Kentucky Virtual Schools Not Just a Virtual School

MEET THE KENTUCKY TEAM Bob Fortney Beth Gaunce Tresine Logsdon Paula White

KENTUCKY IS Rural Poor Educationally Challenged

Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) Provided educational equity for ALL Kentucky students (1998) State wide accountability & testing Writing Portfolios Additional PD & Teacher Training School Based Decision Making KETS Network & technology

The Kentucky Virtual High School Established in October of 1999 by Governor Paul Patton to provide equity of curriculum for all Kentucky students

The Kentucky Virtual Schools Established in 2007, Includes: Kentucky Virtual High School E-Learning Kentucky

Kentucky Virtual High School Core Content 23 AP Courses Dual Credit Credit Recovery AP Exam Review Repository of Resources World Languages, Math Hybrid/Blended Classes

 Free:  Blackboard Course shell  Blackboard training  Content  KVHS courses  NROC courses  Monthly BL Bulletin  BL Community membership  Discussion  Resources Blended Learning Fact Sheet online at Hybrid/Blended Initiative

Why Go Hybrid? Meet students where they are Personalized learning; differentiated instruction Flexibility; access to learning from home Immediate feedback on assessments

Why Go Hybrid? Continuous contact with students Discussion Boards, , Pronto, Wimba Facilitate collaborative projects KGHS, community building, scientific inquiry based projects Interact with classmates in meaningful ways Peer review, wikis, blogs, no more stand & deliver Global and local interactivity Constructivist learning!

Why Go Hybrid? Parental access to student work and performance Grade from anywhere See sides of your students you won’t see in class  Increased student participation  Student-centered teaching Less paper Speak your students’ language  Higher engagement

So… how do you get started? Choose a Learning Management System (Blackboard, Moodle, Angel) Determine the needs of YOU and YOUR students  BB in post-secondary  Pathways: guest speakers, disseminate info  Different for each setting (age, discipline)  G&T, intervention  Teaching style  Reinforce content

Seamless Transition Is your hybrid course an extension of your classroom?  Regular announcements, s Make the hybrid course WORK for YOU!  Tutorials to fill in content gaps Discover Open Source Content!  NROC Hippocampus  MIT Open Course Ware  Merlot  Wisconsin Online  Connexions  CurriKi  Creative Commons

How did I get started? Assignments that didn’t require class time were put online; this allowed for more meaningful instruction at school  Peer reviews, Google Docs Created opportunities for students to connect with the content and each other  Discussion Board, Groups

How did I get started? Use hybrid course as diagnostic tool before content is taught  Pre-test  item analysis  % correct for student  % correct for question Use hybrid course as intervention tool (re-teaching) for low-performing students Keep absent students plugged in and informed Central location for calendar and announcements

Online Professional Development Began in 2000 as part of KYVS to support K- 12 virtual teachers Has trained over 6,000 KY educators and SBDM parents Has trained online facilitators Has trained online course designers Has created over 30 PD courses

Online Professional Development What we have learned FREE is better than FEE based Educators LOVE online PD Online PD can change teacher practice Online PD can influence student engagement Course development requires time and money

Online Professional Development Began in 2000 as part of KYVS to support K- 12 virtual teachers Has trained over 6,000 KY educators and SBDM parents Has trained online facilitators Has trained online course designers Has created over 30 PD courses

Online Professional Development What we have learned FREE is better than FEE based Educators LOVE online PD Online PD can change teacher practice Online PD can influence student engagement Course development requires time and money

Online Communities of Practice Began in 2000 to support KYVS faculty Have served over 10,000 KY educators Currently 40 active communities have over 3,300 participants

Visit our website at Call us at