Blended learning combines the best of traditional teaching methods with new technology, resulting in an innovative classroom designed to meet the needs of all students. Come discuss effective strategies for blended instruction and see examples of the integration of Web 2.0 tools in blended learning environments. Learn about two successful blended learning grant initiatives in which VHS has partnered with educators in New York City and in Massachusetts to develop hybrid lessons.

How do you "reach out and touch someone" when there's a computer in the way and your students and staff live miles apart? BSO presenters will share the C3 Model for engaging and motivating online students. Creativity, Community and Communication are essential for connecting to our learners. The 09 CO Elem Online Teacher of the Year and BSO Principal will give concrete strategies for easy application. You can still have bulletin boards, Buddy programs and even a class pet at your virtual school.

To better understand how online programs are dealing with students who have been identified as at-risk, the iNACOL Research Committee gathered a sampling of K-12 online schools currently working with at-risk student populations to examine specific strategies as well as delivery and design methods used to assist at-risk student populations. This session will bring together a panel of authors to share and discuss key findings from "An Exploration of At-Risk Learners and Online Education."

From its humble beginnings as a K - 12 Distance Education (Correspondence) school in the 70s, SIDES has evolved into a Distributed Learning powerhouse that has been cited as a benchmark against which other DL schools in British Columbia (Canada) gauge their success. We will present our school's rich history and the challenges we have faced establishing credibility and status as a bona fide school, and look at the methods we have used to create rewarding partnerships with neighbourhood schools.

We will be discussing the Games Design Workshop, a blended learning model that brings students in the UK in contact with industry practioners from all over the world to learn about game design and development. The class gives students the opportunity to focus on the design process, theory, and industry practices.

The Montana Digital Academy is a new online school funded by the State of Montana and housed within the College of Education at The University of Montana. Leveraging the relationships, the MTDA is capitalizing on the resources and faculty in the College of Education to help train teachers, guide the MTDA's development, research the effects of the MTDA, and build upon the partnerships across Montana's diverse peoples, organizations, and educational needs.

Join science instructors as they demonstrate how they utilize science technology to engage and challenge their online students. The presentation will cover ways that the instructors have found success with science technology in an online setting, as well as hands on demonstrations and hand outs for you to try! If you're looking for ways to enhance your curriculum or laboratory lessons, you don't want to miss this session!

The National Technology Plan emphasizes that technology should provide new ways for students to interact and learn. Using cutting-edge examples, this presentation will discuss how interactive virtual environments can be used and structured to motivate students & promote learning, skill acquisition & social skills. Discussion will involve effective use of peer to peer interaction, customization, gaming, social involvement, & rewards/incentives to promote learning, retention, & student success.

In 2008 Learn and Earn Online (LEO) was awarded the Innovations in American Government Award from the Harvard Kennedy School. Learn about this unique collaboration among K-12 education, the University of North Carolina, and the NC Community College System. LEO promotes access and exposure to college by allowing students to take college courses online from every public high school in NC. LEO allows students to graduate from high school with an associate's degree or other levels of college credit.

Minnesota, known for its 10,000 lakes, has almost as many public school choice options with online learning the most recent enrollment format in the education landscape. With virtual charter schools, statewide district programs, intermediate districts and regional consortia, we have a variety of online learning programs. So what works well in this array of school choice? And how can families and students make good school choice decisions in a diverse school choice state.

In 2009, 24 states had full-time online schools serving over 175,000 students. Those numbers are expected to grow. NCLB requires states to develop assessments in basic skills to be given to all students in certain grades. Testing in a cyber environment presents unique challenges. This presentation discusses best practices for developing and executing a year-long, multi-phased test preparation, training, and administration plan to help ensure the best possible results on state-mandated testing.

This session explores practical Twitter applications for a virtual or brick and mortar classroom. Techniques will emphasize research, sharing, and collaboration. See how Twitter can be used to find subject matter experts and real time/real world information in any area of study for an expanded and engaging curriculum. This session will include a close look at TwHistory, a collaborative historical reenactment as well as other Twitter projects.

Wisconsin Virtual School is assisting rural schools in providing blended learning environments for their students. This panel presentation will provide an overview of current online learning initiatives and their impact in rural Wisconsin schools. Specific examples of blending learning opportunities implemented will be shared from educators participating in the panel discussion via Elluminate. Students will also share their perspectives of the blended learning experience.

This session will demonstrate how to build a blended online learning program with positive adult relationships to prevent dropouts. The session will focus on building a culture for a blended learning environment and choosing appropriate online curriculum to meet the needs of at-risk learners. Participants will see how different programs are structured under this blended learning model. Participants will obtain general templates for building an appropriate blended model for at-risk students.

At-risk high school students who participate in college courses are more likely to enroll and succeed in college. Dual enrollment and AP can enhance all students' educational aspirations by increasing the rigor of the curriculum, reducing the cost of college and offering a wider range of academic courses. Three virtual learning executives will discuss their use of accelerated learning to smooth the transition to college for students traditionally underrepresented in higher education.

