Section9

Section 9: Innovative Delivery Strategies
The Mid-Del School District encourages the development and use of innovative strategies for delivering specialized or rigorous courses and curricula, including web-delivered or distance learning technologies. These delivery methods are particulary beneficial when access is not otherwise available due to geographical distances or insufficient resources.

In the summer of 2006, teachers and administrators learned to podcast in a series of training events. The group known as the “Pod Squad” worked throughout the school year producing several episodes. Pod Squad II increased the number of podcasting teachers and administrators during the 2007-2008 school year. The project expanded during the 2008-2009 school year with more members and higher expectations. In the 2009-2010 school year, Pod Squad members were introduced to Challenge Based Learning. Podcasting makes content accessible outside the classroom walls, and Challenge Based Learning allows educators to introduce life-long learning skills to students.

Students celebrated our state's centennial with the "Digital Centennial Project", a student video production project introduced in the 2007-2008 school year. Student production projects continued during 2008-2009 school year with the "Celebrate Oklahoma Voices" project.

The goal of Mid-Del is to reach all students by providing alternative options in servicing a wide variety of educational needs. Online courses and/or training should be evaluated as a means to meet that goal. The “Guide to Online High School Courses” developed by the National Education Association will be referenced as part of this process.
 * Curriculum: The online curricular courses should be challenging, relevant, and aligned with appropriate national, state, and district standards for student learning.
 * Instructional Design: The online courses should be designed to take advantage of the online learning environment and support the development of current learning skills.
 * Educator Quality: Educators should be skilled in the subject matter, learning theory, technologies, and teaching methods appropriate for the content area and the online environment.
 * Student Roles: The students should be actively engaged in the learning process and interact on a regular basis.

In an effort to explore resources offered online by a variety of companies, a committee was formed in the fall of 2008 that consisted of Curriculum and Instruction personnel as well as site academic coaches and other administrators. The goal was to evaluate the resources based on the criteria above. The committee made a recommendation to the Assistant Superintendent of Instruction in the spring of 2009.

Apex Learning was selected in 2009-2010 as the online curriculum for the Alternative Academy and also offered at all three high schools for credit recovery. Data is collected on a monthly basis and evaluated for effectiveness. An annual review is conducted by the Instructional Technology Coordinator to determine recommendations for continuation or strategies for finding a different solution.

The next phase in the development of online coursework will be to pilot instructional materials and procedures with willing teachers and students. This pilot program will be conducted within the framework of the regular classroom, but give the district, teacher and student valuable information on the logistics of participating in an online course. The Teaching and Learning department will develop guidelines for online coursework with an emphasis on credit recovery for students who have dropped out of school or need extensive help earning credits for graduation. The hope is that this model can be extended to other settings including the alternative school, AP courses or other situations where the rigid time frame of the school day does not support student achievement.

Since the fall of the 2007-2008 school year, students have had the opportunity to prepare for college entrance exams by checking out a laptop equipped with college entrance exam preparation software. High School College Counselors check out and monitor laptop use via the site library system. College Counselors received laptop training and technical issues are supported through SITE technicians.

During the 2008-2009 school year, student email accounts were added on a limited basis as a technology tool providing them with the opportunity to communicate globally with politicians, companies, and colleges. Also, students are able to communicate with teachers and peers regarding instruction, project collaboration, and peer tutoring.

The student email also facilitates the use of the learning management system. In the summer of 2008, an instance of Moodle was set up for Mid-Del Schools hosted by OneNet. The Business/Computer Science departments in two high schools piloted the use of the system with their classes. The Health Officer also utilized the system with the Blood Borne Pathogen training district wide. The system has experienced phenomenal growth as more teachers learn of the uses. The Instructional Technology Coordinator has training scheduled and consistently mentors teachers in the application of this tool. With the increased use of the learning management system, the need was identified to set up a district server. This was accomplished in the summer of 2010.

Social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Ning can be utilized to promote school events. These sites can encourage 24/7 access for professional communication and collaboration for educators, students, parents, and members of the community. During the 2011-2012 school year, the District implemented the School Connect mobile application. It is available for both Android and iPhone mobile operating systems. Each site has the capability to send notifications and alerts while District patrons subscribe to the school site they have interest in.

Achieve 3000 was implemented during the 2011-2012 school year for grades 3-5 and targeted middle schools for 6-8. Achieve 3000 is an online reading comprehension and writing program delivered at students' instructional level. The program was selected as it uses non-fiction text and will help with the transition to Common Core State Standards. Also during the 2011-2012 year, middle school and high school English Language Arts writing portfolios will be completed by utilizing Googledocs. Previously portfolios were printed and placed in large envelopes to be reviewed. By using Googledocs, students will make their writing available by "sharing" with their teachers and District staff which makes them instantly available. This will make the process of reviewing student samples much more efficient.