NCVPS E-lert for March 18

NCVPS Community

Be Empowered
Need foreign language help? Check this out!

E-lert Subscription
Have you subscribed? If not, you can subscribe at the new e-lert site here. Look for the subscription service at the top of the sidebar. You will receive a confirmation email to activate your subscription. Each notice will have an unsubscribe option, too.

E-learning Success Stories
Submit your stories here: http://tiny.cc/d2oby Please tell us about student success stories and district success stories, such as increased virtual enrollment, fulltime DLA positions, teacher facilitators, and other virtual initiatives that have been started in your district. You may also forward to students and principals to complete!

Professional Networking
Are you into networking and social media? Come join over 850 other educators who have fanned us on Facebook. Find our fan page at Facebook/ncvps

Follow the virtual learning consultants on Twitter at Twitter/MyVLC

This Week's E-lert

Read the items below for this week's e-lert. Be sure to check out the reminders at the end for important information from previous e-lerts. Contact your virtual learning consultant if you have any questions!

Current Enrollment Options [E-lert for March 18]

Summer 2011 and Fall 2011

March 15: Traditional and Credit Recovery Courses.
April 5: OCS Blended Learning

Traditional and Credit Recovery Courses
If there is a waitlist for a course, go ahead and add your student to the waitlist. We will open new sections each Monday until classes begin.

You can find our course catalogs here: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/courses/catalogue/

Course descriptions and text, technology, and material requirements are here: https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ASUfjGU4wbEIZHJrcXJrbl8zOXMzY3htYmNo&hl=en

OCS Blended Learning
Find more details here for the OCS Blended Learning registration process: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/courses/ocs-blended/

For more details on ernolling into the SAS Computer Programming course, follow this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xz2OzY_N9PaN2XSXJGJ2No8BzjWbDfubLrOtKz4iN2M/edit?hl=en

Summer and Fall 2011 Enrollment - Health Education Course
The health education courses are 1/2 credit courses, and classes begin at the beginning of the semester and at mid-semester. Typically registraiton is heavy for the classes that begin at the start of the semster. NCVPS will balance that enrollment starting in Summer 2011. Please follow this link to see the details: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SUxXEEBdc6NuQopDPCPEeAJLNao-ebAnPBLtcLjx63E/edit?hl=en

Computer Applications Offered for Summer and Fall 2011

NCVPS has been working closely with the DPI CTE division to determine if there is a need to offer Computer Applications for Summer 2011 and Fall 2011. We are aware the MS IT Academy has been implemented across a large majority of LEAs and there is an expectation to have all LEAs participating in the Academy by Fall 2011.

Even with the expectation to participate in the IT Academy, the DPI CTE division realizes there may be special circumstances and you may need to enroll a student in Computer Applications. NCVPS will plan to open sections to accommodate your students. Please note that we will need to have a minimum of 10 students in a section in order to secure a teacher. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Thanks, Karen Creech, NCVPS Division Director, CTE Department, Karen.creech@ncpublicschools.gov

Spring 2011

New Enrollments
No students may be added to new courses at this time for Spring 2011 traditional courses. See Transfers and Credit Recovery for more options.

Transfers for Spring 2011
Students may still transfer into NCVPS courses. To transfer in, a student MUST be enrolled in the course with a face-to-face instructor, and the student MUST have a passing grade to transfer into the course. Contact your VLC to request a transfer. Students can transfer in until the beginning of the last quarter of the course.

SAS Computer Programming - Fall 2011
We will offer SAS Computer Programming as a pilot again in Fall 2011 for a total of 50 students. We will not offer the course in the summer because of the NCVPS Virtual Desktop tech requirement. We know many students take courses in the summer from home and are unable to get support from the school because there is not a summer school program available to students. The Virtual Desktop needs to be supported at the school level.

CTE Field Tests [E-lert for March 18]

Accounting I, Personal Finance and Principles of Business and Finance Field Test

As new or revised courses, Accounting I, Personal Finance and Principles of Business and Finance will be field tested for the school year 2010-2011. What does that mean for you and our students? Students are required to take a two part field test for the course this semester. The first part will be administered at the midpoint of the semester and cover the first half of the course content. The second part will be administered at the end of the course and cover the second half of the course content. Both parts are to be administered at the face-to face-school. This is a state required exam, NOT an NCVPS exam and should be treated as any EOC and VoCats exam. Your testing coordinator or your CDC (Career Development Coordinator) will be able to provide the field test exams to you.

District policy should be followed in terms of using the field test scores to calculate an exam score; district policies regarding field tests vary greatly. If your district requires that a teacher made final exam be given, simply let the course instructor know. There is one ready in the course to be given to all students that require it.

