Clovis Online School (COS) Teacher Information Evening December 15, 2008 Clovis Unified School District Michelle Steagall, Chief Curriculum Officer Rob Darrow, Coordinator Instructional Resources More Information Blog: http://clovisonlineschool.wordpress.com Wiki: http://clovisonlineschool.wikispaces.com
Agenda Welcome and Introductions Thank you Raise your hand if Developing a charter online school Why? How you can become part of the network Q and A Developing your Personal Learning Network or PLN
Why are we doing this? To be America s benchmark for excellence in online charter schools To provide an engaging and comprehensive online course delivery system for students To meet the needs of all students
Analyzing Data Clovis Unified has been studying data regarding this direction for over two years. Generation Y / the Net Generation Charter schools School drop outs Online schools
We decided to act Charter passed (March, 2008) Charter approved by state (June 2008) Charter grant - $250,000 (July, 2008) School opens August 2009 Grades 9 and 10. Add one grade level each year. Beginning target: 60 students per grade
The Challenge? Preparing a Digital Generation...
BC Cartoon Define Learn
A step back in time
1930s: Revolutionary Change Progressive educators argued against the one-room schoolhouse: we need larger, centralized schools they will provide students with a better, more standardized education.
What caused the change? Improved roads And a new technology Can you guess what it was?
The School Bus 1936, Dodge built the first school bus Caused the one room schoolhouse to become obsolete.
Fast forward to the 1990s. Another Revolution Can you guess what it was?
The Internet Revolution In business In education In personal life
In Clovis Unified 1992: The Internet and World Wide Web 1993: Alta Sierra Intermediate opened with a computer on every teacher s desk connected by email. 1996: Laptop program, one Internet connection in each intermediate school. 1999: Every teacher in Clovis USD issued a laptop computer connected to Internet
Internet Revolution / Online Learning Changing education in the 21 st century Same way as the school bus changed education in the 1930s
Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn, and Curtis Johnson (2008) Disrupting Class By 2019, 50% of courses taken by high school students will be online.
The New Frontier: Online Learning is the Digital School Bus of the 21 st Century Let s look at some data about Students Charter schools Home schoolers Online schools
About our students the Net Generation / Gen Y 80 million in this generation Ages 11 31 Born 1977-1997.
Gen Y Characteristics Gen Y believe in instant gratification, outcome driven, values relationships and lifestyle over career, and no sense of history (because they can Google what they need when they want it). Jason Dorsey, Presentation in Clovis Unified, August 2008.
Gen Y Tech Use This generation are tech dependent! Technology is embedded into their being. Their most important device is their cell phone! - Dorsey, 2008. www.jasondorsey.com
Gen Y Tech Use For this generation, technology is like air. - Don Tapscott, Author, Grown Up Digital, 2009. VIDEO from Don Tapscott: http://www.grownupdigital.com/ind ex.php/the-dumbest-generation/
Tapscott: Eight Net Generation Norms freedom, customize and personalize, scrutinize, integrity and openness, entertainment and play, collaborate, need for speed, innovate.
About Charter Schools Number of charter schools U.S. 4,568 California - 702 Fresno and nearby counties 76 Number of students attending charter schools increases each year
Where are the online charters?
California Online Charters 2007-2008: 5112 students 50% growth each year California Students in Charter Online School by Year 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 2004-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007 2007-2008 est.
Number of Students Leaving Clovis USD to Attend Charter Schools 07-08: 311 Students moved to charters out of Clovis since Sept. 2008: 23
Reasons students leaving Clovis schools (as reported to counselors) Dress Code Don t like alternative school Don t like comprehensive school Need to work
About Student Drop Outs 2006-2007 U. S.: 1.2 million (or 7,000 per day). California: 170,000 Fresno County: 5,121 Clovis Unified: 283
Drop Outs in Fresno County In Fresno County, 1 in 3 students drop out of high school Among African American and Latino students, 50% drop out rate Fresno County has the largest percentage of drop outs of any county in the state The percentage of drop outs has increased by 30% each year for the past three years.
