It is great how we at Georgia Virtual School can provide education opportunities for so many students in a variety of situations. In the past year I was able to teach several hospital homebound students. One case in particular was that of twin girls. They had severe health problems and were not able to attend school or be around other people that much. However, with Georgia Virtual School they were able to take classes and still get an education. They often felt well for only a few hours at a time and would work at odd hours. Due to the flexibility of online classes and working with them, both were able to complete the course with good grades and a sense of accomplishment.

Hey! My name is Amanda Williamson and I am a Mathematics teacher and department chair for Ga. Virtual School. I taught Algebra II AB during our summer semester. I just want to say WOW!!! My students did an excellent job completing a year long course in either 5 or 6 weeks. The majority of my students spent hours studying and practicing algebra problems. In the end, 73% of my students passed and 53% had A's and B's in the class. This is amazing for the level of difficulty and the amount of material covered in such a short time. Let me tell you that I was impressed! The dedication to the course and material was amazing. I know that the summer flew by for both me and my students! I want to say thanks to my students for all of their hard work and to the parents for their support. The students that took this online class will not only take away the mathematical knowledge but will take away technology experience and time management skills as well.

Withdrawal Policy

Georgia Virtual has a policy for withdrawals, and it is important for everyone to know what this policy says:

Dropping/Withdrawing from Class

Students enrolled in FTE, state-funded seats (HS only), have up to 10 days from their session start dates to drop courses. A student’s session is considered to have started when he/she successfully completes the student orientation course.

Drops must be initiated and approved by students' facilitators through the registration helpdesk.

Students enrolled in tuition-funded seats can drop courses up to 5 days before the end of their course sessions. However, as with FTE-funded seats, these drops must be initiated and approved by students' facilitators through the registration helpdesk.

Also, students wishing a refund must request this in writing at the registration helpdesk within 72 hours of completing the student orientation course. Please note: this is NOT 72 business hours, but 72 actual clock hours. No refunds will be given after this time or after the last start date of the session. Refunds will be subject to a $25 administrative processing fee.

Students taking a middle school class have 72 hours from their first login to class to preview the course and request a refund. All requests must be made in writing, online at the registration helpdesk. No requests will be considered after the 72 hour period has passed. Students completing the Student Orientation Course after the last start date are no longer eligible for a refund. For middle school students taking their second nine weeks session in the same semester, refunds for the second nine weeks must be requested through the registration helpdesk within 72 hours of of the course start date.

Have you tried your course management system on a netbook yet? I just had to know if Georgia Virtual's registration system and courses in Desire to Learn would work on the very low end Asus 900A running Linux, currently selling for as little as $175 including shipping. So far I've been able to do all of my support team work and have even participated in an Elluminate conference using the netbook.

If you have access to a netbook, please try using it in your summer school course. Post a comment to let us know your results. This might just the thing for schools to check out for one period at a time in their media centers so Ga. Virtual students can work in a quiet corner during their assigned class periods.

Student Testimonial

One of our Ga. Virtual students shared this wonderful testimonial with us. If you would like to share your story, please leave a comment to this post.

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Coming from a small school offering a narrow range of classes, I was desperate for a variety of challenging courses. Luckily, my counselor informed me of GAVS, which would allow me the opportunity to enroll in some courses not available at my school. Aside from the extensive list of course options, GAVS has several benefits. First, all of my instructors have been extremely helpful and responsive and offer online meetings to elaborate on the topics covered. Because of this, prospective students should not fear the lack of traditional instruction. Second, GAVS helps to develop organizational and scheduling skills. Assignments for each course are due weekly, and each student constructs his or her own weekly schedule to complete them on time. Finally, GAVS provides a network of other committed students in the state who want to make the most of their high school education.

GAVS has opened so many doors for me; most notably, it has given me the opportunity to take Advanced Placement courses to gain collegiate credit, thereby enabling me to remain on par with other top students in the state. After having taken three online courses, I am grateful to be able to say that, because of these classes, I feel highly prepared for college-level work. If you are someone who is self-motivated and responsible with at least basic computer skills, GAVS is right for you.

Lance White
Bacon County High School
April 30, 2009

Online Testing

This is the time of year for state End of Course Tests and for course final exams. Some Georgia schools require students to take their Georgia Virtual course exams in a proctored setting, though the exams are designed to be taken online without any proctoring. Most schools do not require proctoring.

Here is the question. Do you think a good test requiring some higher order thinking can be designed to accurately reflect a student's mastery of the performance standards in an online class? Most Georgia Virtual exams rely on the time limitation to assure students actually know their material. Do you think this works?

The required state test in some subjects means a student not living in Georgia must come to Georgia on a particular day to take his Georgia End of Course Test. Since this is administered online, it seems to me the test could be taken anywhere there is a suitable proctor and an Internet connected computer. However, both the state and Pearson, the testing company, prohibit students from taking these tests outside of the state. If you are from another state, how does your state online program deal with this issue and other testing situations?

EOCT Prep Exercises

Greetings!

My name is Jane O'Brien, and I am an English instructor and the English Department Chair at GAVS.

Each semester, students complete the EOCT in all ninth and eleventh AB and B courses. The EOCT, or End of Course Test, correlates to the GPS standards outlined in all GAVS English classes, and the score on the EOCT accounts for the final exam grade as well.

For both our Ninth Literature and Composition (AB and B) and our American Literature and Compositon (AB and B) courses, we have integrated EOCT preparatory exercises from USATestPrep. This online site is an outstanding resource for students in that it offers various levels of practice exercises, email reminders, questions of the day, and general review exercises for each strand of the exam. The site is user friendly and enables students to access 24 hours a day.

As we strive to continue to increase our scores and heighten general understanding and mastery of the GPS standards, USA TestPrep has proven to be an excellent resource with endless possibilities.

Online Education Offers Opportunities

One of the great things about Georgia Virtual School and online education in general is that it offers many opportunities for students.  I have taught students online that are taking courses for a variety of reasons.   The student who is on hospital homebound and wants to graduate with her class.  The student who wants to challenge himself with an AP course only to learn his local school does not offer it.  Another student who is trying to learn enough to pass a standardized test to advance in her educational career.  In all of these cases the flexibility and availability of online education was there to help.  I think as time goes on many people: students, parents, teachers, and school administrators will begin to realize all of the opportunities that the world of online education can offer.

Your online "permanent record"! Check out this video! ALL of us need to be sure that we remember that everything we put on the web can be found! It's quite difficult to remove posts or photos that have been put out there!! Colleges and job recruiters will google your name to see what's out there! Fair warning everyone! (From Harriet)

Requiring an online experience?

This is Harriet again from the Guidance Office and Support Team. I have been hearing of states requiring students to have an online experience (not necessarily a class) before graduation. What do you think about this? If you look at statistics for the number of online courses being offered by colleges, both technical as well as four year institutions, I'd say it would be an advantage for everyone to become familiar with online learning!! What would you put in an intro to online course???

Journals

Blogs are a great tool to use to journal. You can use the blog to journal events that occur in your personal life, or use it to record responses to an assignment for class. Others, including your teacher, can comment on your posts. I use my personal blog to record the entire first year of my twins' life. I post pictures as well which allows family members all over the country to see how quickly the twins are growing.

Virtual learning - will it be the end of teachers? This is Harriet, Counselor and member of the Support Team. I hear this periodically from people who don't have any substantial experience with online learning. My personal answer is that of course not!! It will present a whole new career path for those who are interested in these new tools! I am so interested in collecting the stories from our Georgia Virtual School staff ....would love to get that collection of pro's and con's of online teaching started here! This topic could take us down many paths....let's hear from everyone!

Getting Started

Welcome to the very first posting on our new Georgia Virtual School blog, Virtuality. We hope those of you who are following us on Twitter (gavirtual) or who are taking Georgia Virtual School classes will also follow the updates on our blog.

Members of the Georgia Virtual community will be the authors of the postings on this blog. Look for updates every week or so. We hope you will comment on our postings and that we can spark some lively discussions about our program.