LOCK Sessions [E-lert for March 18]

Mark Your Calendars - LOCK (Linked Online Connecting Knowledge) sessions are on Tuesdays, 11:00 AM unless listed differently in the schedule posted here. LOCKs are hosted in the DLA Spa, Wimba Classroom. Instructions for how to access the classroom are provided in a QRG which can also be viewed in the DLA Spa, "DLA e-Lerts" tab. These sessions are specifically planned for DLCs and DLAs to keep abreast of the NCVPS operations, and provide excellent Professional Development opportunities. NOTE: Attendance is being recorded to provide CEUs in June for those who wish to gain the credits.

See previous session on SchoolTube here:

LOCK Session for March 1: NCVPS Semester Overview

LOCK Session for March 8: Registration for Summer 2011 and Fall 2011

Thanks for your participation and interest to key information provided in the LOCK presentations.

Fall Registration for College Courses [E-lert for March 18]

Legislative wheels grind on and it is looking as though online college courses will be available for high school students. At this point in time these Community Colleges will be participating:

AB Tech CC

Cleveland CC

Lenior CC

I'll be adding to this list as I hear from other Community Colleges.

For fall registration plan to register students for STEM courses only, until signed legislation tells us otherwise.

Don't hesitate to contact me with any questions...I may not have the answers but I can try to find the answer,

Deborah Pedersen

deborah.pedersen@ncpublicschools.gov

NCAA Information [E-lert for March 18]

REPORTING NCVPS CLASSES ON TRANSCRIPTS FOR NCAA CLEARING HOUSE

We have been working with NCAA to get clarification on how to better help students who are trying to get clearance. The NCAA understands that NCVPS can't award the grade as we are not degree granting and that the NC public school awards the grades.

We have one solution to share out with schools systems. It has been suggested that schools document the classes on the transcripts as such:
Algebra I - NCVPS
Algebra I CR-NCVPS – for the credit recovery classes

or show the course ID to show the semester etc (ex algebraIsec04spr11 – NCVPS). This example helps them to see what semester etc. this course was taken when they are doing their evaluation as well.

By doing this, it will help the NCAA to know this was an online class with NCVPS and that we do not award the grades. Please make sure you designate NCVPS over just ONLINE CLASS.

Reminders [E-lert for March 18]

DLA & SCHOOL MAINTENANCE > DLA Contact Information - Be sure to update your contact information in the registration system. Follow this link to see how to update your contact information. > Central Office Distance Learning Coordinator: Follow this link to watch a short video that shows how to check your district's enrollment, check grades, and enroll and drop students at the school level. DISTRICT INFORMATION > Find our course catalogues here: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/courses/catalogue/ > If plan to enroll home school or private schools students into NCVPS courses through your districts, be sure to read this link first: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/parents/homeprivate-school/ > NCVPS is seeking GO LIVE districts. With customized training and support, the GO LIVE initiative helps leaders develop solutions for e-learning and e-leadership. Click here for more details! > If your district is enrolling home-schooled students, follow this link to see the new process: http://www.ncvps.org/parentstudent/homeschool/index.html STUDENT SUPPORT > Checklists: Follow these two links to our spring checklists: DLA Checklist for Spring 2011: https://docs.google.com/View?id=df9w57c6_26hjzx23f9 Student Checklist: https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1Hiyou-5PJKKeAQMtE6p6Oo-efAGaTK7a_LfPhbXbR10 > Help Desk Information: The Presidium Help Desk has two procedures to help students who have forgotten their passwords or are having difficulties with Blackboard. Follow this link to see these procedures. When students are having problems with content in the course, they should always contact their instructors. > Follow this link to see a full list of assistive technologies that are beneficial for a variety of student disabilities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Am5iphYrw8o_gwzsWHvO3RhhhPop81tLyhfiB-WK4g8/edit?hl=en&authkey=COv327YI&pli=1# > If your students need tutoring help, be sure to check out our Peer Tutoring Center by following this link.

E-lert for March 9, 2011

Be Empowered
Check out these big "what if" questions! (And we ARE part of the revolution!)

E-lert Subscription
Have you subscribed? If not, you can subscribe at the new e-lert site here. Look for the subscription service at the top of the sidebar. You will receive a confirmation email to activate your subscription. Each notice will have an unsubscribe option, too.

E-learning Success Stories
Submit your stories here: http://tiny.cc/d2oby Please tell us about student success stories and district success stories, such as increased virtual enrollment, fulltime DLA positions, teacher facilitators, and other virtual initiatives that have been started in your district. You may also forward to students and principals to complete!

Professional Networking
Are you into networking and social media? Come join over 850 other educators who have fanned us on Facebook. Find our fan page at Facebook/ncvps

Follow the virtual learning consultants on Twitter at Twitter/MyVLC

This Week's E-lert

Read the items below for this week's e-lert. Be sure to check out the reminders at the end for important information from previous e-lerts. Contact your virtual learning consultant if you have any questions!

