Increasing Access to Advanced Placement Courses through Online Learning

1. Increasing Access to Advanced Placement Courses through Online Learning Allison Powell, Vice President International Association for K-12 Online Learning

2. International Association for K-12 Online Learning (iNACOL) • Mission is to ensure all students have access to world-class education and quality online learning opportunities that prepare them for a lifetime of success. • Non-profit, membership association • 2,500+ members representing a diverse cross-section of K-12 education from school districts, charter schools, state education agencies, non-profit organizations, research institutions, corporate entities and other content & technology providers.  • Advocacy - Support activities and policies that remove barriers and support effective online education. • Research – Facilitate, conduct and disseminate research, identify promising practices, and develop national K-12 online learning quality standards. • Professional Development - Offer professional development opportunities for administrators and teachers. • Networking - Promote the sharing of information, resources and expertise across the larger education reform community to drive future directions in K-12 online education.  

3. World Future SocietyThe Futurist: Top 10 Breakthroughs Transforming Life over the next 20-30 yearsBest forecast data ever assembled • Alternative energy • Desalination of water • Precision farming • Biometrics • Quantum computers • Entertainment on demand • Global access • Virtual education or distance learning • Nanotechnology • Smart Robots

4. Do All Students Have Access to the Highest Quality Education? • Over 40% of our nation’s high schools do not offer any AP courses. Many of these schools serve predominantly low-income and minority students. • 34 states offer state-led programs or initiatives that are designed, in most cases, to work with existing school districts to supplement course offerings for students. • 57% of public secondary schools in the U.S. provide access to students for online learning. • According to the 2009 Sloan Consortium report, K-12 school district administrators cited “offering courses not otherwise available at the school,” “meeting the needs of specific groups of students,” and “offering Advanced Placement or college-level courses” as the top three reasons they perceive online and blended courses to be important.

5. Do All Students Have Access to the Highest Quality Education? Online Learning Offers: • Access to Courses Otherwise Unavailable (#1 USED study) • Online learning to Meet Individual Student Needs (#2) • “Advanced Diploma” Courses • Additional Course Offerings • Advanced Placement, IB or Dual Enrollment/Credit Courses • Math & Science Courses • Foreign Languages • Remedial courses and credit recovery • Excellent teachers/Highly Qualified Teachers • Multimedia/technology Tools to enhance instruction • Customization and personalization; individualized pacing • Tailored learning and access to more educational content and resources

6. Rise of the Millennials • Studies show that they are a capable, conscientious, concerned and optimistic generation, determined to succeed: • 96 percent say that doing well in school is important to their lives. • 94 percent say they plan to continue their education after high school. • 90 percent of children between 5-17 use computers. • 94 percent of teens use the Internet for school-related research. • Teens spend more time online using the Internet than watching television. • High school and college students spend nearly $400 billion a year. • And they increasingly are involved in making spending decisions for their parents.

7. Virtual Schools & K-12 Online Learning • Virtual schools help meet the need for more middle grades and high school academic courses. • Virtual schools assist students who: • attend schools that are unable to provide certain courses; • need to retake courses to meet academic requirements; • need an alternative to traditional education; • want expanded course options; and • have physical disabilities or prolonged absences from school because of illness. • are “at risk” • are gifted

8. K-12 Online Learning: National Overview • The K-12 online learning market is growing rapidly at 30% annually • In K-12: • 44 states have significant supplemental online learning programs, or significant full-time programs (in which students take most or all of their courses online), or both. • More than 50% of all school districts across the United States offer online courses (Americas Digital Schools) • 18 states with 92,000 students enrolled in 173 full-time virtual school programs (Center for Education Reform)

9. State Snapshots • Florida • Virtual school growth 100% • Competency-based • First performance-based model • New model of accountability • Michigan first state to require online learning for graduation • Alabama ACCESS program funding online learning $30M statewide as part of new 21st century classrooms • New Mexico – PK-20 program • Georgia

10. Florida Tax Watch Report (2007) Sixty percent (60%) of FLVS students scored three or above on AP exams during the school years 2004-05 and 2005-06.

