Students Identify What Helps Them Be Successful in Online Classes Dr. Paul Cash – Mansfield ISD

MISD Virtual School Mission to provide opportunities for students to take classes in a format that will be part of their educational future to provide options for students to take classes that may conflict with other classes in their schedule to provide students access to classes that are not available on their home campus

Mansfield ISD and Online Learning Brief History October 2008, Superintendent vision Started school year TxVSN provider since school year Fall 2009 – 135 students – 73% success rate Spring students – 86% success rate Summer students – 91% success rate All semesters for % success or better

Where is this information coming from? Students who took online classes in Mansfield ISD during the school year Publication related to the study ▫

4 Areas of Focus Course Content/Platform District Level Supports Campus Level Supports Online Supports

What part of the course content/online platform did students determine as the most effective? A.Course Information B.Course Calendar C.Instructor Bio D.Grade Book/Progress Reports E.Course Checklist

What part of the course content/online platform did students determine as the most effective? A.Course Information – 78% B.Course Calendar – 80% C.Instructor Bio – 54% D.Grade Book/Progress Reports – 83% E.Course Checklist – 83%

Online/Curriculum Content Direction and guidance are valued by students Tools for continual monitoring helped students The personal aspects of the instructor were not as important Effective tools examples

Calendar

Student Dashboard

Progress Tracker

Progress Report

What District Level Supports did students view as most beneficial? A.Student Orientation B.Textbooks C.Progress Reports D.Parent Communication E.Technical Support

What District Level Supports did students view as most beneficial? A.Student Orientation – 50% B.Textbooks – 39% C.Progress Reports – 67% D.Parent Communication – 50% E.Technical Support – 61%

District Supports Progress Reports – students felt like the in course progress reports were effective and the outside reports got parents and mentor teachers involved The big surprise here: Textbooks Textbooks for students taking online classes is a non-factor because the necessary resources are integrated into the class Tech Support – would probably be used more if better communicated since it is available 24/7 with most of our classes.

What Campus Level Supports did students view as most beneficial? A.Computer Access B.Scheduling C.Technical Support D.Progress Reports E.Teacher Mentor

What Campus Level Supports did students view as most beneficial? A.Computer Access – 93% B.Scheduling – 80% C.Technical Support – 65% D.Progress Reports – 74% E.Teacher Mentor – 70%

Customized Report Options

Campus Supports Being able to access the class was top priority The convenience of working anywhere/anytime was important Surprise: Mentor teacher Students with good mentor teachers – teachers that actively monitor progress – are successful.

Mentor Teachers Summer 2012 Example: 390 students 91% success – 2 teacher mentors that monitored progress daily Made contact with students and parents Made phone contact with parents Required students to attend school when behind or failing

What Online Supports did students view as most beneficial? A. Communication B.Live Chat C.Discussion Board D.Phone E.Technical Support

What Online Supports did students view as most beneficial? A. Communication – 70% B.Live Chat – 52% C.Discussion Board – 37% D.Phone – 48% E.Technical Support – 61%

Online Supports Students saw little value in the discussion boards Surprise: Live Chat Students rated communicating with the instructor through higher than live chat This is viewed as a communication issue for us to improve on

Conclusion Students value: ▫Access ▫Progress/Grade monitoring tools ▫Convenience and flexibility Mansfield ISD is going to improve the student orientation so that technical support and live chat are better utilized by students

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