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Online learning is prescription for students' scholastic success

The Anchorage Chronicle
by Heather A. Resz
December 26, 2002

NovaNET® aids traditional, special-needs learners

Dimond High School junior Kari Austermuhl, 17, is using the Internet to stay on pace to graduate.

"It works pretty well," she said of the district's online e-learning program. "It helps you career-wise, too. Almost every job you apply for uses computers."

Although Dimond High has supplemented classroom learning with NovaNET's online lessons for three years, this is the first year it has been available at all six district high schools.

Kari Austermuhl, 17, uses NovaNET to stay on track to graduate
by completing core classes she missed her freshman year.

NovaNET from Pearson Education Technologies is a comprehensive e-learning system that offers students individual instruction.

Austermuhl said she is using NovaNET to complete core classes she missed her freshman year.

"The incoming freshman class was so big I couldn't get the classes I needed," she said.

Austermuhl is a student in Mary Kluis' Dimond High NovaNET class. Every period a different group of students uses the classroom's 10 iMac computers to complete coursework ranging from math, auto mechanics, world history and biology to physical science, reading, health, government and economics.

"None of these kids are in the same place at the same time," Kluis said of students' studies. "They are all working at their own pace on their own lessons."

She was one of three district teachers who saw a need for an alternative teaching tool and researched a computer-based alternative on their own time. The three even flew to Seattle to see it work up close.

After the district selected NovaNET, Kluis pulled information from its vast resources to match state and district standards. Her efforts earned her a Spring 2002 Denali Award.

"Since not all kids learn alike, there needed to be an alternative way," she said. "I never lecture in this class. I just answer individual questions."

Now students can sign up for a period of NovaNET, like any other elective, Kluis said. Students are pre-tested before they being working in each subject, she said. And each unit uses a pretest to individualize lessons to the student's foundation of knowledge, Kluis said. Students can earn more than half a credit in a semester, she said.

The subscription NovaNET service is available around the clock, and includes an SAT preparatory program, math through calculus and an English as a second language course. With an assigned user name and password, students can access the system's 12,000 hours of instruction anywhere the Internet is available.

With a few keystrokes, Kluis also can send an instant message to a NovaNET consultant or answer students' questions online.

Mike Henry, district director of high school education, said NovaNET lessons are available as soon as a teacher sees a student struggling.

"We're dedicated to reaching every student, and NovaNET is a part of meeting that mission," he said.

Mary Kluis is one of three Anchorage School District
teachers who saw a need for an alternative teaching tool.

Superintendent Carol Comeau said the district is using Learning Opportunity Grants to fund several efforts district-wide to make sure students continually get the help they need to succeed in their classes.

"When kids are struggling, we can't wait until semester or the summer to intervene," she said.

This summer she visited Dimond High to see students use the e-learning program. There, Henry introduced her to a bright-eyed girl who was taking algebra during summer school via NovaNET.

"She's had just a terrible experience with algebra, so she enrolled in summer school," the superintendent said. "When I met her she was just beaming, she was just so excited. The block was gone and she understood."

Comeau remembers how it feels to be a student and struggle with algebra. She also recalls the wonder and excitement she felt when a summer school teacher flipped the switch for her that made X equal Y.

"There are a lot of kids with a lot of math anxiety," Comeau said. "It's a spiraling problem if we don't help kids be successful. When kids see themselves as successful learners, they are more willing to take risks with future learning."

Henry said math failure is the No. 1 reason students drop out of school.

"Kids quit coming when they can't do the work," he said.

Usually students taking NovaNET math already have had one or more unsuccessful math experiences, said high school online instructional coordinator Jimmy McDowell.

"Usually, we get kids who hate math," he said.

This summer about 120 students used NovaNET to complete pre-algebra or survey of algebra, McDowell said. Every student passed, and about 60 students earned a letter grade of A. Another 30 students received Bs, and the rest earned Cs, he said.

"This program fits like a glove," Henry said. "It's not fun. It's hard work, but boy, I tell you, the kids smile."

Heather A. Resz, staff writer, can be reached at hresz@anchoragechronicle.com.

This article is reprinted with permission.