A learning model built on experience, research, and ongoing staff development
The MNOHS learning model includes: - Reliable and advanced technology
- Research supported online course design and pedagogy - Courses written by the people who teach them
- College-readiness skill development and post-secondary planning
- A community-building student services model
Experience
Our core staff has worked together since 1997 in online education and has been involved in developing many successful strategies for engaging and teaching students through the Internet. As recognized leaders in the field of online high school education, we have been invited presenters at state and national conferences, and have conducted trainings for other educational institutions.
Research
In addition to our experience, we have paid very close attention to the available research about online learning and have sought training and advice from the Virtual High School in Massachusetts, one of the largest and most successful online high schools in the United States and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory (NCREL), an organization that conducts educational research and trains schools to incorporate best practices into their work with students. Our program, courses, and faculty are evaluated annually according to the North American Council for Online Learning's National Standards of Quality for Online Courses and National Standards of Quality for Online Teaching.
 Ongoing staff development
All newly hired MNOHS instructors participate in Teaching Online, MNOHS's six-week (sixty hour) teacher training course which prepares teachers for planning and delivering online instruction. Teaching Online is designed to model the best in high-quality, interactive online learning activities and assessments. MNOHS teachers also participate in a seven-hour workshop in research-based instructional strategies to support reading comprehension and independent reading in an online environment. The training and reading workshop are followed up with regular professional development, reflective practice, and peer review activities which bring MNOHS faculty together online and in person to build collegial, cooperative teamwork on behalf of MNOHS students and to create a school culture which promotes success for all. In addition to the resources mentioned above, our program design is informed by the work of the National Education Association (NEA), the Institute for Higher Education Policy, and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in their guidelines for developing and evaluating Internet-based distance education, by Robert Manzano's work detailing nine research-based instructional strategies that have been successful in classrooms, and by other research into instructional effectiveness in the classroom and online.
Our emphasis on student services follows from our involvement on several committees established by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MNSCU) to look at online learning at the community college level. The model that has been most influential is one described by the Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET).
Below you will find links to the some of the reports and research that inform our work: North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL): National Standards of Quality for Online Courses and National Standards of Quality for Online Teaching
http://www.nacol.org/nationalstandards/index.php#teaching Robert Marzano: What Works in Schools
(Eleven school-wide factors that have the greatest effect on K-12 student achievement)
http://www.whatworksinschools.org/factors.cfm Robert Marzano: What Works in Classroom Instruction
(Nine research based instructional strategies with proven positive effects)
http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/KSD/KR/TEACHER/DEVELOP/whatworks.pdf
Grant Wiggins: Understanding by Design
(Understanding by design is a framework for improving student understanding, engagement, and achievement)
http://www.grantwiggins.org/ubd.html David Jonassen: Mindtools
http://members.aol.com/mind2ls/defined.html
NEA Guide to Online High School Courses
http://www.nea.org/technology/onlinecourseguide.html
http://www.nea.org/technology/images/02onlinecourses.pdf
AFT – Distance Education: Guidelines for Good Practice, 2000
(Based on a survey of 200 online post-secondary faculty members, a set of 13 standards for best practices.)
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/higher_ed/distance.pdf Western Cooperative for Educational Telecommunications (WCET)
(A guide to developing online student services)
http://www.wcet.info/resources/publications/guide/guide.htm
NCREL: The Effects of Distance Education on K–12 Student Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis (2004)
http://www.ncrel.org/tech/distance/index.html NCREL: A Synthesis of New Research on K-12 Online Learning (2005) http://www.ncrel.org/tech/synthesis/index.html
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