Current Enrollment Options [E-lert for March 9]

Summer 2011 and Fall 2011

Registration Open March 15 for traditional and Credit Recovery courses and April 5 for OCS Blended Learning Courses
Registration opens for Summer 2011 and Fall 2011 courses on March 15 for traditional and Credit Recovery courses.

OCS Blended Learning registration for Fall 2011 will not open on March 15 but on April 5 in the NCVPS registration system. More details to come regarding the process for the OCS Blended Learning registration will be posted here: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/courses/ocs-blended/

Find our course catalogs here: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/courses/catalogue/

SAS Computer Programming - Fall 2011
We will offer SAS Computer Programming as a pilot again in Fall 2011 for a total of 50 students. We will not offer the course in the summer because of the NCVPS Virtual Desktop tech requirement. We know many students take courses in the summer from home and are unable to get support from the school because there is not a summer school program available to students. The Virtual Desktop needs to be supported at the school level.

For more details on ernolling into the SAS Computer Programming course, follow this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xz2OzY_N9PaN2XSXJGJ2No8BzjWbDfubLrOtKz4iN2M/edit?hl=en

Summer and Fall 2011 Enrollment - Health Education Course
The health education courses are 1/2 credit courses, and classes begin at the beginning of the semester and at mid-semester. Typically registraiton is heavy for the classes that begin at the start of the semster. NCVPS will balance that enrollment starting in Summer 2011. Please follow this link to see the details: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SUxXEEBdc6NuQopDPCPEeAJLNao-ebAnPBLtcLjx63E/edit?hl=en

Computer Applications Offered for Summer and Fall 2011

NCVPS has been working closely with the DPI CTE division to determine if there is a need to offer Computer Applications for Summer 2011 and Fall 2011. We are aware the MS IT Academy has been implemented across a large majority of LEAs and there is an expectation to have all LEAs participating in the Academy by Fall 2011.

Even with the expectation to participate in the IT Academy, the DPI CTE division realizes there may be special circumstances and you may need to enroll a student in Computer Applications. NCVPS will plan to open sections to accommodate your students. Please note that we will need to have a minimum of 10 students in a section in order to secure a teacher. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly. Thanks, Karen Creech, NCVPS Division Director, CTE Department, Karen.creech@ncpublicschools.gov

Spring 2011

New Enrollments
No students may be added to new courses at this time for Spring 2011 traditional courses. See Transfers and Credit Recovery for more options.

Transfers for Spring 2011
Students may still transfer into NCVPS courses. To transfer in, a student MUST be enrolled in the course with a face-to-face instructor, and the student MUST have a passing grade to transfer into the course. Contact your VLC to request a transfer. Students can transfer in until the beginning of the last quarter of the course.

Accounting I, Personal Finance and Principles of Business and Finance Field Test

As new or revised courses, Accounting I, Personal Finance and Principles of Business and Finance will be field tested for the school year 2010-2011. What does that mean for you and our students? Students are required to take a two part field test for the course this semester. The first part will be administered at the midpoint of the semester and cover the first half of the course content. The second part will be administered at the end of the course and cover the second half of the course content. Both parts are to be administered at the face-to face-school. This is a state required exam, NOT an NCVPS exam and should be treated as any EOC and VoCats exam. Your testing coordinator or your CDC (Career Development Coordinator) will be able to provide the field test exams to you.

District policy should be followed in terms of using the field test scores to calculate an exam score; district policies regarding field tests vary greatly. If your district requires that a teacher made final exam be given, simply let the course instructor know. There is one ready in the course to be given to all students that require it.

Modify

Manage

Copy

Remove

LOCK Sessions [E-lert for March 9]

Mark Your Calendars - LOCK (Linked Online Connecting Knowledge) sessions are on Tuesdays, 11:00 AM unless listed differently in the schedule posted here. LOCKs are hosted in the DLA Spa, Wimba Classroom. Instructions for how to access the classroom are provided in a QRG which can also be viewed in the DLA Spa, "DLA e-Lerts" tab. These sessions are specifically planned for DLCs and DLAs to keep abreast of the NCVPS operations, and provide excellent Professional Development opportunities. NOTE: Attendance is being recorded to provide CEUs in June for those who wish to gain the credits.

Tuesday, March 15 LOCK will feature "Digital Citizenship". This session is a pre-recorded presentation by NCVPS Regional Virtual Learning Consultants, Adam Renfro and James Bell. Look for the recorded session on the VLC website at www.thevlc.org.

Thanks for your participation and interest to key information provided in the LOCK presentations.