"If we're going to purchase online courses and resources like library search engines and WOIS, it makes sense to go through the DLC because they've already done the legwork to find relevant, easy-to-use, quality resources. And the DLC saves us money," says Steve Quick, principal of Oroville Junior/Senior High School.

Oroville rejoined the Digital Learning Commons for the 2007-08 school year, which will be its second year as a member-school.

Giving staff more resources to choose from

To introduce staff to DLC resources this past fall, Quick facilitated short presentations followed by hands-on time at staff meetings. Although teachers are sometimes reluctant to try new resources, once they realize that the DLC doesn't take anything away from them but instead gives them more resources to choose from, they are more open to exploring.

Some teachers are using SIRS Top 10 Leading Issues with students who are working on research projects. SIRS, one of the DLC's library databases, offers a number of helpful tools for students doing research. "SIRS walks students through the steps," Quick says.

Quality counts in online courses

When Quick joined Oroville as principal, students were enrolled in online courses through providers that he didn't feel offered the quality of the providers the DLC works with. So this past fall, students began taking their online courses through the DLC. "The courses were cheaper too," Quick adds.

Oroville isn't able to offer Advanced Placement, so online AP courses are popular at the school. Students have a class period built into their schedules for their DLC courses, and Quick monitors their progress through the reports sent by the providers.

Quick says he also pushes the DLC with parents by including information in the parent newsletters. "The DLC has lots of great resources," Quick says, "for teachers, students, and parents.

After embarking on a major technology integration initiative, Shoreline School District was in the market for online educational resources and joined the DLC in spring 2006 because of the wealth of resources and support available.

"We see the DLC as a great portal for us," says Aimee Miner, a Technology Integration Specialist with Shoreline. "The other plus is the incredible professional development support we've received from the DLC."

School support is a big part of DLC membership

The DLC helps schools improve student achievement with online resources. To that end, it offers a number of school support opportunities, including on-site training and follow-up consultations. While the goal of training is to help schools make the most of the resources, a side benefit is professional development: educators learn how to better integrate educational technology into the classroom.

The DLC provided an on-site staff training for Shorelines tech specialists and librarians in fall 2006. Since this initial training, there have been follow-up consultations as needed.

Miner says, "Tech Integration Specialists now know the resources available from the DLC and how to use them. If we ever have questions, we just pick up the phone…The DLC's customer service is Nordstrom-type quality."

Teachers use resources that suit their needs

After being trained by the DLC, Shoreline's tech specialists started training teachers, focusing on DLC resources that best support a particular classroom curriculum.

Jane O'Brien, who is also a Technology Integration Specialist with Shoreline, says that the DLC's library is the most used section of the website. "It's a great alternative to Google. For example, netTrekker zeroes in on websites geared toward grade levels, and it's a safe place for kids to search."

Another plus with the library databases, O'Brien has found, is that teachers can search netTrekker, SIRS, and Grolier for resources by Lexile level. "Searching by Lexile level is really helpful, especially for secondary students, such as ELL learners, that are at a lower reading level."

In addition to library databases, teachers are also actively using Apex Learning ClassTools, online curricula that allows them to individualize learning in the classroom. Shoreline teachers are using everything from Biology to French to AP Calculus.

The DLC's digital tools are also popular. Portfolio allows students to showcase their work, including digital files. WebQ has been used to solicit feedback from students and parents about classes and other programs. And GoPost allows students to discuss and critique each other's work. "GoPost is really interactive and gets kids involved in discussions who wouldn't normally participate," O'Brien says.

"Some of the DLC's tools are really easy to use and others take a little time to set up. But just like with any other new tool, if you don't get the professional development support you're going to put it away...It's only our first year using the DLC, but we feel like we've been successful."

"We're a small place, and for us online resources are really important," says Barbara Kline, principal of Orcas Island High School. After a technology bond passed on the island, the school started looking into the types of online resources available and joined the DLC for the 2005-06 school year.

"Maile came up after we joined and did some trainings that were fantastic. Even though the students and teachers were kind of burned out since it was the end of the year, they got really excited about the Digital Learning Commons," Kline says. (Maile is Assistant Director of School Support and Partnerships at the DLC.)

In between on-site trainings provided by the DLC, Kline and her staff facilitated presentations of DLC resources at staff meetings while teachers followed along on their laptops. In addition, English and social studies staff met in groups to look at DLC resources in depth, since students in these classes have to write research papers and prepare for debates.

Creative use of the DLC's portfolio tool

Orcas's music teacher, who, Kline says, "has embraced technology to the Nth degree," is using the DLC's portfolio tool in a unique way. Students record their practice sessions and upload the files to their portfolios. This allows the music teacher to listen to the recordings on her own, away from distractions. Afterwards, she sits down with students individually to give them feedback, often replaying sections of their recordings as they talk.

"I think students get much more into perfecting their work, because they're recording it individually and the music teacher has more energy and time to focus on their recordings…[Portfolio] has done a lot…for improving the overall quality of the performance of her group. It's a very interesting use of the resource."

While students are quick to embrace new technology, they aren't so quick to embrace new search engines. "It's in their vocabulary, 'Google it,'" Kline says. "Kids are impatient, so it takes training and retraining and giving them class time."

