Assistive Technologies [E-lert for Nov. 11]

Follow the link below to see a selection of assistive technologies that have been researched and reviewed by NCVPS. These technologies may be beneficial to students with a variety of disabilities. Each technology is organized by category; some technologies appear in more than one category. Links and descriptions are provided for each technology.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Am5iphYrw8o_gwzsWHvO3RhhhPop81tLyhfiB-WK4g8/edit?hl=en&authkey=COv327YI&pli=1#

Student Checklist for Fall 2010 [E-lert for July 30]

Follow this link to the Student Checklist for Fall 2010.

Schools and districts should use this as a guide and add their own expectations for the students to the checklist.

Students with IEPs and 504s [E-lert for June 25]

Please be aware as you are registering students for NCVPS courses that if the student has on file an IEP or 504, you will need to check the IEP box in the registration process. This designation will then alert our NCVPS teacher that the student has an IEP or 504 and the teacher can contact the DLA to discuss this information.

If you have already enrolled students for the summer or fall sessions who have IEPs or 504s but did not check the box, please go back into the registration system to input this information.

New Passwords Starting this Summer for All Students [E-lert for April 28]

Starting in summer, all students will begin using their NCWise numbers for their usernames. Old usernames and passwords from previous semesters will no longer work.

Please remember that you will have to issue usernames and passwords. Many students will already know there NCWise numbers, so that's a plus.

Here are two ways to find a student's username and password in the registration system.

Run Your Enrollment Report
1) Click on the Enrollment button.
2) Look for the "export enrollments to excel" link. It is at the top of the screen above the course titles.
3) Select the semester for the report that you want to run. Your options are Summer 2010, Academic Year 2010 - 2011 (yearlong courses), and Fall 2010.
4) Click the "export" button.
5) An excel spreadsheet will open. You will see on the spreadsheet that there are columns for username and password.

Print Individual Student Information
1) Click the Students button. (Do not click "Export to Excel" from the Students button. This will open a spreadsheet with all information for all students at the school.)
2) Click on the student's NCWise number next to the student's name.
3) You can print this sheet for your student. It has the student's username and password on it.

Students at Risk of Failing

As the completion of week 12 in this semester has passed, there is still time in the semester for students at risk of failing to communicate with their NCVPS teacher, get assignments submitted, and succeed. DLCs are asked to push out an LEA plan for DLAs to promote and encourage students to rise above and succeed. The VLCs have witnessed testimonies whereas the DLA's slightest coaching to students inspires them to fulfill their potential. Don't miss out on the opportunity to make a substantial difference in student's academic success.

Eye on the Student [E-lert for Feb. 17]

Do your NCVPS students know that you are watching over them?

Are the students aware of a checklist of expectations from their DLA? Are you holding them accountable to the list?

If the school principal were to ask you (the DLA) how a particular student was doing in his or her on-line course, would you know; would you have assessment measures to report on?

Do you require of your NCVPS students, ESPECIALLY the late enrolled students, to submit to you their "My Grades" report, as often as you would like to manage? This report can be printed or shared by the student and made available to the DLAs, bi-weekly, weekly, bi-monthly. You can determine how often the report to you, as their DLA. The report shows a daily journal of activity, assignments submitted, and grades reported. By the DLA having access to this report, per student, it gives the student some indication you are monitoring their progress.

Look for NCVPS progress reports every two weeks in the registration system from this point forward. This will help you better assess how students are progressing.

DLA & facilitator support to NCVPS students is most critical to the student's success; ESPECIALLY to students who were late enrolled. Please reach out to your VLC if you need further guidance on how to manage the support for your NCVPS & LEO students.

As the virtual population in your school grows, see that "e-learning" becomes a standing agenda item with your school improvement team. There are many stakeholders and area experts in your school who should be involved with your virtual enrollment, including your data manager, testing coordinator, graduation coach, technology facilitator, EC specialist, and especially your school leadership. These are all best practices shared by school-level and central office DLAs from across the state.

Opening Spring Semester 2010 [E-lert for Jan. 21]

Barriers

Below are four barriers that districts often face during the spring semester.

1) Spring Break: NCVPS does not close down during the state’s numerous spring break weeks. North Carolina has a five-week window for spring breaks in its 115 school systems. Students must let their instructors know immediately when their spring breaks are. All students will be given time to make up their work by either working ahead and/or completing work when they return from their spring break.