In recent years, mobile technology has become pervasive in our culture. However, despite its widespread use, the potential of mobile technology has yet to be fully tapped by the educational sector. As mobile devices become more sophisticated, they show increasing promise for use as educational tools. In this presentation, we will discuss some of the specific opportunities and challenges relevant to K-12 education that are presented by mobile learning devices.

Learn how to launch an online program from a public school district whose own experience on the frontlines of online learning is still evolving. Hear from Colorado's Boulder Valley School District educators and students about lessons learned to date including: launching a pilot; solidifying district board and administrator support; blending mentoring and instruction; finding the right vendor partner; identifying students for the program and more.

This presentation shares the experiences of the instructional design and administration divisions of the University of Oklahoma High School in our efforts to implement online professional development for our geographically-dispersed, 100% part-time faculty. Attendees will engage in discussion and activities germane to training teachers in online pedagogy and the issues associated with delivering that training online.

Trying to do more with less? Discover how adaptable, online resources from the non-profit National Repository of Online Courses (NROC) provide affordable support for online curriculum efforts. Hear how members of the NROC Network are using open educational resources to support innovation in their organizations.

This panel will examine the state of K-12 online learning in Canada based on the 2010 edition of this on-going report. More specifically the panel will describe the policies that govern and the level of activity of virtual schooling in all thirteen provinces and territories. The panel will also discuss the various models that have developed and are currently in use across the country. Finally, the panel will outline some of the many issues that are still facing K-12 online learning in Canada.

Engage your students in STEM learning with free simulations from the PhET Project (http://phet.colorado.edu). The 85 sims are animated, interactive, game-like environments which engage students in active thinking, encourage experimentation, and help develop visual and conceptual models of physical phenomena. This session will introduce the sims and the research that informs their design and use. Session participants will exchange ideas for using PhET sims with their online learning environment.

Learn about a district that is creating a digital curriculum through the use of a curriculum management system to ensure a standards-based personalized education for each student. Butler Tech is implementing digital courses of study based on national and Ohio standards, using online common assessments, and sharing instructional strategies and resources. See how several programs are using the digital curriculum, online courses, and blended delivery to meet the needs of at-risk students.

Students often need additional instructional time to grasp course materials and achieve success. This is particularly true in core content areas. Online tutoring is a research-proven method of providing students with the added instructional time they need. Kaplan Virtual Education has incorporated online tutoring into its instructional model, using both in-house tutors and a private tutoring company. Since doing so, KVE has seen improved academic performance, especially among at-risk students.

Ever have a student whose passion for learning about a topic was beyond what your school could provide? Online extracurricular clubs and mentored independent studies are two ways to help teachers support their gifted students. The logistics of how these opportunities worked and provided authentic experiences and connections with like-minded peers will be shared. See how an extracurricular online club and an online mentoring program can support gifted students to reach their full potential.

Many innovative public schools today are opting for blended or hybrid classroom environments, with 70% of learning taking place in a brick-and-mortar setting and the remaining 30% of learning happening online. Hybrid models offer a powerful mix of synchronous and asynchronous learning styles, enabling students to master core content online while deepening critical thinking and content mastery in a face-to-face setting. We will offer real-world examples and best practices for how to get started.

Join veteran online educators and administrators Robert Currie, Jay Bennett and Michael Caldwell as they discuss their collaborative professional development project. Their project involved staff directed professional development that was created and administered between the Montana Digital Academy, Michigan Virtual University, Idaho Digital Learning Academy, and other presenters and programs from across the country.

The use of digital content in online and blended courses is an effective way to make the learning experience more relevant, engaging, and fun for students and teachers. However, interfacing with online content that lacks interaction and generally over relies on traditional text-based resources is not attractive to the 21st century learner. We will explore award-winning, freely available, digital content that will make both traditional and online course environments truly engaging to students.

Georgia has taken the first steps in promoting professional development for instructors who are interested in knowing more about servicing students in fully online and blended classrooms by the creating the Online Teaching Endorsement. Come and learn how this endorsement was created and the skills that Georgia's teachers are learning and mastering to receive this endorsement on their teaching certificates.

This session is designed to examine how teachers across the country are using Second Life to teach and to interact with other teachers. Using the Second Life viewer, we will explore ways that Second Life has encouraged creativity and learning in this virtual world. We will tour educational sites in Second Life which demonstrate the wide variety of experiences that are available and see how teachers around the world are using Second Life to communicate and collaborate.

As part of its access agenda, for the first time in its 40 year history International Baccalaureate is opening its professional development offerings to teachers outside of IB schools. By participating in an online workshop or online event, non-IB teachers can now explore international education based on IB principles first hand. Come learn how your school can benefit from IB's new and innovative online offerings and help plan future workshops to better meet your school�s needs.

How does RTI look in an online environment? How do you provide interventions and utilize data for student, teacher, and school improvement? Join Spring ISD Virtual School as one RTI model for online interventions is shared. Learn how STAT, Student and Teacher Assistance Teams operate in an online environment and how data is utilized and technology is used to support interventions and track student progress in the online environment.

Who tracks the latest in online learning policy and practice? The researchers and sponsoring organizations behind Keeping Pace, the annual report that follows online learning developments in all 50 states, will present on key findings, policy developments in 2010, and the outlook for 2011. In the first of two KP sessions, researchers will present the latest data and findings, looking at state virtual schools, online charter schools, school district online activity, and blended learning.

