Blended Learning Web Seminar

Posted by Alyssa 

Please join Thesys tomorrow for a web seminar hosted by District Administration magazine, titled "Keys to Success in Blended Learning." 

Date of Web Seminar: 
Thursday, October 25, 2012
2 pm EST/11am PST

Description

Combining classroom learning with online education and Web tools is now a proven education model helping schools to improve learning outcomes. Implementing blended learning effectively, however, requires a thorough understanding of both the available tools and the right processes for teachers and students.

Join this Web seminar to learn how blended learning uniquely addresses teacher and student needs, and how to do it right in your district. Two administrators who are implementing blended learning today will cover:

• What blended learning is, and why and how it works
• The differences between blended learning, classroom learning, and online learning
• Key components of an effective blended education platform, from teacher support to digital curriculum to practical application of student data

Speakers:

Jack Loos, Principal, CIS Academy, Pasadena (Calif.) Unified School District

Carolyn Lucia, Dean of Advanced Studies, Fairmont Preparatory Academy, Anaheim, California.

Alan Rudi, Principal Solutions Strategist, Thesys International

Who will benefit:

Superintendents, curriculum directors, CIOs or other district leaders. Anyone may attend.

Click Here to Register! 

Trending Now: Thesys Director Contributes to iNACOL Book

Posted by Alyssa 

The Thesys team is out in New Orleans this week at the Virtual School Symposium, an annual education conference organized by iNACOL (the International Association for K-12 Online Learning). This is our second year attending the conference, and we are looking forward to meeting educators from around the world and exchanging ideas. 

Blended Learning is a primary focus of the conference this year--44 of the conference sessions offered will cover the topic. Mr. Alan Rudi, Principal Solutions Strategist at Thesys, discussed Blended Learning when he co-presented alongside Dr. Tracy Weeks at one of the sessions yesterday, titled "Administration and Management of Online Programs - Teacher Quality, Support, and Management."

Additionally, Mr. Rudi contributed to the book Lessons Learned from Blended Programs: Experiences and Recommendations from the Field. This book is being published by iNACOL and is being released at the conference this week. The book is a compilation of case studies contributed by educators and content providers experienced in blended learning. Mr. Rudi authored chapter 8 of the book, which documents the Thesys course development, design, process, results of pilot programs, key lessons learned and implications for the future of education.

Click here to read more about this book and iNACOL. We hope to see many of you this week at the conference! 

Image via Brain Pop

Field Notes: Schedule Flexibility

Posted by Holly

School Type: Public

Grade Levels: High School

Location: California

Why the school is exploring Blended Learning: The School District has been consistently losing students due to budget cuts. A recent reduction in their bus transportation has caused thousands of students to drop out of the district and attend schools in their local area--consequently causing the district to lose additional revenues.

The school's specific need: Provide a more flexible way for students to complete their high school requirements while offering 21^st century learning skills 

Thesys Solution: Thesys’ Blended Education Platform offers a customizable solution where the School District or individual school can determine the best course delivery model and schedule.  Thesys courses are intended for delivery in a Blended Learning Model, yet built to achieve student success in a completely Online Learning Model. While some schools are interested in conducting classroom sessions multiple times per week, other schools are interested in Face-to-Face meetings several times per term. Other schools prefer different scheduling models altogether. During this type of exploration, Thesys is prepared to discuss scheduling models with the School District to help with determining the best format for delivery by course.

(Image via El Yob)

Field Notes: Customizing Curriculum on a Tight Timeline

Posted by Alyssa 

Thesys "Field Notes" provide insight into our recent conversations with educators who are trying to address specific needs through Blended Learning.

School Type: Charter 

Grade Levels: High School

Location: California

Why the school is exploring Blended Learning: This School Administrators tried using online courses from other providers, however they found that the content was not interactive enough to engage their students, and they were not seeing any improvement in learning outcomes. 

The school's specific need: The school needs to start a blended education program this spring in order to ensure their students have time to complete their high school requirements. The school is looking for a provider that can have customized curriculum ready in time, and the School Administrators would prefer to continue using their own SIS and LMS. 

Thesys Solution: Thesys' blended curriculum is not LMS-specific--it can be transferred into any Learning Management System and it is designed to be customized by each school. Therefore, Thesys was able to assure the School Administrators that they would be able to continue using their own SIS and LMS and still have the Thesys curriculum ready to teach this spring. 

(Image from Wikipedia)