11. International Perspective • Singapore: 100% secondary schools online • EU: IB Diploma Programme Online (125 countries) • China: 1.3 billion people • Digitized K-12 curriculum • Training Master Teachers to teach online • With online learning: increase educational opportunities to 100 million new students • India: • Universal Access for K-12 Education in 10 years • Need 200,000 more schools • Shortage of good teachers • “Leverage teachers using technology to bring to scale” • Educomp Program digitizing learning resources (online content) in K-12 education • View as export opportunity • Turkey: 0-15 million students in K-12 taking online courses in 3 years • UK: E-Learning Exports - 29 billion pounds annually; deal with China

12. What Leaders Need to Know: Four Key Ideas • #1 Online Learning Expands Options • “The first impetus to the growth of K-12 distance education was an interest in expanding educational options and providing equal opportunities for all learners.” (p.7) • #2 Online Learning Is Rapidly Growing • “Recent Surveys show that K-12 online learning is a rapidly growing phenomenon.” (p.4) • Clark: 40,000-50,000 enrollments in 2000-2001 • Eduventures: 300,000 K-12 enrollments online 2002-3 • Peak Group: 500,000 enrollments in 2005 • Sloan Consortium: 1,030,000 enrollments in 2007-8 • Growing 30% annually

13. Online Learning Works • #3 Is Effective: “Equal or Better” • The overall results of the “meta-analysis found that, on average, students in online learning conditions performed better than those receiving face-to-face instruction. The study looked at studies comparing both online and blended learning environments to the face-to-face learning environment. In the studies focused on blended environments and face-to-face instruction, “blended instruction has been more effective, providing a rationale for the effort required to design and implement blended approaches” (U.S. Department of Education, 2009, p. xvii). • #4 Improves Teaching • Teachers who teach online reported positive improvements in face-to-face, too. • “Of those who reported teaching face-to-face while teaching online or subsequently, three in four reported a positive impact on their face-to-face teaching.” (p. 25)

14. Blended/Hybrid Learning • “Combining face-to-face with fully online components optimizes both environments in ways impossible in other formats” -Educause Research Bulletin, 2004 • Digital content, curriculum, LMS, online assessments, data system, AI, simulations • Shift in instructional model and training Self-direction, high engagement, (Less direct student support needed) Struggling student, low-engagement, (More direct student support needed)

15. Trends: Professional Development • Globally • Pre-service teacher training includes online learning (Singapore, Mexico) • Nationally • Boise State University has a Online Teaching certificate; trains all of Idaho Digital Learning Academy (state virtual school) and Connections Academy Teachers • Georgia’s Department of Education has an Online Teaching Certificate/Endorsement • iNACOL Professional Development for Online Learning and Virtual Schools • Research paper about professional development for Online Teaching and Administration

16. What do Online AP Courses Look Like?

17. Advanced Placement Online Science Courses

18. Online Science Labs • “Scientific inquiry, both in traditional courses and online courses, can include a variety of learning experiences, including simulated, virtual, remote, and physical hands-on experimentation.” • California – F2F Lab requirement • College Board – “AP Biology, Chemistry, and Physics courses can only be labeled "AP" if they include a laboratory component. If your online or distance learning course does not have an approved virtual or hands-on lab component, those courses will not appear in this list. All hands-on labs require the presence of a science educator to supervise the students during their laboratory work.”

19. The iLab Networkwww.ilabcentral.org The iLab Network www.ilabcentral.org

20. The iLab Network: Leveraging the Power of the Network to Transform STEM Education • Direct control of real experimental equipment accessed through the Internet • Anywhere / any time • Not simulated labs or “canned experiments” • www.ilabcentral.org This project is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grant OCI-0753324. However, any opinions, findings, conclusions, and/or recommendations are those of the investigators and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.

21. Advantages of The iLab Network Broadens access to expensive or delicate high-end equipment Provides students with access to remotely-hosted sciencelab facilities rather than just local ones More time on task / less setup & cleanup More experimental runs Safer Can do labs before and after class, at home – not limited to 50 min class period Share & compare data locally or globally – just like scientists do Enables new economic models and public/private partnerships for provisioning lab equipment for schools The iLab Network www.ilabcentral.org

22. MIT Polymer Crystallization iLab The iLab Network www.ilabcentral.org

23. MIT Shake Table iLab The iLab Network www.ilabcentral.org

24. University of Queensland:Inverted Pendulum iLab The iLab Network www.ilabcentral.org

25. MIT Force on a Dipole iLab The iLab Network www.ilabcentral.org

26. MIT Neutron Beam iLab The iLab Network www.ilabcentral.org

27. New High School Interface to University of Queensland Radioactivity iLab The iLab Network www.ilabcentral.org

28. Student Analysis in Radioactivity iLab The iLab Network www.ilabcentral.org

30. Offering Online AP Courses at Your School

31. Curriculum Options • Are you going to: • Develop your own courses? • License/purchase courses? • Do a combination of both? • Will this strategy change over time? • Do you have a Learning Management System or will you need to find an ASP model? • Content Provider Wiki – • http://aliooplv.pbworks.com/K12-Online-Content-Vendors

32. Teacher Recruitment and Support • Recruitment • Are you going to have full-time or part-time teachers? • Will they be employees or contractors? • How will you determine pay? • What qualifications will your teachers need to meet? • How will you advertise for teachers? • Support • What training will you conduct for your teachers? • Will this be done before or after you select teachers? • Will you have mentors for teachers? • Where will they come from initially?

