A new organization for K-12 Online Teaching and Learning

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A new organization for K-12 Online Teaching and
Learning

• Karen Middleton
• WCET
• (Western Cooperative for
• Educational Telecommunications)

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Our vision

• To create an organization to facilitate
  collaboration, advocacy, and researchto enhance
  quality K-12 online teaching and learning.
• (Updated 10/22/02 by planning committee)

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History of this new effort

• CiTE Virtual High School Symposium, Louisville,
  KY, October 2000
• Hewlett-sponsored dinner prior to CiTE Virtual
  High School Symposium, Chicago, IL, October 2001
• Virtual High School Summer Institute, Santa Cruz,
  CA, August, 2002, sponsored by Hewlett, co-hosted
  by UC College Prep and WCET

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Western Cooperative for Educational
Telecommunications

• Unit of WICHE (Western Interstate Commission for
  Higher Education)
• Membership-based
• 240 members
• 44 states and six countries

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WCET Activities

• Information Sharing
• Electronic resources
• www.wcet.info
• Listserv
• Webcasts
• Publications
• Professional Development

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Projects

• Student services
• Technology costing
• Best practices accrediting guidelines
• EduTools

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www.edutools.info
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WCETs Role

• The fiscal agent and mentor for the first two
  years of this organization.
• Our role will END at the end of the grant when
  the new group becomes a freestanding
  organization.
• This project is not a part of WICHE or WCETs
  core mission.
• It has been approved as a project by WICHE and
  WCET leadership with the understanding that it is
  a finite project.

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Our Funders

• William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

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The Hewlett Foundations Role

• Information sharing currently you make 50 calls
  to know what states are doing
• Improving quality and standards
• Sharing high-quality content
• Supporting quality research

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Summer Institute Objectives

• The proposed outcomes of this meeting were
  action-oriented to include
• agreement to submit a planning grant for the
  creation of an association,
• agreement upon an initial organizational model,
• agreement upon a framework for next steps in the
  association's development

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Summer Institute Issues

• Funding Our Efforts
• Training and Support (including
  teacher/tutor/mentor training selection)
• Curriculum and Course Development
• Research and Evaluation
• Improving Student Performance
• Appropriate Technologies

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Key Questions

• What are the trends and issues?
• What are the major challenges we face?
• What can we do collaboratively to address these
  issues and challenges?
• What might be the role of a national organization
  in addressing these issues and challenges?

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Curriculum and Course Development

• the difficulty and expense of developing quality
  course content,
• the difficulty of finding quality courseware that
  is aligned with state standards,
• the high cost of purchasing courseware already
  developed, and
• the time and effort that teachers need to invest
  to develop their own lesson plans that are
  effective in online instruction.

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Research and Evaluation

• Research and evaluation will play two crucial
• roles in the development of virtual schools
• formative evaluation enabling schools to identify
  weaknesses and seek remedies to make their
  programs more effective and efficient and
• summative evaluations forming a body of
  literature of best practices in distance
  education enabling all programs to learn from the
  experiences of others.

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Funding Our Growth

• The majority of virtual school programs cite
  funding issues (e.g., general operational and
  administrative expenses course development,
  acquisition, or upgrades and marketing expenses)
  as their primary obstacle to growth.

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VHSs will likely draw on funding from among
several sources

• state K-12 funding based on course credits
  completed
• state one-time funding for the development of
  curricula and infrastructure
• foundation grants and gifts

• Tuition
• pro rata transfers from local school revenues to
  the virtual high school, and
• sales of proprietary course materials to other
  states and agencies.

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Training and Support

• (includes teacher/tutor/mentor training
  selection)
• Part of overall teacher shortage
• Lack of teachers trained in online delivery and
  instruction in traditional pools (retired, etc.)
• Lack of effective teacher professional
  development for online delivery.

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Training and Support

• Issues include        
• Trade-offs between employing teachers part-time
  vs. full-time?
• What is the role of colleges and universities in
  the professional development of on-line
  instructors?
• What is the role of the virtual school in
  providing technological support for on-line
  instructors, mentors, and tutors?

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Improving Student Performance

• What steps can be taken to incorporate students
  at distant locations into learning communities?
• What is the role of student or course
  effectiveness assessment in improving student
  performance?
• Is it possible to prepare students for success in
  on-line learning by improving their computing
  skills and bolstering self-motivation?

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Improving Student Performance

• What set of supports are most effective at the
  school site and in students homes to promote
  learning?
• What technical support services are essential to
  student success?

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Appropriate Technologies

• The actual course content
• The technology platform, or course/learning
  management system,
• The portal website surrounding the on-line
  courses and
• Student information and administrative systems
  that track student progress and report back to
  administrators of virtual schools and local
  schools.

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Summer Institute Outcomes

• Planning Committee convened from among the
  attendees
• Planning Committee met twice and developed a
  short-term plan
• Vision developed
• List of organizational objectives created by the
  group and ranked

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What we want from a natl org

• Facilitate the sharing, collection, evaluation,
  and/or dissemination of information resources and
  materials
• Facilitate and disseminate research, and identify
  research needs.
• Advocacy and public policy that supports
  activities and legislation that removes barriers
  and supports effective online teaching and
  learning without respect to space and time
• (this list is in rank order, from planning
  committee)

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What we want from a natl org

• Develop and facilitate national K12 online
  learning standards.
• Create the voice of K12 within the larger
  education community with effective marketing,
  communications, and public relations activities.
• Assist and facilitate funding efforts for online
  K12 learning.
• Facilitate professional development for teachers.
• (this list is in rank order, from planning
  committee)

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What we want from a natl org

• Identify and drive future directions in K-12
  online education.
• Network and identify collaborative opportunities
  with other professional K-12 organizations.
• Drive educational initiatives that incorporate
  online learning and ways that transform positive
  learning outcomes for students.
• (this list is in rank order, from planning
  committee)

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The role of the planning committee

• to identify a structure and bylaws for the board
  of directors, and a process for selecting a board
  that is representative of interested parties.   
• Once agreement is reached on a model and bylaws,
  the next step will be a nomination process for a
  board of directors, and we will use our listserve
  to communicate about this process to interested
  parties.

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Resource Listserve

• To sign up, go to
• www.wcet.info/projects/vhs

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Background Resources

• Santa Cruz Summer Institute Conference Website
• The California Virtual School Report, Authored by
  Knowledge Base, LLC, and the Clovis Unified
  School District.
• Santa Cruz Summer Institute Proceedings
• www.wcet.info/projects/vhs

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Thank you!

• Karen Middleton
• kmiddleton_at_wiche.edu
• 303-541-0285