The Daily Southerner, Tarboro, NC

Local News

June 3, 2009

SouthWest students give orientation for online classes

KIMBERLY BELLAMY

Parents and students filled the theater of SouthWest Edgecombe High School to ask questions about how to launch learners even further into the technology era.

Edgecombe County Public Schools is a pilot school district for North Carolina Virtual Public Schools, a program that gives students the chance to take advanced placement and credit recovery courses online for free.

SWE held an informational session on Monday night that treated the attendees to a free spaghetti dinner, and answered any questions they had about how the program works.

Courses will be offered in the fall, spring, and in the summer, beginning on June 15.

Some students have already gotten the opportunity to take advantage of the courses. Testimonials were given by Ehab Hadi and Brittany Battle, both eleventh-grade AVID students who took pre-calculus through NCVPS.

Battle shared with the crowd knowledge about a friend’s fear of tackling a class that didn’t require her to meet in the classroom at NC State University.

“If she had of taken a course online, she probably would have been better prepared,” Battle said.

Battle then tried to ease the worries of students, and parents about the amount of communication involved by letting them know that her instructor frequently called, and emailed her mom as well as kept in contact with her.

Students who may have formed the idea that the internet could be used to help them while completing test and quiz were proven wrong by Hadi’s testimonial.

“The teacher will know if you have an assignment open with your test or quiz,” Hadi said.

The students also mentioned the responsibility of the student to keep track of deadlines for assignments.

“This program pushes you to be mature … it’s all about you doing it yourself,” Battle said.

The independent element of the program may have been the part that worried parents the most and brought on questions such as the amount of time students should dedicate to the courses, when would they take EOC exams, the opportunity to retake courses, drop/add periods, and others.

Assistant Principal Marc Whichard promptly answered the questions informing them that the students would have 10 days to drop or add; exams would be taken during the last week of school; the amount of time to dedicate to the course depends on the subject and student, and uncertainty about whether classes could be retaken.

SWE Counselor Ann Warren suggested that students devote at least three hours a day to the course, and sited that missing one week of work is equal to missing three weeks, for those considering summer vacations.

“There does have to be a certain amount of structure for each student,” Warren said.

Other key points mentioned was that the same attendance policy for the district would be followed with NCVPS and transportation would be provided for those who decide to take a course over the summer, but are without internet access.

Whichard mentioned that subject area specialists who are SWE staff members will be able to provide guidance for students on a personal level if they run into road blocks online.

“Your child is our child, and we want to make sure they have the key support,” Whichard said.

“We want this to be an opportunity, we don’t want this to be a burden,” he said.

In addition to SWE, and the other high schools in the county, West Edgecombe Middle School is also using NCVPS. The program will expand across the district as it becomes more developed.

Technology facilitator Jennifer Marquis said that elementary and other middle schools will be offered courses next year.

“It’s such a great way for our students to get used to taking online courses, and E-Learning,” Marquis said.

For more information, visit www.ncvps.org .

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