Visiting RVS Community Learning Centre (Grades 7-17)
Last week I met with the principal of the Commnity Learning Centre (CLC), during my MET journey I have talked about RVS’s online learning as a viable option for our students. Unfortunately, I have been oblivious not knowing how the program is structured or which students attend the school. I was fortunate that the principal gave me the time, to discuss the successes of his online program and the challenges they are facing.
The hour-long meeting included the following topics:
- How is the Community Learning Centre structured to meet the needs of your students?According to RVS’s website: “Our school combines the best of home based learning with the flexibility and support of staff in three centers within Rocky View: Airdrie, Chestermere and Cochrane. We utilize a variety of technologies to provide students and parents with the educational tools they need to access their courses”. Specifically, we discussed the two major components of the CLC.
2. Which students attend the CLC? Students Characteristics:
- students who want to take their full high school program at a Community Learning Centre
- students who prefer to their program at a self-directed pace
- students who need only a few more courses for graduation
- students who are working and cannot fit a traditional high school program into their schedules
- students who have failed, been otherwise unsuccessful in high school or have dropped out
- students coping with mental or physical health issues such as anxiety, depression or other medical problems
- students who are involved in high level sports or fine arts making regular school attendance difficult
- students who, because of their religious and cultural norms, find that traditional schools do not meet their needs
- pregnant and parenting teens
- students who have been directed by the Superintendent of Schools (designate) to a Community Learning Centre.
3.. Is mental health a key component of the learning centre? There is a family school/home liaison worker at each of the locations. They do home visits to ensure students are going to doctors appointments or if they need assistance get medication or access to a mental health doctor. They will also follow up with students to ensure school work is being completed.
4. Which online platform is used? Moodle is used to provide online information to students. Moodle is used because it is a cost-effective open source software that allows the freedom to run, share and modify courses to meets the diverse needs of their students.
Digital Literacy and Digital Citizenship? I did not get to those topics.:(
As far as digital literacy, it would have liked to ask the online teachers the following questions:
- How are students being taught to evaluate and question their online sources?
- What techniques are being used for students to learn how to draw a strong conclusion?
- Is the online platform (Moodle) pushing students to new levels of creativity?
I will see if I can get another meeting with a teacher at the CLC or another teacher.