With the ever-increasing niche subjects in schools, but even more pressing budget problems, high schools are resorting to a new method of learning: online schools. Most people think of distance learning as another form of home school, but the two could not be more different. Online schools are usually state sponsored and Department of Education approved. They charge minimal enrollment rates that are typically paid by the local public school system. The major difference: you only take a few classes online. For the others, one sits in a regular high school classroom.
Thus, online schooling has emerged as the oddball class alternative. Schools do not want to teach an entire class for only five students, but the students still want to take the class. If the Advanced Placement class I want is not available at my school I can apply to be in an online class. Class sizes are usually limited to only ten or fifteen students, but each class begins at a different time of the year to allow for conflicting local school schedules. After you are signed up and login on the virtual school webpage, it is time to start your class!
Welcome and First Weeks:
Your online teacher will contact you right after you sign up to take a class. He or she needs to establish some of the ways that your local school will help in your online learning process. You will need to find both a mentor at the local school and a place to work. Since the online classroom works just like a physical one, there must be both a place in your schedule to take the online class and a teacher to supervise your progress. Choosing to work in the school library is likely the best option; one of the librarians can serve as your mentor. There will also be a required textbook and your school may or may not have it in stock. The books used are usually different from ones at your local school, so try to get these ordered in advance.
Course Modules and Pace:
Different from most home school schedules or distance learning, your online class probably requires submittal of assignments and completion of coursework by certain dates. The course is broken up into modules or sections with several sub-sections in each module. Your teacher is responsible for helping to create the module content, so he or she is very knowledgeable about what you will be learning. Each week you will be responsible for several sub-sections. This means a few different things. First, you must read the applicable sections of your textbook and understand them thoroughly. The material covered in the book may or may not be different from that in the online modules. Next, you should read through the online module. Most modules are presented in a easy-to-read format with plenty of pictures and graphics, but are also concise enough to understand easily. After you feel you understand both of these texts, move to the activity portion of the module.
Activities are similar to class work exercises, just like the reading is basically lecturing. Some online teachers choose to provide recorded supplemental lessons that enhance the content or provide specific instructions and help on how to complete the activity. Unlike class work, you can work on this activity for as long as you like. Usually the student types up the activity and then uploads it onto the site.
The pace of the course is measured by activity submittals and is not related to the time you spend working on the reading or class work.
Quizzes and Tests:
My first online quiz was extremely nerve-racking, but it really is nothing to worry about. Consider this, you probably can take the quiz multiple times! However, there are no hints and no study guides. Quizzes can be taken whenever you want. The student chooses how much to study for a create online quiz and how many times he or she takes the quiz. Most quizzes are multiple-choice, allowing for instant grading and feedback. If you miss any questions the incorrect question is shown, but the correct answer is not displayed. That means you have a good shot of improving your grade when taking the quiz again since the questions are usually the same.
While you can choose when to take quizzes, your mentor supervises tests. He or she gets a list of test passwords and must watch while you take the test so that there is no cheating. The test can only be completed once and questions usually are a mix of multiple-choice and some short answer.
Post Source: EzineArticles
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