Online schools are now a part of our culture so students expect virtual schooling to be part of the educational experience. What makes a high quality program? How can you create flexible schedules, expand curricular offerings, reduce staffing costs, improve staff development opportunities and increase revenues? When do you partner? Significant research supports the benefits for students, so how do administrators ensure quality in this second generation of virtual programs?

Online and blended environments are the bright future of education but not everyone embraces change. Dr. Linda Gill and Ms. Sarah Antrim-Cambium discuss how they use examples of the latest innovations, research, organizational data and the live testimony of current program participants to address the fears and concerns of the reluctant stakeholder. Participants will interact throughout the session, to develop effective outreach methods.

The Open High School of Utah is committed to the use of open educational resources throughout its online course development. Because our curriculum is OER-based, our teachers are able to specifically tailor the entire curriculum to meet our students’ unique needs, free of copyright or licensing restraints. OHSU is likewise committed to sharing the curriculum we have developed as an open educational resource useable by anyone at anytime. The goal of this session is to share OER best practices.

Strategies and suggested best practices for reaching at-risk learners in an online setting. Targeting instruction, per areas of weakness to increase student achievement. Targeted for teachers working with students in grades K-12.

Science teachers will lead participants in online inquiry activities specific to science disciplines and grade levels. Participants will gain insights into virtual inquiry and preparing inquiry-based virtual activities. Virtual graphs will be utilized to demonstrate trends and online forums will be used to discuss findings. Learn how these activities can improve student achievement and help bridge the tracking gap. Participants will be invited to join an on-going inquiry learning group.

With 10 years of experience in online learning, we�ve learned what to do in order to gain ground in marketing an online program and we�ve gained successful insights into grassroots efforts that can work for any school. Learn how to market your program through effective grassroots approaches to 2 very distinct audiences: parents and students. We�ll share with you the ins and outs of marketing your program to parents and students and how each deserves their own approach.

Multicultural education has been a major theme in instructional improvement discussions. Online learning can accelerate multicultural reforms through its ability to individualize every aspect of a student's educational experience, but only if cultural relevance is deliberately incorporated into online courses. We seek to answer: What can online programs learn from best practices in multicultural education, and what can multicultural education learn from best practices in online learning?

Engaging 21st century learners struggling with 19th century skills is a challenge. Examine Gale's expansive curriculum-focused digital reference resources offering skill development in global literacy, computer literacy, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and innovation. Additionally examine strategies for instruction that will motivate and engage 21 century learners as they acquire skills and prepare to succeed in a digital economy.

In January, 2009 Online classes were simply a cool new idea for this suburban district in Southern Wisconsin. Using a feasibility study model adapted from business and industry, the district garnered support from students, parents, staff, and the broader community. That support turned into a mandate to make online schooling a reality. Hear from the team that led the feasibility process. Opening as a Charter School in 2010-2011 the Global Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) is now reality!

This is a 2010 follow-up report to Going Virtual II, the Unique Needs and Challenges of K12 Online Teachers, an iNACOL sponsored white paper. Needs and challenges are reported according to various contextual factors associated with virtual education (i.e., type of school or program model, amount of prior teaching experience).

Aurora Public Schools joined the online school community with our new online high school, APS Online in January of 2010. During the start up process we faced and overcame many of the same challenges that online programs face in the beginning. What program will best meet the needs of our students? How do we market our program? How do we meet the challenges of space, staff, and equitable access for our students? As we addressed these challenges, we learned a lot and we still learning.

Illinois Virtual School (IVS) supports online learning opportunities for educators statewide. This panel presentation will highlight the unique design features that allow IVS to be the professional development delivery system for local, regional, and state educational agencies. Topics will include details about the custom SIS purchased from BocaVox, LLC; review of professional development online courses; and an overview of IVS guidelines for ensuring high-quality professional development.

Current events are a springboard for learning infusing technology and content with editing & reporting tools to enhance student engagement is the goal of the.News project. This session will share this innovative video editing software in which students can create video projects with professional video content. Presenters will share this unique project in which MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, producers of The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, is developing for high school and middle school students.

What online approach supports students construction of knowledge and acquisition of 21st century skills through experiential, contextual, and social methods? Problem based learning (PBL)! This interactive session will demonstrate how to build authentic learning activities in the virtual learning environment using an online design model that builds cognitive development, critical thinking and problem solving skills.

This presentation will demonstrate how e-learning can best serve students with disabilities through adaptive technologies, individualized programming, and innovative instruction. A detailed examination of a successful K-8th grade virtual special education model will be discussed. In addition, examples of online adaptive special education instruction will be provided via recordings of instructor interactions with online students.

Educators from two virtual programs will facilitate a sharing and rating of interactivities that engage students and consequently raise student achievement in online or blended learning environments. After demonstration of each favorite web-based interactivity, the audience will briefly discuss and rate the interactivity’s potential in raising student achievement. Facilitators will share anecdotal and quantitative data relating to how the interactivity raised student achievement.

