At Advanced Academics we offer our students the opportunity to learn new material without the pressure of a high school classroom. As a Spanish instructor I like being able to provide one on one interaction with my students through our Instant Help chat and ClassMail systems. Many students are less intimidated to talk directly to the teacher when they know others aren’t listening.
In our Spanish courses, students learn language skills through the four areas of communication: reading, speaking, listening and writing.
Our courses are rich with cultural exposure, including photos, maps, history and interactive and fun games. While sticking to the standards, our Spanish courses offer the students background knowledge on Aztec, Incan and Mayan cultures, as well as origins of many English words. I always enjoy reading some of the surprise my students show in their essays about what they’ve learned from these units.
When students call me to take their oral vocabulary quiz, it’s a great opportunity for me to give them feedback on what they’ve been learning. Our Spanish courses have many graphical and audio activities from which the students gain a valuable and practical Spanish vocabulary.
Students are introduced immediately to the grammar composition of the language, and realize quickly the importance of punctuation. Since our program grades some assignments automatically, students are encouraged to take time in their writing assignments. It’s amazing to see the progress of my students’ language skills when I read their Spanish compositions near the end of their course. More than anything, I feel rewarded when a student’s attitude is lifted by a few words of encouragement.
Teachers how are you able to encourage your students? If you are currently a student, how have your teachers encouraged you?
Posted By:
Justin Moore
Spanish/Arts Instructor
Advanced Academics, Inc.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Implementation for success
Awhile back I was your typical college student - that is I thought I knew everything about anything. I decided to take my first “online” course which was a psychology course. Looking back now, what was I thinking?! I didn’t know anything about this new concept (at the time) of the “World Wide Web”, much less how to manage the reading and writing assignments and then submit them over the Internet. Nonetheless, I managed to pass the course, but never really understood “online” learning.
It was almost two years ago when I came onboard with Advanced Academics and was immediately amazed that K12 districts were using online learning. Since I had trouble with online learning, I was even more flabbergasted to learn the success of these students. It became quickly apparent that the online teachers, the students’ efforts, as well as, the proctors and administrators are the key ingredients to this success. The question I am frequently asked by potential customers is “How do your partners know how to make the program successful?” My answer is that our partners’ program success comes largely from our implementation, training, and student orientations.
Currently, a portion of my responsibilities with Advanced Academics include training our district partners and holding student orientations. Our training sessions are held either onsite or via web meetings. During training we explain our partners’ program goals and the proctor responsibilities and provide hands-on training in the utilization of our ROADS 2.0 platform. The program goals differ with each partner and range from drop out recovery to Advanced Placement. The beauty is that our ROADS 2.0 program works wherever needed and is easy to manage for the students and administrators. Our proctors are responsible for managing the program at their site with enrollment and reporting tools just clicks away. It is an enjoyable and captivating experience to learn how our different partners manage their programs to meet the needs of their students.
Although I would say the best part of my job is being onsite with the students for our student orientations. Throughout orientations the students are educated as to the program goals and their responsibilities along with hands-on training on using the Classroom in the ROADS 2.0 platform. Also, students are equipped with best practices to be successful, which include taking advantage of the flexibility of the web-based course anywhere anytime, the tools in the platform available to help understand the concepts of the curriculum, and the access to a teacher via Instant Help or ClassMail whenever they have questions. For me, my favorite moment is when the students realize the benefits and choose to use the program to magnify their full potential.
Posted By:
Amber Dunn
Operations Coordinator
Advanced Academics, Inc.
It was almost two years ago when I came onboard with Advanced Academics and was immediately amazed that K12 districts were using online learning. Since I had trouble with online learning, I was even more flabbergasted to learn the success of these students. It became quickly apparent that the online teachers, the students’ efforts, as well as, the proctors and administrators are the key ingredients to this success. The question I am frequently asked by potential customers is “How do your partners know how to make the program successful?” My answer is that our partners’ program success comes largely from our implementation, training, and student orientations.
Currently, a portion of my responsibilities with Advanced Academics include training our district partners and holding student orientations. Our training sessions are held either onsite or via web meetings. During training we explain our partners’ program goals and the proctor responsibilities and provide hands-on training in the utilization of our ROADS 2.0 platform. The program goals differ with each partner and range from drop out recovery to Advanced Placement. The beauty is that our ROADS 2.0 program works wherever needed and is easy to manage for the students and administrators. Our proctors are responsible for managing the program at their site with enrollment and reporting tools just clicks away. It is an enjoyable and captivating experience to learn how our different partners manage their programs to meet the needs of their students.
Although I would say the best part of my job is being onsite with the students for our student orientations. Throughout orientations the students are educated as to the program goals and their responsibilities along with hands-on training on using the Classroom in the ROADS 2.0 platform. Also, students are equipped with best practices to be successful, which include taking advantage of the flexibility of the web-based course anywhere anytime, the tools in the platform available to help understand the concepts of the curriculum, and the access to a teacher via Instant Help or ClassMail whenever they have questions. For me, my favorite moment is when the students realize the benefits and choose to use the program to magnify their full potential.
Posted By:
Amber Dunn
Operations Coordinator
Advanced Academics, Inc.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Information Deliverer vs. Student Success Coach
No more pep rallies in the gym. No more fire drills. No more cafeteria lunches. When people learn that I teach online courses, their first question is “How is teaching online different from being in the classroom?” The biggest difference is in my role as a teacher. In the traditional classroom, my role was more of Information Deliverer. As a teacher of online courses, I now think of myself as Student Success Coach.
In the traditional classroom, my role was mainly that of Information Deliverer. In a typical school day, I spent ¼ of the day creating lessons and ¾ of the day delivering them. If I was lucky enough to have a few minutes left over at the end of each class, I was able to work with students individually, but even then, I was never able to reach them all. I never felt completely successful at balancing the responsibilities of creating engaging lessons and spending my time working individually with students.
