The virtual class is extremely similar to classes given in a
traditional brick and mortar school building. A certified, experienced teacher
is in control of the class and guides the students through each lesson. The
classes meet at assigned times. The students have a textbook. The teacher talks
to the class and students can be 'given the floor' so they can also talk to the
class. Some class material is shown to the class as web pages using a
synchronized web browser. Other material is displayed on a whiteboard which
functions as a blackboard in a traditional classroom. Students can raise their
hand to get the teachers attention. Or, students fully interactive. Students
can also interact asynchronously with the teacher or their classmates by using
email.
Yes. For many years textbooks have been used in schools as a
foundation for the body of knowledge to be covered in a course. The teachers
use the pertinent parts of the textbook and supplement the textbook material as
needed. The Babbage Net School makes use of textbooks rather than rewriting all
the material for each course.
When a student is enrolled in a course by a
school district , the district is required to provide the textbook. If the
textbook is not available in the school then the district can order it from the
publisher or a distributor according to their usual procedures. An individual
enrolled in a course can use the links provided to order on-line or by
mail.
The interaction between students and between instructor and
student is an important element of a successful class environment leading to
greater involvement and student retention of course material.
- who may launch applications for everyone in the class
- who has control of course content
- whose voice or video image is featured in the audio or video
conferencing portion of the class. Instructor-led Floor Control
Instructor-led Floor Control maximizes the control of the instructor. He or she
decides who has the floor, when to give the floor to a learner, and when to
take back the floor. The instructor can use "Privacy" to jump ahead in course
content or use tools without being synchronized with the students. Learners can
raise and lower their hands to be recognized by the instructor and address the
entire class, just as in a traditional classroom.
Open Discussion Floor Control
Open Discussion
Floor Control is similar to a roundtable discussion. During an open discussion
class the instructor has no additional authority, and any learner can take
control of the floor at any time. The open discussion floor control policy
allows small groups to collaborate in highly dynamic class. Open discussion
gives learners maximum freedom while maintaining order through floor
control.
Q&A (Question & Answer)
LearnLinc Q&A
can be used by an instructor or student to ask multiple choice or true/false
questions during a class. The floor holder can ask one question at a time with
up to five multiple-choice answers. Questions may be written ahead of time or
composed spontaneously during a class. The answer results are displayed for the
floor holder in easy-to-read percentages. Results can be shared with other
class participants, or reviewed privately.
Q&A is a dynamic method to verify learner progress and
comprehension. It encourages interaction and participation during a LearnLinc
class, while allowing the instructor to assess learning results.
Feedback
Instructors can use LearnLinc Feedback
to continuously poll learners about the progress of the class. Students select
feedback answers such as "Faster," "Perfect," "Slower," and "Please Review."
The instructor can see the percentages for each response. Instructors may
create custom response sets or choose several default answer sets, including:
- Pace ‚ Faster, Perfect, Slower, Please review
- Agreement - Strongly agree, Agree, Disagree, Strongly
disagree
- Assignment Status - Not much progress, Still working, Almost
finished, Completed
- True/False
- Yes/No
- A, B, C, D
Text Chat
LearnLinc Text Chat is a text-based
communication tool that instructors and students can use to compose and
exchange ideas and comments with everyone in a LearnLinc class. Students can
also send private messages to the instructor. Everyone in the class can save
text, paste text from other documents into text chat, and print a transcript of
the text generated during a class. The instructor can allow all learners to use
text chat, or restrict text chat to him or herself and the floor holder
only.
LearnLinc Text Chat allows the exchange of ideas,
brainstorming, and discussions without interrupting the flow of the class.
Private messages allow students to ask questions they might not ask in a public
forum.
Glimpse
Instructors can use LearnLinc Glimpse to
grab a screen capture of any student desktop. The instructor can then see the
status of the student work to correct a problem, or view an assignment.
Just as visitors are not permitted to walk through
traditional schools they are not permitted to enter classes or talk to the
students. Visitors can take a Tour. These links will give the visitor a very
informative view of what our virtual classroom looks like and how it
works.
The Babbage Net School is a private school that does not
release information about their students to anyone not directly involved in the
education of a student. This means the student, the instructor, the local
school official and the parents or guardian of the student will have
information about the student. The Babbage Net School does not sell or trade
their student list at any time, in any way or to anyone.
The classes follow standard syllabi, use standard textbooks
and are taught by certified teachers. The classes cover the material in each
course. So they are rigorous, as opposed to being watered down, with respect to
what is expected to be covered in each course.
