Hawai`i Department of Education

NEW PROCESS Students no longer register themselves!

A member of the faculty of your school now does online registration for HVLN/E-School courses at your school. All schools have been given the opportunity to nominate that member of the faculty and have been asked to send that information to the E-School office. If a school wishes to register students and has not relayed this information to the HVLN/E-School office – please contact Allen Cole by email at acole@k12.hi.us or by phone at 808-203-5510.

The recommended method for registering a student would involve the following:

The student AND counselor or school registration faculty look at the course offerings together and decide if any of them meet the student’s needs. If there are desired courses, the counselor or school registration faculty counsels the student to ensure that the student understands that online courses take a lot of work and discipline – different than the usual in-class learning situation (not necessarily harder – but sometimes – it just might take more motivation and personal drive).

With the careful selection of the course and a firm understanding by the student of the diligence required, the designated registration faculty member (not the student) logs into the registration system to register the student for a particular course – if the course is closed/filled then the choice can be made to have the student waitlisted. The link to the online registration is available on E-School’s website under the registration link.

After registering for the course, the student is also registered in an online training course that provide online training in being an online student and using our Course Management System (Blackboard). After participating in this short course the student takes a quiz. The student MUST go through this online short course and pass the quiz with a score of 80% or better before the start of the semester. Once the student passes the quiz, he/she will be directed as to when and how to get started in his/her online course.

In general, the more the school (and the PARENTS) participates in this registration process – the more successful the student will be.

The roles and responsibilities for the new registration process are listed below:

Student Responsibility:

School Role:

Please take the time to read, if you are a student or a school, the information below describing the commitment and work involved in participating in an online learning environment.

Important: READ and THINK about this!

Before a student considers taking and participating in the online registration here are a few questions to consider:

1. I have ready access to a computer and, through it, the Internet.

____ True ____ False

2. I know how to use the computer!

____ True ____ False

3. I can make 6 - 8 hours a week available to work on the online course.

____ True ____ False

4. I am NOT considering an E-School course because I think it will be easier than a "real" course.

____ True ____ False

5. I realize that course requirements and due dates are there for a good reason and I feel I can structure my time to meet them.

____ True ____ False

 

If you answered FALSE to any of these statements you should re-consider registering for an E-School course. E-School courses are "REAL" courses and often take more time and effort than your other classes. We are not telling you this to frighten you away from this educational experience, rather we want you to do well.

Please Note: MANDATORY PARTICIPATION IN THE REQUIRED ONLINE SHORT COURSE FOR ALL STUDENTS MUST BE DONE AFTER REGISTRATION - BUT BEFORE CLASS BEGINS!

STUDENTS, COUNSELORS AND PARENTS, PLEASE READ THIS!!!

Let's say you're a High School student who has made the decision to supplement your high school education with an online class in E-School. Your thought process goes something like this: "Sure I know how to use a computer - you thought - right - I have the modem connection and doing alright in classes was kind of simple when all I really had to do was show up (most of the time) sit in the classes and let the teachers tell me what to know! Gee, this online education is tougher than I thought. I'm not doing so well. What's wrong? It sounded so easy!" It turns out Distance Online Education is hard. Most often it is harder than going to "regular" school. Why? Here's what a student needs to succeed in a virtual class.

A student needs the fastest connectivity possible and a good speedy computer. You are going to be online EVERYDAY (that turns out to be important - EVERYDAY - so I will capitalize it!). You really don't have the time and probably the patience to wait...and wait for all of the web pages to load. You really need to get as quick of a connection to the Internet as is possible in your area. Many of the technologies that are used in these online courses require a modern operating system and a speedy computer to make the course satisfying or even doable.

A successful student needs a good set of digital skills, being able to cruise the Internet is not enough. At bare minimum you need to possess a word processing program and understand how to use it. How to save a file, find them after you save them, save them in different formats, to use the thesaurus, spelling checker are required skills. An understanding of the Internet technologies such as browsers, browser plug-ins (PDF, QuickTime, Real Audio), html, FTP are skills that can only help the online student.

It turns out the most important characteristic of a successful student is their motivation. In fact, it has been the case already in E-School that a student might be at a serious disadvantage in the two earlier mentioned areas of "requirements" but when they have the motivation they do just fine. It may be still a struggle, but they succeed. A student doesn't really need that super fast connection or be a computer genius with the latest and greatest equipment if they got the drive, responsibility, motivation, and a "can do" attitude to get it done. That's it! You just got to do the WORK. That means hitting your classes and work online EVERYDAY! You must make a schedule for yourself to spend time in your class, EVERYDAY. Does that mean weekends? Well, sometimes. In your "regular" school classes you do homework on weekends (sometimes) don't you? The good thing is you really don't, most of the time, have to do it between 8:00 am and 2:00pm. You can do your work at 11:00 pm if you want. You must remain in almost daily communication with your online teacher. Use the Moodle email, Threaded discussion and their scheduled chat times. Most of them do not mind having you even call them.

Get it into your head that you cannot sit in class and listen any more. In online education you must PARTICIPATE in the gathering, understanding and the communication of knowledge in your class. Is that harder? Maybe! But it can also be much more satisfying as you learn that your thoughts, ideas and personal experiences are valuable, have weight and are necessary to the success of the class. The skills you learn and employ in this online class you will use well after your high school experience. So students make sure you make a schedule to do the work and a promise to yourself to commit to the PARTICIPATION in your education.

If you feel positive about your upcoming E-School learning experience please see your counselor at your school to have your school register you for the online class.

Spring 2012 (November 15, 2011 - January 6, 2012 - 5:00 PM)

Email Allen Cole at: acole@k12.hi.us for questions or concerns