Retraining students to do smart searching

To ensure that students take advantage of the DLC's library resources, which serve up relevant -- and safe-- resources, the resources are built into lesson plans. In the beginning, Kline went into the classrooms and worked side-by-side with teachers, showing students how to make the most of resources like netTrekker and Corbis. And she continues to visit classrooms, to remind students and teachers.

"Sometimes you need to be the extra teacher, because people are sometimes reluctant to use new tools…They have to use them over and over again until they become part of their normal repertoire."

Kline believes that leadership is "absolutely vital" when it comes to weaving the DLC into a school's fabric. "You're the person who knows everything…I mean, I don't know how to teach chemistry very well, but I do know what this teacher asked last Thursday and what this one's doing on Tuesday, so I can help them to make those connections."

DLC resources help teachers meet the needs of every student

Some of the teachers are now using Apex Learning's ClassTools, online curricula available through the DLC, with students who are behind in their coursework and with students who have a difficult time focusing or functioning in a group.

Students work on ClassTools on a laptop in the classroom while the teacher delivers the lesson to the rest of the class. "These are students who are happy working one-on-one on the computer, and they are doing much better than they were doing before," Klein says.

Students are also using ClassTools to earn high school credits in Orcas's Oasis High School. Oasis serves homeschooling families and students who aren't on track to earn a diploma through the traditional high school.

Kline adds: "I think that the Digital Learning Commons is a real gift, and I really appreciate that it's out there."

"Our middle school and high school teachers are enjoying the ease with which they can use the DLC…[and] are amazed at how valuable it is for their planning as well as for their students," says Glenda Merwine, Director of Student Learning for the Coupeville School District on Whidbey Island.

The schools, which joined for the first time this past fall, have jumped right in and are taking advantage of the DLC's online courses, digital library resources, and portfolio tool as well as Apex Learning ClassTools online curricula. Tom Eller, a high school teacher, is using Math ClassTools with a group of remedial math students.

Individualizing learning for remedial math students

Eller says that since students are able to work at their own pace with Math ClassTools, there is no pressure to keep up with their peers. "As a teacher I am able to help students at the absolute level they need, not moving them along as a class," Eller explains.

Eller likes the ease with which he is able to monitor students' individual progress through the ClassTools online platform. The Math ClassTools diagnostics report shows students' scores for each math concept they need to master at a given level.

"I don't have to call them out in front of other students. I can just call them to my desk…This allows the student and me to have a rich discussion to master those concepts before they move forward…I can then have the students do the review for that chapter, rework the lessons…or create my own lesson for them if necessary. Once the students have reviewed those concepts, I then give them the test for a retake to check for understanding. This is a real win-win for both the students and teacher," Eller says.

"I truly believe, for the most part, [students] enjoy being in this class. They are more relaxed, not pressured to hurry and learn today's concept before they get behind…If these students were in our Algebra I class, I believe they would not be successful, or as successful, as they now are in ClassTools."

Parting advice for teachers working with remedial math students

Eller encourages teachers new to the DLC to "get online and use [Math ClassTools] for struggling math students. Any level, elementary, middle, or high school. This is a very unique way for students to master concepts."

Washington State, home to many a technology company, is also active in the field of digital learning. But while competition is the name of the game for technology companies, collaboration is a more apt descriptor for technology in education.

Many of our state's online course providers are schools themselves, rooted within their school districts. Internet Academy (IA) and Spokane Virtual Learning (SVL), two such schools, are also two of the DLC's online course providers. Through partnerships between virtual schools, brick-and-mortar schools, school districts, and digital learning providers, students now have access to more educational opportunities than ever before.

Digital learning offers additional options to teachers and students

IA, Washington's first virtual school, is in the Federal Way School District and has been offering online courses for a decade. IA has been a DLC course provider since 2003, and this past fall it joined the DLC as member-school. Via the DLC, IA teachers access online teaching resources to incorporate into their online courses and students access digital library resources to use to complete their online coursework.

Although IA is new to the DLC as a member-school, students and teachers are already taking full advantage of the resources, due, in part, to the work that has been done between the DLC and IA and between teachers themselves within the school.

The DLC worked closely with a small group of leaders at the school to give an overview of the resources. Then teachers from the staff development committee dove into each resource and facilitated an in-depth orientation to the DLC's teaching and library resources during two full professional development days.

"I really can't believe that it's taken me this long to realize our program also needed to be a customer of the DLC," Ron Mayberry, IA's principal, says. "We've been a vendor from the start, and you know it just amazes me, 'Why didn't we give the tools to our students?' But now that we have, and as long as the DLC is able to offer a product that's affordable for us, we're always going to be a partner as a customer and hopefully as a vendor too."

Mayberry says that digital learning is all about providing options for students that need them, for example, students involved in sports, traveling with parents, or looking for courses their school doesn't offer. Mayberry adds: "I hope it doesn't stop at online learning as far as educators finding ways to give students options, because there's all kinds of combinations of these things, from online to regular classrooms. And I think that's what the DLC really helps leverage, a blended program that does some of both."