33. Student Recruitment and Support • Recruitment • How will you recruit students to participate in your program? • Will you market directly to students and parents or are you marketing to schools? • What are the requirements for a student to participate in your program? • Support • How will you provide typical student support functions such as academic counseling? • How will you provide technical support? • If there is a local school involved, what is its role?

34. Funding and the Future • Many policy trends now shaped (or thwarted) by state fiscal crises • States and districts looking for creative solutions – how online learning can help • Impact of stimulus – opportunity to seize the day

35. K-12: Stimulus Bill State Stabilization Fund • $48.6 billion for school districts using existing funding formulas to prevent cutbacks/layoffs, support school modernization, or other purposes. • $5 billion in “Race to the Top” competitive grants to states that pursue higher standards, better assessments, data systems and teacher quality initiatives. $650 million Innovation fund to support school systems and non-profits to expand practices that close the achievement gap, reach AYP, and improve graduation rates. Direct Education Funding • Title I ($13 billion), IDEA ($12.2 billion), Enhancing Education Through Technology ($650 million), State Data Systems ($250 million). School Modernization • $8.8 billion to states for high priority needs such as “green” renovations, public safety, modernization, educational technology infrastructure, and repairs of public school facilities and institutions of higher education facilities. • Authorizes states and school systems to issue $24.8 billion dollars in bonds for renovation, repairs and school construction. Source: http://appropriations.house.gov/ & http://www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/factsheet/overview.html

36. Broadband • $4.7 billion for “Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (B-TOP)” • Administered by the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). • $200 million for competitive grants to expand public computer center capacity (e.g. community colleges and public libraries); $250 million for competitive grants to encourage adoption of broadband service; $350 million for nationwide mapping of broadband facilities. • Uses of funds remaining include: acquire equipment, networking capability, hardware and software, and infrastructure for broadband services;  ensure access to broadband by “community anchor institutions";  facilitate broadband access by low income, unemployed, aged and other “vulnerable” groups. • $2.5 billion in grants, loans and loan guarantees.  • Administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS)

37. Opportunities for Online Learning • Build or expand state virtual schools. • Restore funding cuts. • Helping states meet their assurance requirements related to: • High standards and college readiness • New models of data, assessment and accountability • Improving the distribution of highly qualified teachers • Turning around the lowest performing schools. • Upgrades or new technologies. • Become one of the demand drivers for a B-TOP grant. • Health/Safety: flu preparedness

38. What Can A State or District Do? • Course Development • Collaborative, centralized, open • MITE • UCCP • Professional Development • How to Teach Online • NACOL Standards of Quality for Online Teaching • Update state and local policies to ensure every student has access to an online course • Funding: ADA/allow districts to fund online enrollments • Policies: do not limit access to online courses

39. “Using the Internet to deliver courses seems to contain great disruptive potential. It could allow a radical transformation to happen in an incremental, rational way.” -Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School • Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns predicts that the growth in computer-based delivery of education will accelerate swiftly until, by 2019, half of all high school classes will be taught over the Internet.

40. “Education over the Internet is going to be so big it is going to make e-mail look like a rounding error.” - John Chambers, Cisco CEO

41. Resources • Professional Development • INACOL hosts annual conference: Virtual School Symposium • November 15-17, 2009 in Austin, TX • INACOL Monthly Webinars (Elluminate) & TeacherTalk webinars • Quality Issues in K-12 Online Learning • INACOL published National Standards of Quality for Online Courses (2007) • INACOL National Quality Standards for Online Teaching (2008) • National Quality Standards for Online Programs (August 2009) • K-12 Online Learning Reports & Research • National Primer on K-12 Online Learning (2007) • Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning (2008) • Access and Equity in K-12 Online Learning (2007) • Professional Development & Teacher Training for Virtual Schools • Promising Practices in K-12 Online Learning Series • Identifying Online Needs of States • INACOL Needs Assessments Project (10 states) • INACOL Advocacy, Access to Member Experts • Advocacy for improving state laws and policies supporting online learning • Membership forums, job posting, grants, advice and networking

42. Thank you! Allison Powell apowell@inacol.org www.inacol.org