Why Students Drop Out? 1. lack of academic engagement (academic achievement, educational stability or educational attainment) 2. lack of social engagement (peer and adult relationships)
Report: The Silent Epidemic (2006) lack of connection to the school school is boring feeling unmotivated academic challenges
About Home schoolers California Estimate: 166,000 Increasing each year. Not officially counted by California Department of Education
Counting students in Clovis Unified (2006-2007) Same thing happening in all school districts To charters: 311 Drop outs: 283 Homeschoolers:? Total not attending Clovis schools: 594
About Online Learning Increasing enrollments every year Nationally and internationally Some examples
International Perspective China: 1.3 billion people 20 million 18 year olds 2.5 million college slots Online learning increasing educational opportunities to 100 million new students India: Universal Access for K-12 Education in 10 years Need 200,000 more schools Shortage of good teachers Leverage teachers using technology to bring to scale Educomp Program digitizing learning resources (online content) in K-12 education Turkey: 10 million students in K-12 taking online courses Middle East: Rebuilding K-12 educational systems online
World Future Society Top 10 Breakthroughs Transforming Life over the next 20-30 years. 1. Alternative energy 2. Desalination of water 3. Precision farming 4. Biometrics 5. Quantum computers 6. Entertainment on demand 7. Global access 8. Virtual education or distance learning 9. Nanotechnology 10. Smart Robots http://www.wfs.org/index.html
Online Learning in U.S. Colleges 2006-2007 3.9 million students in online courses 20% of college enrollments took an online course Number in online courses growing 12% each year
K-12 Online Learning in the U.S. Growing rapidly at 30% annually In 2007, estimated 1,000,000 enrollments In K-12: 30 states with statewide virtual schools; 44 states with significant policies/programs (Watson, Keeping Pace, 2008) More than 50% of all school districts across the United States offer online and distance learning (Americas Digital Schools Report) 18 states with 100,000+ students enrolled in full-time virtual school programs (Center for Education Reform) States require online course for graduation: Michigan, Florida and Idaho.
Florida Virtual School growth
The Clovis Online School A vision for teaching and learning
Strategies to Teach the Net Generation (Tapscott) focus on mastery and lifelong learning empower students to collaborate design educational programs that allow choice, customization, transparency, integrity, collaboration, fun, speed and innovation in the learning experience change the pedagogy of teaching / cut back on lecturing
Transforming Learning Environments Traditional Environments Emerging Learning Landscape Teacher directed, memoryfocused instruction Isolated work on invented exercises Factual, literal thinking for competence Primary focus on school and local community Isolated assessment of learning Knowledge from limited, authoritative sources Student-centered, performancefocused learning Collaborative work on authentic, real-work projects Creative thinking for innovation and original solutions Expanded focus including digital global citizenship Integrated assessment for learning Learner-constructed knowledge from multiple information sources and experiences
Clovis Online School Full time students: funding is all or nothing With time, we hope the online courses will also be able to be used part time To Start: 9 th and 10th Grow one grade each year Meet Clovis USD graduation requirements
Online Content Teach to mastery, standards aligned Curriculum Initiative material Cal Online course content Open source content aligned to standards Follow principles of open source, as well as the spirit of Web 2.0 collaboration and sharing. (See www.curriki.com)
Online Content - Static vs. Dynamic Static stays the same, perhaps changes yearly. Dynamic - take advantage of many free outstanding resources such as podcasts, YouTube, TeacherTube, ipod university, the Smithsonians, NASA, etc.
Student Enrollment / Recruitment 1. Clovis USD students attending other schools 2. Students outside Clovis USD 3. Will establish qualifications for students to guide selection.
We re looking for team members, collaborators, and innovators Some to hire now, some in the future Some to become part of the larger network of learners Everything we are doing can be applied in the face-to-face classroom You may be hired this year or in three years Developing program, so we have made our best estimate at growth and what we need, but that may change
Dan Pink. (2005) A Whole New Mind change is inevitable, and when it happens, the wisest response is not to wail or whine but to suck it up and deal with it.
Courses to begin Grades 9 and 10 English, science, math, history, Spanish, PE and a few electives.
Employee Timeline January Hire course design team (stipends) May Hire part time teachers (stipends) Summer - training Aug. 2009 First students Developing positions: online mentors, tech support, professional development
Decision Time for You A) Listen and leave B) Listen and apply C) Listen and join the Clovis online school network of learners Some hired now, some hired later All can contribute Training just began.
Q and A from the Parking Lot Blog: http://clovisonlineschool.wordpress.com Wiki: http://clovisonlineschool.wikispaces.com