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Lesley Thomson: Bringing History To Life

January 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Each fall, her elective kids board a bus for a whirlwind scavenger hunt-style tour of little-known local historical sites, from the spot of the last confirmed land battle of the Revolutionary War to the place where a famous Mexican pilot crashed in the Pine Barrens while trying to achieve a long-distance flight record.

And the dozens of history club members readily give up weekends to go on her wide-ranging field trips to Valley Forge, Old City Philadelphia and beyond.

“I want kids to be able to experience everything and see everything, and not be locked under a bubble,” she said. “That’s kind of what keeps me going.”

And she does keep going. In addition to three full-year classes and two electives, she also teaches a virtual course online as part of the high school’s participation in a web-based education program that lets Barnegat kids learn alongside students from all over the world.

Besides that, she also teaches classes at Ocean County College – alongside the same teacher who inspired her as a student.

This year, she got major recognition for her efforts when she won the VFW’s National Citizenship Education Teacher of the Year Award, which honors instructors who foster civic involvement and connect students to veterans.

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December 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Proponents of charter schools say not only do the cyber schools offer flexibility and another option, they make public school districts more academically competitive.

They also make districts compete for enrollment.

“As the charters, cyber charters continue to grow, everyone is working on ways to maintain their student population,” said Steve Robinson, spokesman for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.

Beyond offering an academic incentive, districts are getting creative.

In the Solanco School District, which is in southern Lancaster County, cyber students are being offered a $1,000 incentive to return to the district, said Superintendent Martin J. Hudacs, Ed.D..

The money, which can only be spent on pre-approved educational items, may be the only program of its kind in the state.

If a child enrolls in a cyber school, the district pays $8,800 to that school. If the student stays in the district and enrolls in the district-run Solanco Virtual Academy, about half of the money is saved, Dr. Hudacs said.

The $1,000 incentive has more than paid for itself, he said.

“It has definitely worked in our favor,” he said.

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Beyond the textbook: PISD marks millionth view with Techbook

November 15, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Plano ISD also recently reached one million views of Discovery Education’s digital videos. The implementation of the Discovery Education’s Science Techbook and the high usage of Discovery Education digital videos demonstrate Plano ISD’s leadership to transform its classrooms into highly engaging 21st century learning environments, said Associate Superintendent of Science and Technology Jim Hirsch.

“I am very proud of the technology that is being used in our classrooms,” Hirsch said. “Discovery Education has played a big part in our student learning, and I am so glad to be able to share this milestone with them as well as with our students and staff.”

The implementation of Discovery Education’s Science Techbook and the high usage of the its digital resources have worked to improve student engagement and achievement, as well as attract the very best courses and teachers, Madden said.

“I love the idea of virtual education and distance learning,” said Madden. “There are things that can be done that go beyond what they are doing in the classroom and it’s time they experienced that.”

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My Teacher Is an App

November 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The growth of cybereducation is likely to affect school staffing, which accounts for about 80% of school budgets. A teacher in a traditional high school might handle 150 students. An online teacher can supervise more than 250, since he or she doesn’t have to write lesson plans and most grading is done by computer.

In Idaho, Alan Dunn, superintendent of the Sugar-Salem School District, says that he may cut entire departments and outsource their courses to online providers. “It’s not ideal,” he says. “But Idaho is in a budget crisis, and this is a creative solution.”

Other states see potential savings as well. In Georgia, state and local taxpayers spend $7,650 a year to educate the average student in a traditional public school. They spend nearly 60% less—$3,200 a year—to educate a student in the statewide online Georgia Cyber Academy, saving state and local tax dollars. Florida saves $1,500 a year on every student enrolled online full time.

For individual school districts, though, competition from online schools can cause financial strain. The tiny Spring Cove School District in rural Pennsylvania lost 43 of its 1,850 students this year to online charter schools. By law, the district must send those students’ share of local and state tax dollars—in this case $340,000—to the cyberschool. Superintendent Rodney Green, already struggling to balance the budget, cut nine teaching jobs, eliminated middle-school Spanish and French and canceled the high-school musical, “Aida.”

For the rest of the article, go to My Teacher Is an App

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National Network of Digital Schools to Have Strong presence at This Year’s iNACOL Conference

November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment

BEAVER, Pa., Nov. 7, 2011 The National Network of Digital Schools, a leader in educational management services and online curriculum development, is proud to be a part of this year’s Virtual School Symposium, sponsored by the International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL). This year’s event will be held November 9-11 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

iNACOL’s Virtual School Symposium highlights the cutting-edge work in K-12 online education across the country, of which NNDS and its subsidiaries, Lincoln Interactive and Backpack, are leaders. Lincoln Interactive, the nation’s premiere online learning curriculum, is a diamond sponsor of this year’s event.

“The Lincoln Interactive curriculum is changing the way students all across the country learn and schools all across the country teach,” said Bryan Bown, director of educational services for NNDS. “Our approach to online and blended learning makes us a leader in the industry. The Virtual School Symposium provides us with a wonderful opportunity to share our success with like-minded educators as well as learn from each other through networking, presentations, and the sharing of research and best practices.”

Lincoln Interactive will present the session “Creating a Blended Learning Environment for Elementary Students.” Presented by Kellie Hamilton, director of elementary curriculum and instruction, the session will address how elementary students can be engaged by online curriculum and how a blended environment can strengthen learning for that age group.

