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

2. 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

3. Mansfield ISD and Online Learning Brief History October 2008, Superintendent vision Started 2009-2010 school year TxVSN provider since 2010-2011 school year Fall 2009 – 135 students – 73% success rate Spring 2012 - 420 students – 86% success rate Summer 2012 390 students – 91% success rate All semesters for 2012-2013 90% success or better

4. Where is this information coming from? Students who took online classes in Mansfield ISD during the 2011-2012 school year Publication related to the study ▫http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/131614.pdfhttp://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/131614.pdf

5. 4 Areas of Focus Course Content/Platform District Level Supports Campus Level Supports Online Supports

6. 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

7. 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%

8. 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

9. Calendar

10. Student Dashboard

11. Progress Tracker

12. Progress Report

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

14. 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%

15. 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.

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

17. 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%

18. Customized Report Options

19. 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.

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

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

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

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

24. 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

25. Handouts and Survey Information Handouts of this presentation can be accessed at: www.tceaconvention.org.www.tceaconvention.org From the TCEA app, each attendee has the ability to rate the academy and leave comments. To access the survey from the TCEA app: 1. If you have not scheduled sessions, tap: Events 2. Tap Browse by Day or Browse by Track 3. Select date using the forward and back arrows 4. Locate your session (tap) 5. Tap the Actions tab 6. tap Rate Session 1. If you have scheduled sessions, tap: My Schedule 2. Select date using the forward and back arrows 3. Locate your session (tap) 4. Tap the Actions tab 5. Tap Rate Session Or to access the TCEA workshop and academy online evaluation, please visit, www.tcea.org/surveys www.tcea.org

26. Questions: