This was posted to the NACOL forums earlier today. An experiment worth keeping an eye on.
New CPS school offers high-tech education
‘ON THE FOREFRONT’ | New CPS school has youths do work on laptops, adding new dimension to learning environmentSeptember 2, 2008 Recommend (10)
BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter/rrossi@suntimes.com
http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/113…-skul02.articleFreshmen won’t need book bags filled with textbooks or even pencils and pens when they walk into the new Chicago public high school opening today in the old Austin High building.
Instead, they will be entering a mostly textbook-free world at Virtual Opportunities Inside a School Environment, one of 26 new or revitalized CPS schools to open today.
At VOISE, students will be flipping open personal laptops, not textbooks, to not only read — but watch and hear — online lessons packed with animation, video and quizzes.
Forget the spiral notebooks. Kids will be taking notes on laptops — just as many college students do. They’ll also get home computers, so they and their parents can e-mail teachers questions or check on student grades, homework and attendance 24/7.
“I’m going to be nervous, but I’m going to get used to it,” said VOISE freshman Ashley Guilty, 14, who doesn’t have a home computer now.
“They will be preparing us for the future,” Ashley said. “When it comes time for me to walk across the graduation stage, I’ll know a lot about technology.”
VOISE is one of three small high schools housed at 231 N. Pine. But as the only school in the state to mix daily lessons by teachers with an all-digital curriculum, VOISE offers the best of both worlds, said Principal Todd Yarsh.
Teachers will introduce new material, then support kids as they advance through online units at their own pace. Those who need more time can take it. Struggling readers can slap on headphones and simultaneously listen to their lessons as they read them.
Kids who digest material quickly can advance to the next unit, or dig deeper into a topic in the current unit that interests them.
“This model allows you to not let the learning stop at a book,” Yarsh said. “There’s no end to their learning.”
Students will still read novels in English class, and textbooks will be around for reference in classrooms, but most work will be online — including all written papers.
Kids who may be shy about raising their hands in class can discuss their studies at online message boards and blog sites.
“You could have a classroom of students that could be dead silent, but they could be having a hugely rich conversation just by messaging on a site,” Yarsh said.
The textbook-less curriculum is produced by Seattle-based Apex Learning, which has provided online Advanced Placement courses for years to kids whose pass rates on AP tests mirror the nation’s.
The VOISE curriculum is “more than a textbook; it’s a complete course of study,” but one designed to be led by a teacher, said Apex Learning CEO Cheryl Vedoe.
Today, many kids weaned on computers and fast-paced videos “tune out” in a traditional classroom, Vedoe said.
“When they are given instruction in a format that is more like their lives, they see it as relevant,” Vedoe said. “We’re on the forefront of something that’s very powerful.”