For the rest of the article, go to National Network of Digital Schools to Have Strong presence at This Year’s iNACOL Conference

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Greencastle-Antrim school board works on a facility rental plan

November 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The district has spent several weeks dividing the groups that currently use school facilities into four categories.

School-sponsored student organizations would include groups such as First Steps to Learning, Volunteer Fair, Apple and Autumn festivals, Tri-M, drama club, financial aid night, county band and county choir, Tumani Ambassadors, the National Honor Society, indoor guard competitions, Franklin Virtual Academy and summer band.

Groups such as Wilson College, Quarterback Club, booster clubs, book fair, indoor field hockey, Cheerleader for a Night, science camp, class reunions and GA-MAAX would all be included under the school-related organizations group.

Community nonprofits includes libraries, Scouts, parade setup groups, Old Home Week, Dash for Drew, Relay for Life, Red Cross blood drives, the Rescue Hose Co. Hobo Minstrel Show, Lions pancake breakfast and chamber of commerce concerts. These groups, just like in the two previous categories, would have no rental fee but must pay a fee for the utilities and any staff they would need.

The final group, outside organizations, includes groups such as the Chambersburg Cardinals and Clarissa’s School of Dance. They must pay a rental fee in addition to the utilities and any staff used.

For the rest of the article, go to Greencastle-Antrim school board works on a facility rental plan

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PA Cyber Charter School Shares Self-help Tech Support Website

November 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment

MIDLAND, Pa., Nov. 4, 2011       PA Cyber Charter School has created a technical resource website for its 11,000 students, their parents and its staff – and is sharing the site with online students no matter what school they’re enrolled in.

The PA Cyber Resource Center was launched Oct. 31.

“As a leader in online education, PA Cyber has always freely shared innovative thinking with other schools. We see that as part of our responsibility,” said Dr. Nick Trombetta, CEO.

Brian Laquinta, director of technology and innovation, said, “This is the best technical self-help site for an online school I’ve seen. It has easily followed tutorials and how-to instructions on the most common problems users have with Internet access, email, iPads and general computer use. Of course we have geared it to the learning management systems used by PA Cyber, but many other schools use the same programs and their students probably have the same issues.”

Laquinta said the site provides links to help sites in popular learning management systems such as Elluminate and Schoology, and to curriculum sites like Lincoln Interactive and Calvert. There is a link to the appropriate-content search engine netTrekker and to academic improvements sites like DORA-DOMA and Study Island.

For the rest of the article, go to PA Cyber Charter School Shares Self-help Tech Support Website

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Options in the works for Tabb NJROTC

October 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Tabb is the only local school, and the only one in Virginia, on the list of 29 across the country that will have their units eliminated because they haven’t met minimum student enrollment standards for the program, according to a statement from Navy officials.

“The students are disappointed, but they understand,” said Tabb High Principal Angela Seiders.

For host schools with enrollment of 1,000 or more, the minimum NJROTC enrollment is 100. For schools with less than 1,000 students enrolled, a minimum of 10 percent of the total enrollment is required.

Both York and Tabb were on probationary status for low enrollment at one time, but York’s numbers moved up above the minimum requirement, said district Chief Academic Officer Stephanie Guy.

School officials made efforts to shore up enrollment. Offering P.E. credits through the virtual high school to free up a spot in students’ schedules yielded just five more students, Guy said.

Officials are considering starting a Navy National Defense Cadet Corps unit at Tabb as an alternative to the NJROTC program, or allowing Tabb students to participate in York NJROTC, Guy said. They are examining the benefits and cost of implementing NNDCC.

A decision is expected sometime this fall.

Benefits of NJROTC include teaching students leadership skills, unity, how to be a team player and lifelong skills, Seiders said.

“That’s why (students) think it’s so important,” Seiders said. “But they understand enrollment’s down and they understand the economy. They want to keep those skills at Tabb High.”

For the rest of the article, go to Options in the works for Tabb NJROTC

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Carlisle school board gives OK to online elementary education

October 24, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Carlisle Area School District board of directors took steps Thursday to extend log-on learning to elementary school students.

At its regular meeting, the board unanimously approved online learning curricula in a variety of subjects for students in kindergarten through fifth grades forwarded to it by the board’s education committee.

The board approved Carlisle Virtual Academy curricula in language arts, math, science, social studies, remedial math, remedial reading, art and music. Other approved course offerings include elementary Spanish, German, French and Latin that will be available to students in third through fifth grades.

The Carlisle Virtual Academy is “the district equivalent of a total online educational program of studies,” according to CASD’s website, which likens it to a district cyber school. Prior to Thursday’s decision, it limited course offerings to students in grades 6 through 12.

For the rest of the article, go to Carlisle school board gives OK to online elementary education

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PA Cyber Experiencing Success, Ease of Use With New Backpack SIS

October 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

BEAVER, Pa., Oct. 21, 2011 Pennsylvania’s largest cyber school finding platform to be most complete, fully functional product

With more than 11,000 students enrolled in their school, administrators at the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School were in need of a student information system that efficiently and effectively met their needs, while offering ease of use for its ever growing staff.

They found the solution with Backpack SIS.

Backpack is a student information system and private social network built on the powerful Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform. Featuring a user friendly interface, Backpack SIS provides schools of all sizes every function required of a student information system while seamlessly integrating with other Microsoft products such as Office and Microsoft Dynamics GP for financial management.

In 2009, with enrollment numbers nearing 10,000 students, the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School was in need of just that: full range functionality, seamless integration and ease of use.

For the rest of the article, go to PA Cyber Experiencing Success, Ease of Use With New Backpack SIS.

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