In this panel, researchers will present recent research that has immediate implications for practitioners, including teachers, administrators, and course designers. You will hear about research on a camp for developing teen leaders through 3-D game environments (Dawley and Haskell); teacher perceptions of online students (Lowes); subject area differences in student and teacher evaluations of online courses (Oliver); and factors affecting students' sense of community in online courses (Baab).

Partnerships are the future of STEM education and online learning. This presentation will highlight Idaho's partnership with NASA Aerospace Scholars to promote STEM education in Idaho through a blended program involving a 16-week online course and 7-day summer resident academy. Idaho Science and Aerospace Scholars bridges partnership between NASA, state governmental entities, and local STEM industry in a very unique and engaging exposure to Idaho and national STEM opportunities for students.

The California Open Campus Initiative (CAOCI) is a consortia of school districts who are leveraging time, resources, and opportunity to expand virtual learning opportunities to distribute effective teaching and learning resources via the Internet, to support extended learning opportunities for students attending consortia schools, and to expand access to rigorous Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses and resources to high-needs students attending schools in California.

After 10 years as a public school providing k-12 online education, PA Cyber's position as one of the nation's largest cyber charter schools endows us with a vast array of experiential knowledge. Some of our endeavors have proven largely successful, and others have not come to fruition; however, we find strength, and take a great deal of pride in the ability of our highly credentialed staff to adjust to the ever changing academic, technological, political, and financial challenges we face.

During the 2009-2010 school year the Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN) piloted dual credit courses for Texas high school students. Integrating higher education and high school course curricula, processes, and systems was the challenge, but bringing dual credit to students lacking access was a major inducement. This session will share the pilot roll-out, challenges, results, as well as what the next phase will bring.

A great deal has been made about the impact of Web 2.0 tools on the world of education. We know that students access and interact with online information in a unique way, but what impact does this new culture of interaction have on information literacy and the ability of our students to evaluate, critique, share and collaborate using online information? This presentation will assess the information literacy of today's students along with an exploration of how web 2.0 tools can improve literacy.

Come listen and learn with the iNACOL Advocacy and Issues committee as they present an overview of key legislative actions affecting online education throughout the United States. Trending and results from the past session, including the Race to the Top competition, will be explained as well as how to spot future risks and opportunities resulting in efective advocacy.

Growing an online program isn't easy. eSchoolBC in Kelowna, Canada set out to revolutionize their online programs to meet the needs of 21st century learners. Hear about the successes, the challenges, and take away some of the invaluable resources they used to create an engaging, exciting online learning environment that the students look forward to signing on to.

The Colorado Cyberschools Association (CCA) cooperatively assists online schools in providing a high-quality education to students by sharing information about effective online education and program management, promoting studies that improve the quality of online programs, improving access to online programs, working with appropriate agencies to improve enrollment and attendance processes, and collaborating to address geographic issues inherent to online learning.

From podcasts to video streaming, $10 webcams to HD video production, innovate your program by creating a community of engagers through digital face to face interaction that bridges the distance divide and enlivens your online communication. Use free and inexpensive tools and software to make the virtual personal again. Confront misconceptions, change attitudes and create innovative approaches for interaction.

At-risk students come with unique stories that develop into processes of disengagement from traditional systems of learning and the likelihood of dropping out. This session presents several key components that promote authentic opportunities for at-risk students to perform at high levels of achievement and graduate. These components include recruitment strategies, effective online environments, methods for tracking student progress, and methods for providing effective feedback and support.

How do you design online professional development that differentiates instruction to individual learning styles and still maximizes participation? This presentation of the NYC Dept of Ed's 2010 Title IID grant programs examine two types of online blended programs; one 90% f2f and 10% online and one another 90% online and 10% f2f. The designers of this program will present the research behind the design and two teachers from the grants will add thoughts on its impact in their classrooms.

Twenty-first century communications and collaboration tools present an opportunity to create global classroom experiences for like-minded students. Learn how to incorporate online courses into your gifted and talented program, and discuss the essential elements of student support that need to be in place for a successful student learning experience. Examine how global, cohort-based online classrooms can engage your learners, build global awareness, and develop 21st century skills.

Combine the individualization of online learning with the support of face-to-face instruction and what do you get? New models of education that have the power to transform American education. This panel of advocates and practitioners will reveal the emerging diversity of blended/hybrid models with a tight focus on improving student achievement and providing opportunity to the disenfranchised and disengaged. You will not want to miss this next revolutionary wave of online learning!

Research shows that student-to-content interactivity dramatically increases learning. This presentation will present 6 ways in which integrating activity through interactive multimedia helps students. Elearning tools will be listed and interactivity samples of before/after will be demonstrated. In addition to the research findings and the variety of multimedia tools, a process that schools can easily adopt in order to quickly begin adding interactivity to their curriculum will be presented.

This presentation will look at the journey to Moodle for the South Carolina Virtual School Program. We will look at the open source Learning Management System (LMS), Moodle, and the way that South Carolina has implemented the LMS into the virtual school and online professional development. We will address why the change was made, cost savings, lessons learned and share information that will help others considering a move to an open source platform.

