The School Leader Insights blog series provides school leaders with practical guidance and advice on how to develop and support digital learning programs within their schools and districts. Based on research and on-the-ground experiences working with school leaders, Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute aims to identify and share effective practices with these school leaders to support their work and encourage their success. In this blog post, we discuss the importance of understanding the relationship between curriculum, instruction, and assessment in designing digital learning experiences that align with the underlying purposes for why a digital learning initiative is pursued in the first place.
The School Leader Insights blog series provides school leaders with practical guidance and advice on how to develop and support digital learning programs within their schools and districts. Based on research and on-the-ground experiences working with school leaders, Michigan Virtual Learning Research Institute aims to identify and share effective practices with these school leaders to support their work and encourage their success. In this blog post, we discuss the process of developing a shared vision among school and district stakeholders and the process by which school leaders may institutionalize the vision for continued growth and sustainability.
Research at the higher education level is well established and can provide valuable insights into online learning overall. It is important, however, to consider the unique needs of K-12 online learners as compared to adults when determining which research findings to apply.
We know that not all students learn in the same way. Why is it then that in the traditional model of education, we expect students to learn along the same pathway at the same time?
Teachers play a critical role in instruction regardless of if the instruction is face-to-face, fully online, or somewhere in between. Training for working effectively with remote students is critical now more than ever and should, at the very least in a small way, be part of traditional teacher preparation programs.
What is competency-based education? Competency-based education (CBE) is a student-centered methodology of instruction that incorporates elements of constructivist philosophy, 21st century skills education, and flexible
While the more traditional teacher-centered model of education does work for some students, it does not work for all.
What is competency-based education, and why are so many schools making the switch? Competency-Based Education (CBE) is a student-centered method that allows students to work
What is CBE, and what makes it different from how things used to be? Competency-based education (CBE) is an approach to teaching and learning that
In 2020, we published a 10 report series summarizing the findings of all of the research we’ve conducted to date. Nearly 100 resources were included
In 2020, we published a 10 report series summarizing the findings of all of the research we’ve conducted to date. Nearly 100 resources were included
What is Competency-Based Education? Competency-Based Education (or CBE) is a system-wide school model in which students work towards attaining mastery of specific core competencies or
In the almost 40 years since Ronald Reagan’s A Nation at Risk report and subsequent education reforms, many programs have been developed to help students
Over the past eight years, Michigan Virtual has paid particular attention to online special populations and subsequently online student motivation. Our research team has focused on topics such as online credit recovery, supporting online students with disabilities, and the role of motivation in online courses.
One of the first themes to clearly distinguish itself during the analysis of the reports published by Michigan Virtual was best practices in K-12 online learning. Over the last several years, our research team has explored factors for online student success such enrollment reason, student pacing, teacher-student communication, and instructor role.
Should we go fully digital, use paper copies, or use a hybrid model? How will we assess the technology needs of our students? Should we arrange for meal pick up, delivery, or some combination? How will we manage and monitor student learning? How will we continue to meet the social-emotional needs of our students? These are just some of the questions that school leaders faced as they developed their plans for continued learning after school doors were shuttered for the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Learning online can be an adjustment for many students. It is widely believed that providing students with an orientation to online learning helps them better
What’s new in the world of K-12 research on online, blended, and innovative learning? This month, we take a look at Michigan’s K-12 Virtual Learning Effectiveness Report and a recent edition of the Online Learning Journal.
There exists an ever growing body of research on mentoring online students. In this article we seek to answer the question: What does this research tell us about mentoring K-12 online students?
Most teachers would agree that communication and engagement are key factors for student success in any classroom. In the online classroom, however, these variables play out a little differently than they might in a face-to-face setting. In this article, we break down what communication looks like in an online course, who is responsible for student engagement, and, finally, how communication and engagement interact in practice.
We’re sorry to inform you that we have reached capacity for several of our Semester 1 and Trimester 1 courses. You’ll notice when attempting to enroll students in our Student Learning Portal that some courses are unavailable. While we are no longer accepting new enrollments for these courses at this time, many courses continue to remain open for enrollment.
With many students across the state 100% remote, demand for our online courses is greater than ever before. Because every course we offer is taught by a Michigan-certified teacher, this high volume of enrollments has created capacity issues for our teachers who provide each and every student with individual feedback.
While the Michigan Virtual team anticipated and planned for significant increases in student enrollments this Fall, the increased demand we’ve experienced has been unprecedented. As a result, we are taking steps to hire even more part-and full-time teachers to support larger numbers of student enrollments for Semester 2 as well as for Trimester 2 and 3.
For schools that still need online learning options this year, please fill out the form at the bottom of our virtual pathways page to meet with someone to discuss other solutions. While some of our teacher-led courses are full, we may still have the capacity to help you in upcoming terms or can discuss timing to implement a whole-school or collaborative program in which local teachers from your school/district use our online course content to teach students. We also have free course content and resources available for you to use.
We know this is an incredibly stressful time for all, and we’re sorry if the courses you’re looking for are unavailable. We never want to turn away a student who wants to learn from us. Our top concern, however, is student success, and we have a policy to not take on additional enrollments if we cannot guarantee that all students will have a quality online learning experience.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate the unusually high volume of enrollments we are receiving.