Difficulty is another issue. The level of difficulty comes
from two aspect of each individual course. First is the course itself. The
advanced courses are contain a greater amount of high level material and are
sometimes considered more difficult. The second, is the level of preparation
and amount of study on the part of the student. Our instructors are very
supportive and will help every student achieve mastery of the material in every
course.
Anyone can sign up for a high school class. The high school
courses are designed for high school students and it is expected that most
students in these courses will be of this age. We support life long learning
and students can be of any age. This means that people above the usual age for
high school can enroll from home without the difficulty or embarrassment of
appearing in a high school classroom. Also, students below the usual high
school age can accelerate their studies.
Credit for successfully completing a high school course is
granted by a student's local school district. If the school district has
enrolled the student in a Babbage Net School course then the district has
already determined they will grant credit. If a student is being enrolled
independently then the student should contact their local school district. The
school district will examine the curriculum and the instructors credentials.
Upon completion of the course the local High School will then grant credit.
This is a similar procedure to home schooling or home instruction for a student
that cannot attend school due to injury or illness.
The culminating activity for the Advanced Placement courses
is the AP Exam. Just about every high school will grant credit when a student
receives a high score on an AP Exam. Credit is also granted by most colleges
when a student receives a high score on an AP Exam.
The teacher in-service training courses are given in
conjunction with SCOPE, so registration and admission is controlled them.
Please contact them directly for course and registration information.
Yes. The Babbage Net School provides instruction. All
courses provided by BOCES are accredited and therefore the Babbage Net School
offerings are accredited. When a school district accepts a course it is with
the understanding that the curriculum, instructor and requirements of the
course meet their standards. Then the course is accredited through the
school.
There are many circumstances that make taking a class at
Babbage a good choice. For example:
- A student may wish to take a class that is not offered in
their school.
- A student may choose to take classes in the evening if the
class they want does not fit into their schedule.
- A student can accelerate by taking extra classes through the
Babbage Net School.
- An adult may want to finish High School and is not willing to
sit in a class with younger students.
- Some students may need alternative settings so they can
succeed without disrupting other students.
- Parents may choose to have their children remain at home for
their own reasons but still want the child to receive a quality education.
The Babbage Net School offers local school districts an
educationally sound, cost effective solution to several problems:
Enrichment
It is difficult to offer every course
requested by a student. The Babbage Net School provides the opportunity for a
school district to enroll a student in a class that they cannot normally offer.
Expand Class Offerings
After the master schedule
is finished there are always students that do not get the class they requested.
Or, there are classes that would be nice to offer but there is never sufficient
enrollment to run the class. These classes can now be offered and no student
has to be denied the class of their choice. Instead of disappointing the
students, just enroll them in the Babbage Net School.
Home Instruction
It is very expensive for a
school district to provide one-on-one instruction for a student that cannot
attend school. If the home instruction will be for an extended period of time
the district can enroll the student in an on-line course. This will save the
school district money and provide many more hours of quality instruction for
the student.
Disruptive Students
School districts are
required to provide an education for every student and yet sometimes a school
benefits without certain students. The Babbage Net School is an answer to this
problem. have the student take their classes at home. The school benefits, the
student has the opportunity for a quality education and sometimes this new
environment allows the student to excel.
Advanced Placement Courses
The Advanced
Placement courses are an excellent addition to the course offerings of every
high school. Now every school can make these courses available to their
students.
Missing Qualified Teacher
New York State School Districts
As a shared
service, the cost of enrolling a student for home instruction or in a class at
the Babbage Net School is reduced through state aid for shared services. This
enables a district to offer a greater selection of courses to their students in
a cost effective manner and to reduce costs for services they currently provide
in a traditional manner.
No. Actually, all the Instructors are certified teachers so
they are not being replaced, they are being employed! We employ certified
teachers because we feel they are integral to the educational process. If
teachers were not beneficial to the learning system then all that would be
necessary is to issue reading lists and open more libraries! The knowledge and
experience of the teacher facilitates the learning process by making the
material easier to understand. A live, on-line teacher is able to answer a
question unexpected by an author or to relate ancillary material to the topic
at hand.
We do not believe traditional brick and mortar school will
be replaced. It better to have students and Instructors in the same room at the
same time, sharing a common interest in a subject. This way of conducting
lessons has been around since the time of Aristotle and Plato and it will be
around for some time to come! The Babbage Net School advocates attending
classes in a classroom with a teacher whenever possible. A special synergy
developes in a properly run classroom with every student benefiting from the
interchange between the teacher and the class as well as between class members.