Excellent teachers transitioning to the online world need more than training in technology. Participants dispositions critical to excellence in online teaching and learning. From communication skills to will leave this session with a clear understanding of the unique knowledge, skills, strategies, and instructional design, from community building to legal expertise; online teachers must be jacks of all trades, and masters of content.

Hope Online Learning Academy Co-Op is an online charter school that utilizes an online learning model that incorporates community-based Learning Centers to serve the academic needs of at-risk students. Hope Online students benefit from face-to-face adult-support and peer-to-peer collaboration by attending neighborhood Learning Centers to access their online curriculum.

Jim Kinsella and Dr. Michael Barbour are pioneers in online education They met in 1999, and created and began teaching an online course. They currently continue their online teaching careers with various entities. Since that time they separately and jointly journeyed through the evolution of online education. This presentation will explore the avenues they took, the mistakes they made, and the successes they celebrated as online education developed.

In this panel, researchers will present recent research with immediate implications for practitioners, including teachers, administrators, and course designers. You will hear about research on urban high school students' perceptions of a blended course (Barbour); how brick-and-mortar schools can hire effective online teachers (Sanders and Archimbault); the successes of at-risk students in an online charter school (Darrow); and findings from work with the Virtual School Clearinghouse (Ferdig).

Kamehameha Schools' mission is to fulfill Princess Pauahi's desire to create educational opportunities in perpetuity to improve the capability and well-being of people of Hawaiian ancestry. Distance Learning provides online opportunities to Hawaiians worldwide through online programs for high school students('Ike Hawai'i), parents(A'o Makua) and educators(A'o Kumu). This presentation will focus on the sharing of best practices and lessons learned since inception of these online programs.

Online educators are deploying new enabling technology to personalize instruction for each student. Courseware and curriculum publishers are moving to improve access to key curriculum materials for all learners to meet these needs and improve student outcomes. The importance of presenting curriculum materials in a way that students who need reading and study skills support can get the tools they need embedded in the learning environment will be discussed, with current examples from the market.

This session will explore the issues of equity and access from three broad perspectives: 1) equitable access to technology(rural, broadband, portability) 2) equitable access to online courses (demographics, special ed) and 3) equitable access to curriculum/instruction (differentiation, quality teaching)

Learn about a non-profit effort underway to build media-rich, adaptable open educational resources to support mathematics instruction. Funded by The Hewlett Foundation and The Gates Foundation, this project integrates a portfolio of learning approaches designed to open the door to mathematics for a broad range of learners. Join us for an active discussion on new methods and curriculum models that offer a 21st century approach to achieving mathematics literacy.

Montana Digital Academy the newest statewide online learning program in the U.S. is a unique educational partnership with the University of Montana. When MTDA provided courses to students in 2010 it represented the culmination of several years of effort on the part of many educational leaders in Montana ranging from the superintendent and school board associations to the state's teacher associations. Through this collaboration online learning was launched in one of America's frontier states

Discover Dorchester School District Two's vision for utilizing blended online learning to improve high school retention and graduation rates. Learn how to improve student retention and graduation rates by providing levels of remediation that offer each student multiple paths to successful high school completion. Dorchester District Two has recently completed its second year of implementation.

Creative Learning on-line tools enable students to learn different subjects by creating multi-media compositions. It relies on hands-on approach to learning Art, Music, Literature, Writing, Languages and other subjects for K-12 and college students. Combining deep content and entertaining form, it engages students in active collaboration. Pilot studies involved students in different schools, cities, and countries proved success of Creative Learning.

Engaging students and building 21st Century skills development into online courses are among the key challenges facing innovative course designers. Florida Virtual School and LearningMate are together developing a new breed of project-based, collaborative online courses designed to address these and other issues. The courses deploy new, innovative models of project based collaborative learning anchored in real world, career oriented problem solving.

One of the challenges faced by all administrators of online programs are the growing needs of their teachers in an online environment. Using the KPR online program model, this presentation will discuss how we developed the selection process, management of courses and professional development needs for teachers in an online environment.

Virtual schools, through varying strategies, however, can stanch the loss by preparing students who would attain degree more rapidly and by retaining students who are at risk of dropping out. This panel presentation and discussion is aimed at demonstrating through research and observations how virtual schools and online learning at the K-12 level can prevent the extraordinary loss.

Amazon, Netflix, and the corner grocer collect, analyze, and effectively use more data than most schools. Virtual schools are in position to capture data about each and every interaction students have with content, assessments, and others. This session will show how to capture, analyze, and use data to support innovative teaching that improves student learning, emphasizing free/low cost tools like Google Analytics and Highrise. Come see how learning analytics can support data-driven teaching!

Online credit recovery completion rates are unnecessarily low as at-risk students are often impaired by low self-confidence and lack of motivation. Automating relevant and consistent feedback for incremental positive behaviors such as logins, assignment completion, and course progression can improve students� intrinsic motivation, self-confidence and expectations for success which dramatically impact course completion rates.

Response to Intervention and Instruction is an initiative that truly does work to catch the student before they fail. To say the least the implementation of this initiative is daunting for the traditional brick and mortar model. Come see how one virtual charter has been able to provide a robust Response to Intervention and Instruction initiative that truly does make a difference to each student and showcases that ALL students can learn and achieve.

