By next fall, District 203 hopes to offer online learning opportunities that do not require outside organizations
By Staff Writer Lynn Arbid
District 203 is currently exploring more online and blended learning options for students.
There will likely be 8-10 classes available online for the 2014-2015 school year, but it is possible that the district will eventually offer blended courses, according to District 203’s director of instructional technology John David Son.
“Online learning allows students control of their pace,” said Son. “They [the students] can benefit a lot from this.”
While online learning does not require classroom time, blended learning is a combination of classroom and online instruction. According to Son, the district is currently preparing for the implementation of certain online classes and is working to cultivate others. As of now, courses offered online will potentially include Algebra 1, U.S. History, Health, Consumer Economics, U.S. Government, Geometry, English for all levels, and an elective, which will likely be a foreign language or technology credit.
Multiple committees are working to have classes available for next fall, according to Son. Teachers involved in these classes will be professionally trained prior to the start of the 2014-2015 school year.
Assistant principal Jeff Howard believes there are opportunities for any student to benefit from online learning.
“As we move toward developing more 21st century skills in our District 203 students, we are doing a lot more with devices, [from] bringing devices to kids to redoing our infrastructure here to allow greater accessibility,” said Howard. “This is another stage of that student-driven instruction that we are looking for.”
Previous online classes have been available for students, but these courses were provided by outside organizations. Credit transfers were needed to ensure these classes met district standards, according to Howard.
In the future, the district will formulate most online courses to eliminate the need for credit transfers.
According to Howard, the district is currently working with NNHS and Naperville Central High School on the logistics of the classes, including how students will sign up for the classes and which teachers will instruct them.
It has yet to be decided whether or not students will take these courses during the school day or at home. This determination may depend upon each individual course.
Additionally, the district is also developing new courses that are not currently offered, such as in-depth foreign language and technology courses, according Son.
Howard said that District 203 is working with Indian Prairie Community District 204 and Wheaton Warrenville District 200 to provide these learning opportunities.
“Our common interests drove us together to provide these opportunities to students,” said Son. “This way, we can leverage buying power.”
According to Son, District 203 will initially pay $113,000 the first year to cover technology, curriculum, content, and professional learning/development. The ongoing cost will be about $60,000 to $70,000 annually.
District 203 is set to approve the budget in June.
Luc Waked • Mar 12, 2014 at 11:16 pm
One of the things that helps students get through school is having friends at school that they can socialize at.
I think doing a course will lead to procrastination and less ultimate gain because of the lack of a social connection on any online course.
Hannah Novak • Mar 11, 2014 at 9:34 pm
I tried taking an online course this past summer, and Noah is absolutely right. It’s incredibly challenging if you don’t understand the material easily, and I procrastinated way too much because there was nobody to work with or talk to about it. I don’t think that the school should substitute real classes with those that are online – I wish I had taken my class at COD or North Central instead of through an online provider.
Jeremy Tang • Feb 13, 2014 at 10:06 pm
Online classes I feel aren’t that great.
Honestly I feel that online courses could make learning harder. The retention of school material online may be lower than that of which a class-room style course. I believe that the interaction between the teacher and the students help the student process the information. The student would be able to associate the material with more things. For example if you’re in a math class and you do not apprehend the problem, then the teacher can help you digest the problem and show you how to tackle it step by step. Making connections are essential in retaining material and taking a class online can hamper the students learning experience. Online classes take away some of our senses such as hearing, smell, and touch. This lack of senses limits the brain in making more connections to a topic, thus making learning harder.
Also online classes can lead to excessive procrastination. The sense of urgency of turning in a paper or homework is lost in online classes. Some kids might just not care enough to do it (which happens anyway) as there is a factor that “oh i can do it whenever”.
Another problem with online classes is that people learn differently. One method can work with some students but not with others. A computer cannot fulfill a unique demand of a student. A student who does not get the lesson cannot get an explanation that is customized to their specific needs. A teacher can one-on-one talk to a student and solve the individual problem whereas a computer cannot cater to a specific question.
If a online course can be designed where the student will industriously work meeting all deadlines while having the course be interactive, so the student can process the information better than that would be fantastic.
You might ask the question “oh people are different and if one person can learn by reading online and working online from this system, then it would be a win-win situation. right?”
However it all goes back to money. District 203 has to decide if spending “$60,000 to $70,000 annually” is worth it. If only a few kids can achieve mastery in a class through online means then is it really worth it?