Total School Solution
Program Features

When a school uses the Total School Solution program they have the following items for their use. This Total School Solution has three components: the School Portal, the Online Class, and the Instructional Program. All three of these components work through an Internet browser like Internet Explorer or Netscape. All components are available through a web browser program so no extra computer programs are needed.

School Portal

The portal enables schools to unite disparate Web-based services and online communities in one central location. Schools have harnessed the functionality of the Portal System to reinforce the sense of community and to leverage technology. Here are the four features that build community for a school:

I. Common Areas

Readily accessible online “locations” for individuals to meet and share ideas

• Advanced module development capabilities —Set defaults and options per tab page —Introduce new modules at any time
• Ability to create unlimited modules in the following forms: text, HTML, URL, RSS channel, JSP, links, bookmarks, images, and user polls
• Ability to combine module types (e.g., a module can include an RSS channel and a user poll)
• Ability to create multi-section modules containing independent content areas without HTML (e.g., an enduser can view the Sports Update module and opt to view news about field hockey but not news about basketball)
• Quick tab creation with text-based tabs
• Unlimited tabs to provide customizable environments for users in varying institutional roles
• Multiple system-owned module pages that can be personalized at the individual level
• Tabs directing users to external Web pages (e.g. the library)
• Tabs directing users to system tools built by Blackboard and third-party developers
• User-level customization of portal themes (e.g., color schemes)

II. Centralized Content

Management Facilitating knowledge-management and teamwork through idea-sharing and centralized module and document management

• Move and copy content within organizations
• Flexible and unlimited areas for organizations’ content and services
• Create digital repositories of learning objects to be used in organizations with similar goals, structure, or content.
• Math and science notation capabilities
• Mix and match content and activities within a single web page (e.g., organizations can provide an announcement of a guest speaker as well as direct access to a discussion or a scheduled chat session)

III. Context through Customization

Tailoring each unique user’s experience to deliver individualized information that reinforces his/her role and function within the organization

• Creation of up to 20 customizable, institutionally-named portal roles
• Ability to create unlimited role-based tabs
• User-level customization capabilities
• Special suite of tabs to display select information for people outside the school community

IV. Collaboration and Exchange

Providing tools to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and enhance communication between community members

• Host multiple, concurrent synchronous sessions or facilitate small “break-out” discussions with assigned or self-selected groups
• View organizational documents during an online meeting, such as a PowerPoint presentation or Web-sites.
• Conduct public and private messaging
• Compliant with Section 508 accessibility regulations

Online Class

The central meeting place for each class (group of students) is the online class. This online meeting place for the class has the following features: An Announcements page, Personal and class Calendar page, Personal and class Task page, Class and teacher information pages, Email to the members of the class, Assignments page (teacher prepared material to supplement the programmed instruction), online test and assessment functions, online gradebook, Web resource page, full featured Discussion Forum for class members to exchange messages.

With the features of the online class the teacher can maintain communication with the students, exchange messages and make additional instructional material available to the students. Each aspect of the online classroom is controlled from the Control Panel on the teacher’s screen. An easy to follow menu structure enables the teacher to control the content of the online classroom by filling in text boxes or making simple ‘point and click’ choices. A link will in each online class will provide access to the Instructional program.

Instructional Program

The Instructional Program is a support structures for the academic courses in the school. This anytime, anywhere computer aided instructional program consists of an Internet-deliverable instructional management system supported by standards-based assessment tools and core curriculum for grades 1-12. The Learning System program contains over 3,400 lessons and 78,000 exercises, which add up to more than 4,300 hours of technology-based instruction.

When used for a class the teacher can assign lesson that directly support the current class material or assign individual students remedial lessons.

When used a a component for a program like Academic Intervention the teacher can assign a diagnostic and prescriptive assessment test to the student. This test can assess students against State standards, diagnose student strengths or weaknesses and prescribe individual lesson plans for students based on their specific needs. This component has been developed with an emphasis on focusing assessments to specific learning objectives, automating the prescription of curriculum targeted to an individual student's mastery level.

In all cases, "smart testing" is deployed and assessment tests configured to branch up and down "skill trees." This branching allows educators to identify the lowest levels that the student has not mastered and the highest levels of mastery in particular curriculum areas. After completing the assessment test, students are assigned, automatically, a customized course of study containing student-specific activities in each of the following curriculum areas. All courseware curriculum resources can be assigned and customized from the management system by the teacher. New subjects and/or resources can be added or existing instructional resources changed at any time to meet the needs of the student or the school. The software is delivered in a consistent format so students learn one interface for all lessons. Students, and their parents, can access homework assignments and view their academic progress from their homes, media centers, libraries, or community centers by simply logging onto the Internet at any time.