While online learning opportunities continue to grow, many students still have limited or no access. Come and learn about the creative partnerships with traditional schools, public libraries, and community groups that have extended online learning access to students who would miss out otherwise. Learn how you can do the same in your area.

Students with disabilities are enrolling in virtual schools in increasing numbers. Traditionally, research on students with disabilities in online settings has focused on technological accessibility issues rather than on learning accommodations. This session presents a program for professional development specifically for VS teachers that focuses on understanding and accommodating the needs of these students as unique learners and the implications of their disabilities in online learning.

Ideal for current online instructors and professionals who are responsible for overseeing instruction, this session presents: a description of professional development elements that are effective for supporting online instructors; measures used to assess online instructors' performance; and research findings that quantify the effectiveness of this combination of professional development and assessment for achieving learning outcomes.

City Polytechnic High School is one of New York City's Innovative Zone (i-Zone) schools. With 125 students in its first year, offering more than one foreign language seemed like a stretch. But with a blended model using a classroom teacher and on-line courses, the school was able to offer 5 languages. This session will describe how the program works and some of the lessons learned.

This session will present the results of a multi-state epidemiolical assessment of virtual school participants. It will describe the basic demographics and health status of virtual school students and discuss whether virtual education narrows known educational disparities in populations with health issues. The research team will discuss an innovate collaborative partnership to create outreach to children with special health care needs.

This session will focus on strategies for teachers to use in creating conversation within an blended online classroom forum. It is based on two action research studies done in an English classroom. Ideas may be applicable to most blended subjects K-20. One study investigated the impact of a blended online classroom on student participation and interaction, focusing on teacher-directed reply prompts while the other focused on grouping within a blended classroom to facilitate online conversation.

This presentation highlights an innovative partnership between graduate students in an online program in Instructional Technology and teachers in a Georgia school district. The graduate students were chosen as authentic consultants and course reviewers to institute a quality control initiative for the new blended and fully online courses offered by the school district. This session will explain the course review model used as well as highlight the results of this ground-breaking partnership.

Do you need an online learning environment but don't have the resources to purchase Blackboard? This presentation explores free online learning environments like Ning, Wikispaces and Weebly and examines Web 2.0 tools that can be embedded in these environments to enhance online learning. The presenters are NYC Dept of Education Instructional Technology Specialists as well as two NYC teachers who have used these tools in their classrooms.

Regional service agencies can be an efficient and cost-effective way to bring online learning into school districts. This session details an example: the Capital Area Intermediate Unit, who serves 26 districts in PA, has created a collaborative, flexible and cost-efficient solution for districts to bring a wide variety of online learning options to their schools (inc. supplemental courses, AP, summer school, and a full-time cyber option)with minimal administrative resources and maximum autonomy.

An approach to increasing graduation rates is to design learning environments serving students with disabilities through the 5Cs known to increase school completion: connect, climate, control, curriculum, and caring community. Virtual school programs align with the 5Cs. Key features of these programs are described with the national standards for quality online teaching and courses exemplified by each. Strategies are offered for increasing success of students with disabilities in virtual schools.

Engaging and motivating students in the online English classroom is challenging and, indeed, sometimes daunting. By integrating education-friendly, student tested/teacher approved (free!) web 2.0 tools and applications into their instruction, teachers can breathe easier knowing they're reaching diverse learners in ways that most PowerPoints can't. This session will provide the online teacher with strategies to boost synchronous session attendance and increase student motivation and engagement.

Each learner is a unique combination of strengths, needs, preferences, and aptitude, which are influenced by their learning disposition, modality, learning environment, interest and talent. Educators who work with students to find the right combination assist in unlocking their potential. Participants will review methods to help students identify their combination and then apply this in an online setting through collaboration and self-advocacy. Examples will be provided in several subject areas.

Do the students in your online courses think the feedback they receive is vague, patronizing or useless? Developing online learning solutions can be expensive but spending more money does not necessarily guarantee student success. Performance and motivational feedback costs very little but often adds the most value to the online learning experience. Vague, patronizing and useless feedback, however, can cost students a great deal in loss of motivation and lack of remediation opportunities.

Transition High School serves students returning from incarceration, expulsion or extended truancy. THS integrates an online curriculum into a structured yet highly individualized hybrid learning model. Online learning reduces social anxiety for overage, credit-deficient students, allows students to work at their own pace, and creates individualization of student learning. Learn about this model's success and how it is being replicated in a new charter school, Transformation Learning Community.

Imagine a dynamic and collaborative repository of knowledge, practices, and ideas to guide school improvement, leadership and teacher quality. We have found a way to utilize social web tools to tap into the new information landscape of the 21st century to collaborate, share, reflect, self-assess, and do peer evaluations that guide our continuous school improvement efforts based on 15 core components and key elements that apply to all schools.

Hiring and developing great online teachers is at the core of every effective online program. How can we create a data driven system to link hiring, PD and instructor evaluation that is also transparent, motivational and predictive? Discuss, collaborate and gain concrete strategies with a complete integrated model that includes hiring rubrics, a PD schedule, teacher evaluation, and checklists and rubrics to support unified and effective “Walking the Halls� routines.

