog: Parental Support for the Online Learner

[Guest blog from Melissa Davis, Virtual Learning Consultant]

According to a 2009 report by the Sloan Consortium, the total number of students taking online courses through their districts is now more than a million nation-wide and two thirds of districts with students engaged in online courses expect their online courses to grow. These are unprecedented numbers and the trend continues to move in the direction of online learning in order to meet the needs of students. The report also indicates more than 75% of schools need online learning to offer courses not otherwise available in the face to face environment. From credit recovery to Advanced Placement and college level courses, online learning offers opportunities for all students. Numerous studies have also explored and indicate the strong correlation between parental involvement and student achievement.

With that said, it has become increasingly important for parents to familiarize themselves with ways to assist e-Learners and help them to achieve optimal results in the online environment. Parents can help their children master the skill of learning independently, while providing them with encouragement and support at home. Some parents are reluctant to continue helping their child at home as they grow older due to the more difficult subject matter. Despite this fact, parents remain one of the most vital learning resources children have.

Learning is a process that requires new understandings to be connected to prior knowledge. This blog provides suggestions that will provide practical advice on how parents can help their children be successful online learners.

1. Constantly monitor your child’s progress in the online course.
2. Ensure students have the technology and textbook resources needed to be successful e-Learners.
3. Encourage your child to seek help immediately if they become confused, overwhelmed or disorganized.
4. Help students prepare targeted questions to ask their teacher if they do not understand a concept.
5. Encourage and support academic integrity.
6. Review the course syllabus with your child and help them set realistic goals and a timeline to complete assignments.
7. Communicate with your child about their assignments, homework, projects, office hours, discussion boards, due dates, etc..
8. Provide regular communication with the online teacher through email, phone calls, instant messaging, office hours, etc..
9. Communicate with the Distance Learning Advisor at the school on a consistent basis.
10. Plan for the future!

Remember, parental involvement during middle school, high school and beyond still remains an important component for academic achievement and for the developing individual!

Strategies to Expand Rural Enrollment in North Carolina Virtual Public School Courses

Executive Summary

Interns from the Duke Sanford School of Public Policy presented the findings of their study of rural school high schools students in NCVPS to the North Carolina State Board of Education. They presented information about enrollment of students in rural, low-wealth schools and presented 4 recommendations. These recommendations directly confirm that the online high school is heading in the right direction, since initiatives and processes were already underway prior to the study being finalized. Below are each of the four recommendations and current status of projects/initiatives that NCVPS has undertaken.

RECOMMENDATION ONE – Conduct Rigorous Survey

1 – NCVPS currently conducts an annual survey through the Friday Institute of Educational Innovation in which data is used to directly impact strategic planning for curriculum, technology and support services. Data from the 2009 report shows major increase in stakeholder feedback and positive response to NCVPS products and services.

2 – NCVPS also conducts adhoc surveys that include student feedback, distance learning advisor (DLA) feedback and teacher feedback. This data has also been used to strategically target rural schools and school districts with training and marketing resources.

3 – Student surveys are currently used at the end of each semester to gain feedback related to curriculum content, teacher communication and support services. Students are also surveyed through the annual survey issued by the Friday Institute.

Continue reading here.

Guest Blog: Examining “Rigor” in Online Content

Guest Blog By Michelle Lourcey

The word “rigor” is thrown around so much these days in educational circles. There are varied definitions for it and just as many opinions as to what it should look like in a classroom. Anyone can claim their teaching or their content is rigorous as there are not many hard and fast indicators to justify or deny that such rigor exists.

The same is true for online content providers, including those for Credit Recovery. One can claim rigor but what does that rigor really look like within the content?

Barbara Blackburn in her book, Rigor is NOT a Four Letter Word (2008), discusses the rigor issue in education, and she references the powerful study that came out in 2006 called “The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High Schools Dropouts.” What is interesting about this study, and what Blackburn points out, is that of the 500 dropouts that were the focus on the study, 88% weren’t failing school, and 70% believe they could have graduated.

Here are some of the salient points that Blackburn found from the study that were “rigor-related:”

· 47% of dropouts said classes weren’t interesting

· 66% would have worked harder if more had been demanded of them

· 81% called for more “real-world” learning opportunities

· 75% wanted smaller classes with more individual instruction

Blackburn’s definition of rigor is that “Rigor is creating an environment in which each student is expected to learn at high levels, each student is supported so he or she can learn at high levels, and each student demonstrates learning at high levels.”

This definition must apply to all online options, including credit recovery options as well. If a student has not shown a mastery knowledge of the goals and objectives of the NCSCOS, then already a foundational gap exists in the student’s learning that will certainly show itself again. NCVPS has definite beliefs as to what rigor looks like when it comes to not only Credit Recovery but all online learning.

· For credit recovery, the course recovery process should do more than meet an immediate need. While it may be more convenient to give students a few hours in front of a computer screen and this is the end of the recovery process, NCVPS believes that credit recovery programs should ensure that all the goals of the NCSCOS are being achieved.

· For all NCVPS courses, NC certified teachers individualize and differentiate instruction for each student.

· The teacher / student ratio is one teacher for every twenty students for credit recovery and one teacher for every thirty students for other NCVPS courses.

· Our content must be engaging and challenging with “real-world” connections and 21^st century themes.

· Students interact with the content by reading, viewing, and hearing it in order to address all learning styles.

· Students must show their online teachers that they can make the learning their own through assessments that require creation and synthesis, more than just pointing and clicking at answers.

· Students should be prepared to go onto the next level of instruction.

· There should not be gaps in the student’s learning just because the student went through a credit recovery program.

And finally, it’s about integrity with that rigor….we want the classroom teachers of North Carolina to be confident that when one of their students goes through an NCVPS credit recovery course or any NCVPS course, they know that the student demonstrated learning of the content and is ready to move forward with the next instructional goals.

Why perpetuate gaps for students? Why choose credit recovery options that meet an immediate need but not a student’s long term learning needs? Shouldn’t we demand more from our students when a class is failed? Of course we should.

More to come on this topic in the weeks to follow!