Success in the ‘Virtual ‘ World

Session Agenda: Quick introduction of Cyber Stone Tour of the new BB Module for Supervisors – it will provide a similar experience to that which students have when taking an online course. Feedback and Q&A - Be sure to indicate that the purpose of this session was to provide helpful information to supervisors about Cyber Stone because we value them and know that students are more successful when they have an active supervisor supporting them at their base school.

Our Students Just like students in all schools, Cyber Stone students are colorful and varied! Home schoolers Adult students trying to complete an Adult 12 standing Students travelling out of province for extra-curricular or for parent’s work students looking for extra credits and electives not offered at their school – personal interest Small schools trying to offer core programming to multi-grade classrooms (teacher in the school teachers the 11/12, we teach the 10’s in a triple grade situation) Students needing to pick up extra credits to fill their time table/graduate requirements Time table conflicts in their building Students who are ill or hospitalized for long periods of time Extending programming options for those not yet finding success in other modes of delivery

Place Time Path Pace Benefits of Asynchronous Delivery Place – students can be anywhere in the world as long as they have an internet connection, they can learn with us. Pace- we offer traditional semester and flex scheduling to allow for a variety of completion options. Some enjoy the individual self-paced format and complete quickly, some need longer and take longer. For a few students, this may also mean extending into another school year for credit recovery – but we really try and support and encourage completion within the school year. Online learning is a way to differentiate for our stronger students who enjoy the challenge of independent learning, which may free up teacher time in your building to help support students with more needs. Time – students can work in chunk/blocks of time, or at set times in a day that is scheduled for them, or evenings and weekends/holidays around work schedules and extra-curricular activities. Many students we support work on their courses outside of the regular school day hours. Path – taking an online class provides students with different paths or options in their high school programming. Some consider taking a course online so it frees them up to take other classes in their school that are offered at the same time so they can experience both, or to ensure they get face to face support in “harder” classes and take an online class in something easier for them to manage independently. Others take a course so that career and post secondary doors remain open for them later. Pace Path

Cyber Stone Staff Introduce us!

Current course load but we are always open to suggestions of what courses we might consider developing in the future.

Supports for Learning Supports for Learning Meet with students (individually or in groups) virtually in Adobe Connect so that we can share the same files/student work, they can see and hear us work through their questions and examples and ask clarifying questions – no waiting for responses Respond to students via email, text, phone, personal recordings and sometimes personal school visits. Use pre-recorded lessons that students can replay and view over again for each lesson Teachers also prepare recorded responses to student questions and post them in the course and send the links or files to students to view/hear if meeting with them virtually is difficult Using interactive software tools like Gizmos to help practice and explain concepts Use discussion boards and journals within Blackboard to extend learning in another format that helps them apply concepts to current and/or personal situations and learn from each other Allow students the same opportunities as they have in a F2F classroom to redo and resubmit work to improve their grades.

Keys to Support Parents Student Base School Go-To Adult IT Consultants Importance of School Support in Math/Online Learning Success Online Teacher – provides structure, tutorials, sets the learning destination, communicates achievement and reminds students when not active Base School Adult – this person is critical to success as they help remind students of their online deadlines, help make sure they have access to course materials and a place to work, helps connect and link teacher, parents and students. Base school is responsible for providing textbooks and assisting students with science equipment. Parents- help remind them of course deadlines, organize and track progress, help access course from home IT Consultant – can help students learn how to use technology tools to help them with course assignments and learning in an online environment (how to set up and use headsets, web cams, produce finished products, etc) especially if the base school adult is not confident with these skills Students – important to be proactive and in frequent communication with online teacher/base school adult if they are having difficulties accessing or completing the course IT Consultants Online Teacher

You are a key player and your active participation will help our shared students succeed in their online courses.

The new URL for blackboard – http://bb.cornerstonesd.ca Please log in using your regular username and password to begin the BB module for supervisors. Feel free to ask questions and let us know how we can help you. This document will be available on the convention site- http://bit.ly/sectaconvention