Training, mentoring and evaluation of online instructors are critical aspects of any virtual program. Take a sneak-peek into Virtual High School's teacher training, mentoring and assessment programs. Learn techniques to provide "in-time" training for online instructors using screencasts and webinar sessions. Attendees will be provided with measurable teacher quality indicators and best practices for assessing and improving quality of instruction in an online program.

The North Carolina Virtual Public School elicited an external evaluation in 2009 to determine program successes and areas for improvement. Students and teachers were surveyed with comparisons made between credit recovery, general studies, and honors groups. This presentation reports on significant differences identified between credit recovery and other groups and shares qualitative comments from students and teachers to help understand the unique needs and outcomes of this population.

Partnering with the CCIU, 21CCCS developed a model that provides quality curriculum and instruction for school districts. With an onsite team provided by local schools, at risk students can complete courses they need for graduation. Similarly, gifted students receive classes individualized to their needs through curriculum compacting and differentiation. This model allows the CCIU to provide the benefits of online learning and HQ teachers for a multitude of alternatives in a single classroom.

Whether you are an established virtual school or you are new to online learning, utilizing the powerful functions of a Student Information System (SIS) is integral to streamlining your administrative tasks and organizing your student data into meaningful reports. Find out why an SIS specifically designed for online learning complements and builds on the information from your Learning Management System. Learn from established virtual educators about the wealth of information an SIS can provide.

Google is more than a search engine. It has something for everyone! Google offers a multitude of terrific tools that can enhance teaching and learning. The tools are powerful, user-friendly, and FREE! Google's tools are useful in the office, classroom, or at home. They are useful for the online administrator, teacher, or student. No more will students be bringing viruses on jumpdrives or CD's from home. No more school or home conflicts between MAC's and PC's. Google connects us all.

Ensuring online students "get it" is particularly important in online classrooms where the usual cues of puzzled expressions, shrug shoulders, and blank stares are not evident. Online teachers must develop new strategies and techniques to do this. This session will introduce ideas and tools for formative assessment in the online classroom. Particular attention will be given to Web-based tools that can be easily embedded into a CMS to provide valuable evaluation information for teachers.

Many individuals within school divisions can see the benefits that an online program can provide for their students. However, justifying the upfront expense and establishing the need is often a necessary step before approval is granted to start a program. This session will take you through the steps that one Virginia school division took in order gain feedback from stakeholders and to implement the appropriate steps necessary to meet the diverse needs of its' learners.

Keeping Pace with K12 Online Learning provides the latest information from all 50 states, but what does it all mean? In this interactive session a panel of Keeping Pace sponsors—representing state virtual schools, state education agencies, and education management organizations, and others—will discuss their views of the data in the report and apply the findings to their own organizations. This session will involve extensive discussion with the audience following an earlier presentation.

The Course Management System got us here but the end may be near for the monolithic learning system – so what is next? Join Dr. Mark Luetzelschwab as he summarizes four innovative, open source, home grown and commercial alternatives to a CMS being piloted across the world. Take a look into what your future might look like and discuss the pros and cons of each alternative with your peers.

Have you ever said to a student, "I am not playing games with you."? Does that mean students want to play games? Using recent research and some lateral thinking, we will look at how we can motivate students and keep them engaged with a hide the broccoli under melted cheese approach to learning. Your students will never know what hit them.

This session is designed to provide an overview of the NCAA initial-eligibility process and the means by which students become academically eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics. This session will address the process by which schools/programs register their courses with the NCAA Eligibility Center. Special focus will be given to newly passed legislation that amended the definition of nontraditional coursework that may be used for initial-eligibility purposes.

Take an in-depth look at the elements that make the Open High School of Utah unique in the virtual arena: an innovative, individualized teaching model plus an open source curriculum built from scratch, that allows teachers the flexibility to adjust curriculum to best fit learner needs.

Myron B. Thompson Academy's redesigned online/blended middle school program uses teacher-created interdisciplinary curriculum. Included are collaborative projects that engage students, foster critical thinking and increase student achievement. Students across the Hawaiian Islands work together using Google Apps and advanced tech tools to conduct group research, solve problems, and create joint presentations. Teachers, administration and students will share the process and achievement data.

The Butler Tech school district has created a professional development plan for instructors to implement blended learning in their career-tech and academic classrooms. The training covers creating a blended plan, working with a mentor, and participating in ongoing PD. The session is presented by an administrator, curriculum specialist, and teacher that helped create the PD model used by the district. Together they will share their experiences and share the impact it has had student success.

Participants will learn strategies on how to turn around at-risk students/schools based on a case study of a 400-student at risk high school. These strategies will range from changing the schedule using existing staffing to web-based programs that are successful or unsuccessful. Data will be shared of how students have gained 7 years reading in one semester, decrease discipline and dramatically increase student achievement and attendance.

In 2009 the CDC estimated that approximately 673,000 children aged 3-21 have been diagnosed with autism nationwide. Rethink Autism is an online curriculum, training and data tracking program that is being used by traditional public schools and virtual schools throughout the U.S. This presentation will examine how technology can be used to deliverable scalable and cost-effective solutions in serving students with autism.

