UC's online high school opens its doors to students stuck at home
By Nicole Freeling, UC Newsroom, April 23, 2020
The sudden move to online instruction caught many California teachers and schools off guard. But for UC Scout, which offers free online college prep courses to California public school students and teachers, delivering state-of-the-art remote instruction is just business as usual.
UC Scout provides the full range of courses needed for admission to UC and CSU, known as the A-G requirements, plus 26 Advanced Placement classes. It was created to ensure all California students could get the classes they need to be eligible and competitive for college, even if their high school didn’t have those offerings.
Now, it has become a valuable resource for students and schools transitioning overnight to remote instruction.
“What makes UC Scout particularly suited to the present moment is that we didn’t design it just for the present moment,” said Deauna Mansfield, a long-time California teacher who leads UC Scout’s science curriculum and instruction.
“I have all the respect in the world for teachers who are looking to put their courses online, but it’s really hard,” said Mansfield, who spent years as a classroom teacher before joining UC Scout. “This is a process we have been working on and honing for the last seven years. We’ve been able to put a lot of attention into what works and what doesn’t, and to build the classes around that.”
California public school students can guide themselves through any of UC Scout’s 65 A-G approved courses for free. UC Scout also offers a low-fee version of the free online courses that are led by a California-credentialed teacher. Scholarships are available to help cover the cost.
The interactive classes meet California state standards. They feature short modules of high-quality video content that mixes animation and lecture, accompanied by tests, assignments and quizzes to track that students are learning and absorbing the material.
Teachers and schools can access that full curriculum for free, including not only modules and quizzes, but learning management software that helps teachers run an online classroom and track student performance, grades and attendance.
“Teachers are often really surprised to learn about us,” Mansfield said. “I’ve had so many ask me, what’s the catch? They can’t believe this resource is here and it’s free.”...
Full information at https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/uc-online-high-school-opens-its-doors-students-stuck-home
No comments:
Post a Comment