Report: January 2010

• 17 Laptops and mobility storage cart,  17 bags, 17 flashdrives,  17 headsets, and 4 books about online learning  were purchased for Silverton ISD.  17 and distributed to the district beginning November 9, 2009. The laptops, flashdrives and headsets are to be used by students. The books support online learning and were purchased  for the liaison, counselor, teachers, and adminstration. 2 printers chosen by the Silverton team have been ordered and will be distributed when received.
• 8 copies of Camtasia and Adobe Acrobat have been ordered and will be distributed to the Highland Park Provider teachers and training will be conducted in the spring 2010. They also each received  a headset, flashdrive, and a set of 5 online instruction and course design books on November 12. The school district has requested that no printers be purchased for provider teachers. Alternatives to support these teachers are still being explored. Highland Park received 20 headsets and flashdrives for students taking online courses the week of November 9, 2009. They  received a set of four books to support online learners.
• The project manager attended the required meeting in Austin. Because of the conflict of the dates of the required grant meeting and the beginning of school in August, no district representatives could attend.
• Provider teachers are previewing course content from several vendors.  They will begin creating their courses summer 2010 and content will be purchased prior to that training. They have been provided logins to course content from two different vendors. A live webinar with a vendor is scheduled for January. Courses will be ready as per timeline for fall 2010.
• Liaisonics online training was provided beginning October 26, 2009. Two administrators and one IT person participated from both Highland Park and Silverton ISD.
• Students from both high schools completed online courses during fall 2009. Data has not been submitted as to number  of completions.
• The grant evaluator and Region 16 grant team members met in September, October, and December.
• Highland Park and Silverton will submit documetation to report all student completion of  online courses for  fall 2009. They will be reimbursed from grant funds accordingly.
• A wiki was created for collaboration and sharing of resources instead of a community in Blackboard because of ease of use. Teachers used this wiki to record reflections during theiNACOL Virtual School Symposium in November. It will be used for each conference and also during the entire grant. http://region16vision2020.pbworks.com/
• Eight  Provider teachers are registered to attend TCEA 2010 in February 2010.  

Professional Development 

1. Effective Online Instruction was completed by the 8 provider teachers in October, 2009. All provider teachers are registered for WICC I beginning January 11. No parents have chosen to participate in the Region 4 "Parents Online" course.

2. Liaisonics online training was provided beginning October 26, 2009. Two administrators and one IT person participated from both Highland Park and Silverton ISD.

3. For  Highland Park Provider teachers who receive Camtasia and Adobe Acrobat Pro software, training will take place in spring 2010 instead of fall 2009 to assist in creating their courses.

4. Highland Park and Silverton administrators have communicated with each other.  Highland Park shared information with Silverton about their policies and procedures for student laptop use because they have experience in a 1 to 1 laptop program.

5. Provider teachers are using the Region 16 Vision 2020 wiki to share information.

6. Highland Park administrators asked that the face to face training be held during the summer months in order for teachers to remain in the classroom, therefore  the Blackboard Instructor training will be held the first week of June 2010. This was a change from fall 2009 to June 2010. Courses will be ready fall 2010 per grant timeline. The 5 E model training will be scheduled in the spring of 2010 instead of fall 2009.

7. Seven Provider teachers  attended the iNACOL Virtual School Symposium November 15-17, 2009. Reflections are posted on the wiki: http://region16vision2020.pbworks.com/iNACOL+K-12+Conference. Training for wiki use was delivered in a face to face meeting on November 12, 2009.

Report: July 2010

Course content for 6 provider teachers has been purchased and received. The following courses are set up in Region 16’s Blackboard system for instructors:

1. AP Statistics
2. Spanish III
3. Social Studies 8^th
4. Science 8^th
5. Integrated Math
6. Environmental Science

(Since this report, course content has been purchased for 2 more courses)

1. Introduction to Entrepreneurship
2. Keyboarding 

October, 2010: All 8 courses have been submitted to TxVSN for review at this time. Teachers are also using the courses in their school district as a blended course. 

Professional Development

• Eight Provider teachers completed Region 16’s online Web Instructor Certification training. This five week training is TxVSN approved professional development for online teacher certification.
• Eight Provider teachers, one high school principal, and the project director attended the TCEA conference in February and joined many breakout and keynote sessions. They indicated this trip provided many ideas for new tools, resources, and strategies for them to consider using both in their face to face and online/blended classrooms. They were also able to make contacts in the vendor hall.
• Two administrators from provider school, Highland Park, and six provider teachers attended the TxDLA conference in March. Many followed up with contacts in the vendor hall. All participated in breakout sessions.
• Eight provider teachers completed two days of the three day face to face Blackboard Instructor training on May 1 and May 15. The final day was rescheduled to July so course content is available.
• Region 16 Blackboard was updated to Version 9.1 during last week of May to avoid interruption to access for Region 16 school districts. Provider teachers will not attend a specific training for “What’s New in Blackboard” since they will receive one day of their Blackboard Instructor training in July in the new platform. This is a change in the original timeline. All Provider teachers have access to the computer labs at Region 16 during the summer to work on their courses.

During fall 2009 and spring 2010 semesters, 90 students successfully completed 137 dual credit classes. $15,647 of grant funds paid for these courses.

District Needs

Grant Funds

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