At Advanced Academics, engaging lessons and activities are already created and available to students. As a Student Success Coach, instead of Information Deliverer, I’m able to spend my time focusing on individual students and monitoring their progress. Since I don’t have to keep thirty students on the same chapter in a textbook, I’m able to stop students when they have trouble. If an assignment is not completed satisfactorily, I have the opportunity to re-teach the concepts, and the student has the opportunity to rework the assignment.
Also, as Student Success Coach, I’m able to provide personalized communication with students about their educational progress. I communicate daily with students about specific concepts and issues through e-mail. I work continuously with individuals in our instructional chat room as they need help. And with the reporting capabilities of our platform, I have a myriad of ways to help me identify those who need intervention. I’m able to spend hours each day personally calling students to help them stay motivated or to help them get back on track.
So, besides being able to take a bathroom break when I want, the main difference that I’ve experienced in teaching online courses is the shift in my role. Teaching online courses allows me to focus completely on what I’m trained for and what I love—to experience that “light bulb” moment with students, one at a time.
Posted By:
Julie McDonald
English Instructor
Advanced Academics, Inc.
In the traditional classroom, my role was mainly that of Information Deliverer. In a typical school day, I spent ¼ of the day creating lessons and ¾ of the day delivering them. If I was lucky enough to have a few minutes left over at the end of each class, I was able to work with students individually, but even then, I was never able to reach them all. I never felt completely successful at balancing the responsibilities of creating engaging lessons and spending my time working individually with students.
At Advanced Academics, engaging lessons and activities are already created and available to students. As a Student Success Coach, instead of Information Deliverer, I’m able to spend my time focusing on individual students and monitoring their progress. Since I don’t have to keep thirty students on the same chapter in a textbook, I’m able to stop students when they have trouble. If an assignment is not completed satisfactorily, I have the opportunity to re-teach the concepts, and the student has the opportunity to rework the assignment.
Also, as Student Success Coach, I’m able to provide personalized communication with students about their educational progress. I communicate daily with students about specific concepts and issues through e-mail. I work continuously with individuals in our instructional chat room as they need help. And with the reporting capabilities of our platform, I have a myriad of ways to help me identify those who need intervention. I’m able to spend hours each day personally calling students to help them stay motivated or to help them get back on track.
So, besides being able to take a bathroom break when I want, the main difference that I’ve experienced in teaching online courses is the shift in my role. Teaching online courses allows me to focus completely on what I’m trained for and what I love—to experience that “light bulb” moment with students, one at a time.
Posted By:
Julie McDonald
English Instructor
Advanced Academics, Inc.
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Technology in Education
The TRS 80 
I remember when I was in school how excited I was when we received our first classroom computer. It was a TRS 80 and it looked a lot like a mix between an oversized, silver egg and a television with a typewriter glued to the front of it. Those of us who were intrigued by the new machine used to line up after class and take turns writing programs that would print our names across the screen. As exciting as that phenomenon was at the time, that was the extent of the involvement of computers in our classroom. Back then computers were considered an extra-curricular oddity – something that only a few people with peculiar interests would have much use for. It was very hard for people, including myself, to envision the role computers would play in our lives just a few years ahead.
Since that time we’ve witnessed the rapid expansion of computer technology not only in the teaching process but also in many facets of our lives. We’ve seen new technologies as varied as content management systems, asynchronous course delivery systems, real time collaboration systems, and many other fascinating tools flourish allowing all of us: administrator, teacher, proctor, and student to experience new and very interesting ways in which teaching and learning have evolved. It has been exciting to witness the ways in which educators have shaped these new tools as well as to witness the ways in which these new tools have helped to shape education.
Working with an online education provider like Advanced Academics is thus a very rewarding experience because we operate on that horizon at which envisioning the possibilities in the future of education and delivering the best in education today meet. As we forge ahead I get excited thinking of the ways in which we will integrate today’s capabilities with those possibilities the future offers. While I can’t be sure exactly what that will look like, I look forward to seeing it.
How have you used technology to enhance your teaching or learning experience?
Posted By:
Steve Franklin
Information Technology Director
Advanced Academics, Inc.
I remember when I was in school how excited I was when we received our first classroom computer. It was a TRS 80 and it looked a lot like a mix between an oversized, silver egg and a television with a typewriter glued to the front of it. Those of us who were intrigued by the new machine used to line up after class and take turns writing programs that would print our names across the screen. As exciting as that phenomenon was at the time, that was the extent of the involvement of computers in our classroom. Back then computers were considered an extra-curricular oddity – something that only a few people with peculiar interests would have much use for. It was very hard for people, including myself, to envision the role computers would play in our lives just a few years ahead.
Since that time we’ve witnessed the rapid expansion of computer technology not only in the teaching process but also in many facets of our lives. We’ve seen new technologies as varied as content management systems, asynchronous course delivery systems, real time collaboration systems, and many other fascinating tools flourish allowing all of us: administrator, teacher, proctor, and student to experience new and very interesting ways in which teaching and learning have evolved. It has been exciting to witness the ways in which educators have shaped these new tools as well as to witness the ways in which these new tools have helped to shape education.
Working with an online education provider like Advanced Academics is thus a very rewarding experience because we operate on that horizon at which envisioning the possibilities in the future of education and delivering the best in education today meet. As we forge ahead I get excited thinking of the ways in which we will integrate today’s capabilities with those possibilities the future offers. While I can’t be sure exactly what that will look like, I look forward to seeing it.
How have you used technology to enhance your teaching or learning experience?
Posted By:
Steve Franklin
Information Technology Director
Advanced Academics, Inc.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