At-risk fifth and sixth graders in an urban elementary school participated in an afterschool program that used free online resources to improve their understanding of critical mathematics concepts. Part of the First Serve Program of the Todd Martin Development Fund, Michigan State University honors students supported student use of a curriculum assembled by a talent development specialist. Data suggest that this unique collaboration increased access to mathematics for at-risk students.

Have you ever used an engaging activity in a brick and mortar classroom that you wanted to replicate in an online classroom? We’ve created several opportunities for students to explore and discover concepts and connections using manipulatives. Manipulatives provide a concrete way for students to connect abstract concepts to existing knowledge. This allows students to establish their own meaning for new concepts.

Educators know how important differentiated instruction is for increasing student learning, but how does this work in the digital classroom? How do teachers create anchor activities using online resources, digital curriculum, multiple sources of content and new communication tools? How do we use today's laptop classrooms and mobile technologies to engage students and push the limits on rigor? How does the administrator evaluate the teacher who creates this dynamic classroom experience?

Does gender matter in online education? The founders of the new Online School for Girls believe that it does. In order to create the first single-gender online school, the founders of the Online School for Girls relied on research relating to the ways that girls learn best with technology to create a unique pedagogical framework for learning online. Session leaders will explain their approaches and give rationale for creating a gender-specific online classroom.

One of the most valuable skills a student should take with them into their adult lives is the ability to find accurate information online, otherwise known as being a "good Googler". The ability to find accurate and relevant information online is a skill, one that some people innately seem to have, while others must be taught. This session will show you how to guide your students in acquiring the skills that will make them a "good Googler" in an educational setting, and in their everyday lives.

As several states seek to build Virtual Schools, or expand farther into STEM content, college-preparatory and college-credit courses, we discuss the evolution of 3 very different virtual schools. An early pioneer in online learning, the Idaho Digital Learning Academy has penetrated more than 98% of Idaho School Districts. A fast adopter of new technologies, North Carolina Virtual is growing rapidly. And as the largest US Virtual, FLVS is known for the national and global reach of its content.

IDLA's three-tiered model, built to reflect best practices and research in the field of online learning, provides a professional development scope and sequence appropriate for beginner, intermediate, and advanced teachers. This allows for teaching the skills teachers need at the level where they are performing. In this session we will share our model, its alignment to our evaluation model, and the skills taught at each level of professional development.

iNACOL is more than just VSS, publications, and webinars. In this session, learn about additional iNACOL services and opportunities provided to online schools and practitioners. Discover how you can request and conduct a needs assessment with iNACOL, join an iNACOL committee, publish your own book, partner with iNACOL to evaluate your program and/or course offerings using the iNACOL Standards of Quality for Online Courses or how iNACOL can help you get started in building your online program!

Not long ago, it was hard to imagine students routinely learning online, collaborating through Web 2 tools, or using mobile apps. These new teaching tools and models have been the catalyst for significant reforms in funding, policies, practices, and infrastructure. What is next? Julie Young, President and CEO of Florida Virtual School, hosts a panel to explore how online learning policy and funding developments are driving larger education reforms--and how you can participate in the process.

As middle schools morph into true secondary models, the pressure for credit recovery increases. Flexible models offering remediaton of skills, quarter grades, and credits are shaped by the typical attention span and motivation of the at-risk middle school student.

With the increased rigor of state standards, schools are facing a growing number of students who failed coursework and who must recover credits. Time is of the essence, but more essential than getting students to the 60% passing threshold is helping them to acquire the necessary disciplinary knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Come explore how examining this tension between credit recovery and content recovery can be helpful to crafting credit recovery solutions that work for students.

The Texas Virtual School Network (TxVSN) set an expectation that all participating schools would mentor and monitor students as a means to support student success in the online learning environment. Learn how schools of various sizes and with varying demographics created their own definition of mentoring, as well as creative and efficient ways to support student success through mentoring.

Idaho Digital Learning Academy (IDLA), in partnership with the Idaho Dept of Ed, recognizes the need to provide ongoing, high quality professional development to Idaho educators to meet the needs of all students regardless of location. This session will describe the Idaho Online Professional Development program and how state organizations collaborate to provide all Idaho educators equal opportunities for high quality online workshops, virtual meeting space and statewide learning communities.

This session will provide a guided demonstration of SAS resources and tools in the Writing Reviser toolbox. Participants will work through the revision process just as students would and see firsthand the impact of the program on essay structure and on sentence economy, variety, and clarity. Participants will also use resources that reinforce key concepts, such as selecting forceful verbs, eliminating needless phrases, and so on.

SREB's Leadership Program (LCLP) is an authority in training educational leaders with research-based training modules. learn how SREB partnered with its vendors to transform a traditional program to the web and is converting a very comfortable training staff to an online coaching team. Celebrate the savings in both human and financial resources SREB is realizing through moving online.

Full-time virtual schools are leading the way in accommodating special needs learners and harnessing technology to ensure that virtual schooling provides these students with the tools they need for success. In this ground-breaking session, hear how technology intersects with both speech therapy and neuroscience to help educators reach special education students using two new initiatives: building learning capacity for struggling readers and improving the delivery of speech services virtually.