Creating an Accredited K-12 International Blended Distributed

Learning Program

The journey … Surveyed K-12 online jurisdictions

around the world Unable to find others that were

offering International Online Education in a major way

Most programs were content intensive (i.e. correspondence) and lacked strong teacher/student relationships

SD73 wanted to build a unique model

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Asynchronous Learning Students complete online work at their own

pace.

“Most of the online courses nowadays are offered in asynchronous mode, enabling students with the freedom of time and distance. Nonetheless, the drop-out rate for online courses is high. With online synchronous instruction students have both freedom of distance and punctuality of regular progress and the drop-out rate is found to be greatly reduced.” -Online Synchronous Instruction: Challenges and Solutions

Synchronous Learning

Students meet with BC teacher synchronously once per week in an online classroom

Students work together in a class synchronously

Students work on projects together

Quality Success rates equal or better than

campus Personalized rather than individualized

learning 2009 PISA results indicate Canada has a

strong educational system: Canadian students continue to be leaders in reading,

math and science. Canadian students perform well in a global context in

reading. On the combined reading scale, only four countries surpassed Canada: Shanghai-China, Korea, Finland and Hong Kong-China. - http://cdnsba.org/

“Online learning began as a way to improve the quality of distance education by providing more and better interaction with instructors and between students.” - A Study of Face-to-Face and Online Teaching Philosophies inCanada and Australia

The Model A Blended model that incorporates

online learning with face to face learning Students are provided with a high level

of service Teachers focus on building relationships

with students A quality program is key to success

STAGES OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Why would a public school district

want to consider creating their

own accredited online

International Program?

Bring revenue into a School District

Broaden skills of DL teachers

Expose quality BC education to the International Market

Prepare for upcoming workforce shortage as outlined in the BC Jobs Plan:

“Of the one million job openings ahead, 43 per cent will need trades and technical training. The skills and training plan represents fundamental change to how we prepare British Columbians for the jobs of tomorrow.” www.bcjobsplan.ca

Benefits Enlarges presence in International

Education

Larger student base to increase skill level of Teachers i.e. Business courses popular in Asia but not BC.

A larger student base increases choice for courses

International students can benefit from our high quality BC education

Transition from Overseas to Canada “students set up for success” ie Cultural awareness

Implementation

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Strategies to “find” that unique teacher

Collaborative Interview by Administrator and Teachers

Support to help develop Collaborative Digital Community

Blended Program consists of:

1 facilitator overseas 1 BC certified teacher in

Canada 1 cohort of students Online resource Overseas Partner

Facilitator

Bilingual Technologically savvy Student motivator/supporter Flexible

Teacher BC certified DL certified Flexible, creative and adaptable Culturally aware Teaching philosophy is based on

creating strong relationships with students

Student Cohort Approximately 10-15

students/cohort Cohort allows for:

Group projects Real time discussions Social presence Working together

Online resources

Coursework is always available in Moodle

Avoid shipping issues with text books

BC teacher can mark submitted work at any time

Teachers open to wide variety of alternative resources to ensure connections with students

Overseas Partner

Provide students access to appropriate technology

Stable internet connection Cohort of students

Issues Cultural differences i.e. Chinese principal

schedules an unplanned assembly

Technology i.e. certain sites are blocked such as Youtube.

Learning Styles – Be aware of the traditional learning/teaching style currently being used and not presume that the constructivist approach is one that will automatically be well perceived.

STEPS TO SUSTAINABILITY

IOLA

BC LEGISLATION

• April 2002, BC School Amendment Act provided public school districts the ability to incorporate business companies.

• Under the legislation a board of education is the sole shareholder and revenue generated by the company returns to the district.

• Legislation not without controversy http://www.bcbusinessonline.ca/selling-canadian-teaching-in-china https://bctf.ca/IssuesInEducation.aspx?id=5958 http://www.saanichnews.com/news/161453575.html

RATIONALE

Taking BC online learning services internationally required a coordinated approach and single entity.

• Enable a single point for discussions with education stakeholders

• Lead a BC-branded international marketing strategy• Support the development and delivery of BC curriculum and educational services through online or distributed learning

• Uphold the quality of program content and services• Be independent and inclusive, with a governing board drawn from school district business companies, independent schools, business, government, and international reps

• Provide mandate to improve online content and services

MEMBERS

International Online Learning Association of BC

• 5 school district business companies (SD 91,73,63,37,34

• 1 independent school

• Minimum one representative from independent schools

• Members only from business companies to start

FOCUS ON QUALITY

Quality learning key

• Accredit online learning offerings of members

• Foster innovation

• Share quality metrics and approaches with domestic programs

• Build content, share with domestic

ANY QUESTIONS?