2) OSU Passwords for German: OSU will email students their usernames and passwords. They will use the email address that you have entered for the student in the registration system. For OSU support email german.online@okstate.edu

3) Textbooks: Only Latin 1 and 2 require textbooks this semester. Some courses will require other materials and software. View the complete list here: http://tinyurl.com/yhz62ms

4) Password Issues: Blackboard Help Desk: 1-866-223-1028. The help desk can help students who have password issues and other troubles with or in Blackboard. Remember that NCVPS does not issue passwords. The DLA must give students their passwords.

Checklists

Use the checklists and reminders below during the semester:

___DLA Checklist: http://alturl.com/w92m This is your complete guide to managing your virtual students this semester.

___Student Checklist: http://alturl.com/9cnt Be sure that each student has a copy of this. You are encouraged to add your own expectations to this list.

___Check Final Rosters: http://tinyurl.com/yfm7746 Make sure that all students enrolled are ready to participate.

___Check for the Day 2 no-show list and the Day 7 Admin Drop list. Any student who does not log in and submit his or her first assignment in the first seven days will be administratively dropped from the course.

___Check that off-campus students have access and have logged in

___Remember that Credit Recovery offers a longer enrollment period.

___Remember to drop before the Day 10 of a course. All students on the roster after Day 10 will receive a grade. NCVPS can only drop for medical reasons after Day 10.

___Teacher Contact Information: http://tinyurl.com/yfm7746 This link shows how to find teacher contact information in the registration system.

___Virtual Teacher Information Number (VTINs) can be found in the DLA Spa. Your data managers will need this for their SAR reports. New NCVPS teachers will be added to the list in February.

___Subscribe to the E-lert here: http://ncvirtualelert.blogspot.com/ Just add your email address to the box in the upper right of the sidebar.

Early Access to Select Courses

Due to the dramatic growth in spring 2010 enrollments, the NCVPS Technology Team will be offering early access to a select few spring 2010 courses. By offering this option, we hope to improve our user support capacity.

Please note that student participation in this early access is completely voluntary. No deadlines will be advanced for any tests, homework, or any course activity. This is a voluntary opportunity for students to log in and verify their userid and password work appropriately. If they are enrolled in a course with an early start, they will be able to access it from their "My NCVPS" tab. They can feel free to navigate through the course content early, but will not be held to any early deadlines.

Access to these courses will be available Tuesday, January 19th. The courses that will be made available on that date are as follows:

Arabic - all levels
Art 1
Chinese - all levels
Computer Applications
Computer Programming
Computerized Accounting
Digital Communications
Digital Photography
e Commerce 1
e Commerce 2
French - all levels
Music Appreciation
Principles of Business
Russian - all levels
Small Business
Spanish - all levels
Success 101

Any NCVPS courses not listed above will open on January 25th, 2010, as planned. Please do not expect any course not listed above to be available to students prior to the formal start of the semester on January 25th. If the student logs into one of these courses prior to the 25th, they will not see the course listed in their "My NCVPS" tab or have any access whatsoever.

NOTE AGAIN: This early access will not affect any deadlines or semester calendar timelines. Students are not required to log in early; this is merely an early access option being offered for schools and students to take advantage of at their discretion.

If you have questions or concerns, please contact your Virtual Learning Consultant (VLC). Contact information for your VLC can be found at http://ncvps.org/lea/studentsupport/

Finding Teacher Contact Information [E-lert for Jan. 13]

You can find teacher contact information when you run your registration roster.

Here is how that process works:

1) Log in to the registration system.

2) Click on the Enrollments button (not the Students button).

3) Above the list of courses, you will see an option to "export registrations to excel for" and a drop down menu.

4) On the drop down menu, select the semester that you want to run. If you have students in yearlong and block courses, you will need to run the Academic Year 2009-2010 and Spring 2010.

5) This will export an Excel spreadsheet. On the far right, you will see a column for the teachers' names and another column for their email and phone.

Student Contact Information [E-lert for Jan. 6]

It is imperative that you enter student contact information into the registration system. Check that you have entered each student’s email address and phone number. This is the first means of contact that instructors use to communicate with students.

If you did not enter contact information for a student, click the student’s name, scroll down and click the edit button. Then you can add the contact information and save.