I recently had the opportunity to learn more about Virtual High School (VHS) from Carol Arnold of Arnold Communications. This is the first installment of a three-part interview.
What is Virtual High School’s mission?
VHS’ mission is to develop and deliver standards-based, student-centered online courses to expand student’ educational opportunities and 21st century skills and to offer professional development to teachers to expand the scope and depth of their instructional skills.
How does VHS carry out this mission?
VHS has developed, conducts and administers over 200 online middle and high school courses per semester that are designed to bridge the gap between what the school offers and what students need to be successful in their next level of education and future careers.
In the summer, we offer select core summer school courses to students throughout the world whose school has agreed to grant credit for VHS courses. This has been particularly popular this year due to summer school being cut due to lack of funding.
During the regular school year, we partner with schools throughout the world to supplement their in-person courses with online courses. Presently, we have partnerships with 419 schools in 28 states and 23 countries. Therefore, almost every VHS course has students from at least two or three different countries, which teaches students valuable global literacy skills.
In addition, because we are committed to advancing all education, we deliver online professional development courses to teachers throughout the world throughout our 21st Century Best Practices teaching courses. These courses instruct teachers in 21st century teaching and learning skills.
What are some current projects VHS is working on?
Presently, we are focused on updating our curriculum to include Web 2.0 technology, including social networking sites, bookmarking (i.e. del.icio.us), Animoto, etc. This will be rolled out to our member schools starting this Fall.
Discuss why your organization is involved in distance learning.
VHS started in 1996 out of a 5-year federal education grant. The project was so successful that the organization spun off into its own non-profit entity and made courses available to schools and students worldwide.
What technologies are used in the DL classroom? What challenges have you faced regarding technology?
Blackboard is the technology platform used for VHS classes. Like any technology, there can be challenges, but we have used Blackboard since 2003 and have never encountered any showstoppers.
What changes do you see occurring in distance learning education within the next few years?
Like any new offering, in the beginning there are always a number of vendors. Over the last few years, we have seen a number of vendors and state-run virtual learning organizations fail for a variety of reasons. We believe this will continue and only a couple of high-quality vendors will be left.
We also believe that, in the near future, schools will be requiring students to do at least one online course before they graduate so they can be prepared for the online learning experience in college.
What message do you have for those considering distance learning?
There are a number of criteria that parents, students and schools should look for in distance-learning courses. These individuals should closely evaluate the courses Curriculum, Instructional Design, Teacher Quality, Student Role, Assessment, Management/Support Systems and Technological Infrastructure.
Curriculum - Effective online education starts with appropriate course design standards. Online courses need to be designed in such a way that a philosophy of student-centered learning is evident throughout all course documents, activities, discussions and assessments.
Instructional Design - In online education, the medium is no longer the message – it is the means of transcending barriers of time and place. A scheduled learning pace, where students have short, medium and longer-range assignments, helps students stay on track with their learning, while still giving them the time they need to meet their learning goals.
Teacher Quality - It is critical that teachers play a daily role in online classes - guiding students in their learning experiences, providing timely and appropriate feedback on student work, moderating and facilitating online discussions which help students explore their learning in more depth, and modifying course delivery and assessments to meet a variety of learning styles.
Student Role - Good online course design also fosters a high level of student/student and student/teacher interaction. Courses with easy-to-find discussion areas, discussion starters that ask leading questions and foster critical thinking by students, teachers who understand how to use discussion areas effectively, and courses which allow both public and private discussion areas and individual and team discussions, should all be required.
Assessment - Online courses should include a variety of assessments to meet individual student needs and learning styles, with an emphasis on authentic assessments over more traditional tests and quizzes.
Management/Support Systems - Students need management and support systems to support their online learning experience. Many of these services will be similar to the types of services students receive in bricks-and-mortar schools: registration and grading systems, counseling services, teaching assistance when there are questions around assignments or the curriculum, library resources and guidance services,
Technological Infrastructure - In order for online students to be able to attend their online courses, an adequate technological infrastructure needs to be in place. Students will need regular access to appropriate hardware and software as well as Internet access of appropriate speed.
Read the rest of the interview to learn more about Virtual High School:
Part Two: Virtual High School: VHS impacts Richmond, the state of Virginia, and beyond
Part Three: Virtual High School: Challenges to distance-learning
For further reading:
Virtual High School: A world of learning opportunities
Virtual High School
Arnold Communications
© 2009 Cindy Wolfe
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