But, if this is not possible due to fiscal, physical or social reasons, then we
will do our best to provide the closest approximation to the actual classroom
and actually enhance the delivery of instruction by using the Internet whenever
possible.
No. Correspondence courses have little or no interaction
between a student and the Instructor. They also have little or no interaction
between the students. Communication between people is an essential part of
Babbage. And Babbage maintains a personal touch that is just not part of a
correspondence course. Every class has an instructor and students can always
åtalk¼ to an Instructor during class.
The Babbage Net School is the only school offering live,
interactive teacher led classes over the Internet. The only other Internet
schools known to us are asynchronous. Meaning, the teachers and the student are
not involved in the course material at the same time. Asynchronous instruction
has advantages in certain situations. The student is free to study at whatever
time they choose. It is less costly because an teacher can handle more students
since they are not all in the class at the same time. The materials in many of
the schools we have seen are excellent and the teachers are excellent. A
student must exhibit a lot of self-discipline to succeed. These classes will
benefit many students.
We believe the wonderful dimension added to a class by live,
interactive instruction provided by a teacher greatly outweighs the advantages
of asynchronous instruction. We feel teachers are integral to the educational
process. If teachers were not beneficial to the learning system then all that
would be necessary is to issue reading lists and open more libraries! The
knowledge and experience of the teacher facilitates the learning process by
making the material easier to understand. A teacher is able to answer a
question at the time the difficulty arises thereby avoiding days of confusion
or unnecessary hours struggling over the material.
No. There are many ways the school softens the impersonal
format and becomes personal for the students. The very nature of our classes
with teachers and students talking to each other, makes the school quite
personal. Add to this a generous amount of one to one correspondence between
students and Instructors. The personality of both the Instructor and the
student becomes evident and recognizable. The students are part of classroom
discussions and they get to know other students in their classes. The Cafeteria
is always available for students to visit and talk with other students.
Yes. The very process of typing a question or a response
involves the student in a much deeper way in the thinking process. Many
students find they are more effective learners when they take courses over the
Internet. The medium removes boundaries between people and every student is
received without any preconceived notions due to image, appearance, disability,
gender or anything else that separates people. Many students are able to
function much better without thinking people are making judgments about
them.
Course selection is another important consideration. Many
schools cannot offer all the classes requested by their students. This is a
reasonable and responsible fact of life based on limited enrollment and fiscal
constraints. It is not a desirable fact of life. Because the Babbage Net School
can gather students from many schools together in a virtual classroom we can
gain sufficient enrollment to offer courses not available at many schools.
There are also many reasons students cannot or choose not to go to a
traditional school. By taking courses over the Internet they are able to enjoy
a quality education. They also reduce some of the isolation of being educated
outside a traditional school.
The students get used to the virtual classroom very quickly
so the interface is not a difficulty. Just as a physical school has problems
with rain and snow, a virtual school has problems with connections. The most
crowded and popular ISP's, AOL is the most notable, have had the greatest
amount of problems when a server gets crowded and the bandwidth has to be
allocated among many users. These problems will disappear when we all have DSL
and cable modems. Until then, it is important to have a dependable ISP, good
connection and as much bandwidth as possible. Otherwise, there have been no
large or recurring difficulties.
The Babbage Net School will offer all classes available in a
traditional high school. Changes have to be made to accommodate the medium of
the Internet but we have found very few restrictions on what can be offered.
Science classes can be offered with labs by using simulations, experiments at
home with commonly available materials or by research and reports. Language
classes can be taught because our virtual classes employ auditory
communication. Many other classes are possible because the virtual classroom
allows the teacher to show the class a program in operation. The teacher can
also 'look' at a student's screen to diagnose a problem.
At the present time we have the standard high school
classes, Advanced Placement classes and SAT Prep classes for high school
students. We also offer teacher in-service training classes and some college
courses.
Classes will meet at their scheduled time according to the
following:
- September 6, 2000 - Classes begin
- October 9, 2000 - School closed, Columbus Day & Yom
Kippur
- November 7, 2000 - Election Day
- November 23, 24, 2000 - Thanksgiving
- December 25, 2000 to January 2, 2001 - Winter Recess
- January 15, 2001 - Martin Lather King's Birthday
- February 19, 2001 to February 23, 2001 - Mid Winter Recess
- April 9, 2001 to April 17, 2001 - Spring Recess
- May 25, 2001 to May 28, 2001 - Memorial Day Weekend
- June 22, 2001 - Last Day of School
There are many reasons why students like to enter the
national research competitions. However, many schools do not provide students
with independent research programs.
This course will provide students with a comprehensive guide
about independent research projects and the national research competitions.
This course will provide a step-by-step guide to working on an independent
research project from the initial start ‚ up to the final write ‚ up.
In addition, students will receive an overview of the rules and regulations of
national research competitions, such as the Intel Science Talent Search
Competition or the Semens Westing house Science and Technology Competition. The
course will include 30 sessions, each one lasting 45 minutes.
Goals:
- To help students improve performance in math and science
using project based, inquiry learning.
- To have students to work on authentic research projects in
order to extract information not previously known to the them.
- To introduce students to working with outside mentors.
- To introduce students to the national research competitions.
Expected Outcomes:
- Students will learn how to use the scientific method to
complete an independent research project.
- Students will learn how to write a scientific paper.
- Students will learn how to make a scientific presentation.
- Students will be able to submit their work to the national
research competitions.
Intended Audience:
- High School Students, grades 9 ‚ 12.
- Motivated Middle School Students, grades 5 - 8
Print the Application, fill it out and mail it to the
address on the Application. A check for the
tuition or a Purchase Order from a school must be included with the application
Where local high school credit or college credit is expected, prior approval is
recommended. Students will receive their registration confirmation and
instructions by e-mail. They will be able to enter the class immediately by
using the screen name and password they wrote on the application.
The equipment needed is not exotic or state of the art. The
software does require a significant amount of computing so the minimium
equipment requirements must be maintained for acceptable functioning of the
virtual class. All required software is supplied at no cost to the student.
The minimium hardware requirements are:
- Intel Pentium 133
- 32 MB RAM
- TCP/IP connection with 28.8 kbps
- 16 bit full duplex Sound Blaster compatible sound card with
support for DirectX6
- Microphone and headphones
- Monitor supporting 800 x 600, 256 color or better
Yes! Articles about the Babbage Net School have appeared in
Newsday and the
New York Times.
Eastern Suffolk BOCES has distributed a press release about
their new shared service program in partnership with the Babbage Net
School.
YES! Working for the Babbage Net School is unique,
convenient. and enjoyable. The classes are taught in a highly interactive
virtual classroom over the Internet. The program is easy to learn and simple to
use. You talk to the class, write on a board, present material, call on
students and give tests or other forms of assessment. Classes can be taught
from any convenient location on a computer with Internet access. Some of our
teachers work during the school day and others are needed after school through
the evening. This means retired teachers, teachers at home for child care or
other reasons and currently working teachers all have a place at the Babbage
Net School.
Full year and semester courses
We offer courses
in almost every discipline from 7th grade general education subjects through
all the Advanced Placement courses. Our courses are scheduled in the morning
through late evening. The full year courses meet for 45 minutes, four days a
week. The fifth day is for on-line testing, research or guided learning. The
general education courses meet during the day. These courses are for students
taking a full schedule at home or for students in school taking a single class
not offered by their school. The Foreign Language, Advanced Placement and other
enrichment courses meet in the evening. This is arranged so students with a
full load of classes can extend their education without affecting their in
school schedule.
Home instruction
Home instruction is provided by
districts for students that cannot attend classes in school. Typically, the
teacher has to schedule a time to meet the student in the home, ensure that
adult supervision is available, and then spend two hours a week in the
student's home. When teaching home instruction over the Internet, the two hour
class time still has to be scheduled, but travel time is eliminated, the
problem of supervision is removed. and the teacher is in a comfortable
location.
Guidance, Nurse & Librarian
Even though the
Babbage Net School is a virtual school, we feel it is important to provide the
real support services of these positions. Each person is responsible for
maintaining the information and links in their office. (They do not have to do
programming or writing HTML.) Communicating with students will be through
e-mail and scheduled office hours in a chat environment.
Physical Education
Physical Education is an
important aspect of a well rounded education that is often lacking when
students are sick, injured or at home. The Physical Education teacher will set
up and maintain a set of lessons to complete, activities to perform and/or logs
of sport activities. Communicating with students, aside from the on-line
prepared lessons, will be through e-mail and scheduled office hours in a chat
environment.
Elementary language instructor
A New York State
certified teacher is needed to provide a Foreign Language program for students
from several small school districts.
New York State Certified teachers
The new BOCES
partnership is expected to significantly increase our need for New York State
certified teachers. The teacher will be a casual, or part time, employee of
BOCES, under the supervision of the Babbage Net School, when teaching on-line
courses for schools in New York State. This arrangement is required for schools
to receive state aid for the shared service.
People interested in employment at the Babbage Net School
should submit a resume as an e-mail attachment. Write Employment in the subject
line. Include certification information, times available and preferred
courses.
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