Online educational resources help prepare students for the 21st century

Elisabeth Silver, Spokane Virtual Learning's facilitator, points out that since SVL and IA have created their own coursework to align with Washington State's EALRs (Essential Academic Learning Requirements), these virtual schools are a big asset for brick-and-mortar schools in Washington. SVL, part of the Spokane School District, opened its doors in fall 2005 and joined the DLC as a course provider this past fall.

Silver echoes and adds to Mayberry's sentiments about online learning: "It's about a choice, an option, about giving students, and their parents, choices of how and when and where they learn…We're preparing students for the 21st century learning model."

Silver, who also works at the Enrichment Cooperative in the Spokane School District, stresses the importance of collaboration, too. She has found that just because a student generally does well in classes and is an independent learner, doesn't mean that he or she will automatically excel in the online learning environment.

"It still takes the parent, the educator, and mentor at the site to all work together collaboratively with that child and facilitate that learning for the child to succeed," Silver explains. "Students still need help with discipline and being accountable for completing tasks…And what a wonderful lesson to learn before our high school students go on to college where they will have to have that discipline."

Digital learning is an innovative, collaborative, creative way of giving students in Washington State access to an endless array of educational opportunities to help them succeed in the 21st century.

"The DLC has become a lifesaver for us," says Bruce Vilders, coordinator of the Home School Partnership Program in the Sedro-Woolley School District. Vilders explains that there is a large contingent of homeschooled students at the elementary level but that these numbers decrease at the high school level.

When students begin to take algebra, geometry, and other advanced classes, many parents have a difficult time keeping up. Now that students in the Home School Partnership Program (HSPP) have access to Apex Learning ClassTools via the DLC, they are able to take advanced classes and their parents are able to continue to oversee their children's learning without being responsible for the content.

"The DLC takes the heat off parents and allows their children to take rigorous classes that are aligned with the GLEs and WASL," Vilders says. "And that allows those students to stay in our program, and for a school district, that's a good thing. We don't want our students dropping out or going someplace else…so this really has been a lifesaver for us."

Peer-to-peer training on DLC resources

Vilders, an HSPP instructor, and parents participated in an initial training with the DLC. Then some parents took the lead and are now training other parents. Vilders and one of his exceptional students, who has taken the lead on ClassTools, will offer a workshop next semester to students who are just joining HSPP. "I think that having a peer teach them to use these tools is going to be really well received by our older students."

In addition to ClassTools course materials, Beyond Books, another Apex Learning product offered through the DLC, is also very popular.

"Beyond Books is aimed at parents that have traditionally created their own classes. I have a couple of parents that absolutely love Beyond Books, because it allows them the freedom that they've always had with their children's education."

DLC resource a one-stop shop for parents

One of the parents, who is interested in U.S. history, is putting together several classes for her son using Beyond Books. "Beyond Books allows parents to focus in on an area and gather all the resources, almost like one-stop shopping," Vilders says. "And to have that versus what homeschool programs can traditionally offer—'Here's a textbook, here's a workbook, do the report, regurgitate the questions at the end of the chapter'—allows parents to be much more creative and cast their net much wider for the resources they need."

Vilders recently met with a parent and student who were just about to purchase their first computer to take advantage of DLC resources. The parent said that she had been hearing so much about the resources from other parents that she was finally taking the plunge into the 21st century. "That really showed us what a sea change this is for some of these families…Giving them DLC resources makes all the difference in the world. It has created a much higher quality program than we've ever had before."

From the very first, when Columbia High School started offering online courses via the DLC, staff created an online class period.

"Everyone felt strongly that the key to success was to have a period built into the schedule, and I think this has been confirmed over and over again by our student success rate," says Marian Udelhofen, an instructional aide at Columbia who also serves as DLC registrar and site coordinator.

Columbia High School, in the White Salmon School District, has expanded its course offerings through the DLC.

Online class period supports success

With online classes, the first four weeks are critical—and set the stage for success. Students are not only learning new subject matter but also learning to navigate through the course's online platform.

"I think students go into the online experience thinking it's going to be a breeze but initially feel overwhelmed by it all instead, and I think it really helps having somebody there to assist them and help them establish good online class practices," Udelhofen says. "Once they're set in the right direction, I find that most kids run with it."

Udelhofen also regularly communicates with the students' online instructors to let them know when a student has been absent or if something is going on in the student's life that may be affecting his or her work. "It gives the online teachers a tremendous insight into what is going on, because they're not on site; they don't see the absences or hear the excuses, which often are valid," Udelhofen explains. "I don't think high school students have learned to be great advocates for themselves yet."

Udelhofen also reminds students that they need to relay that information to their teachers themselves. "I think that without my emphasizing the importance of communicating details, students have a tendency to just assume the teacher knows everything."

Students follow their passions

Students generally have to have fifth period available in order to register for an online class. When students ask about online classes, Udelhofen first gives them what she calls her heart-to-heart speech: "You need to be self-motivated, willing to take responsibility for your learning, and have good-time management skills or it's an expensive lesson to learn you're not.”

"I think this is part of the whole online process that is so great for kids to experience, to really take responsibility for their own learning and class management…I emphasize things like that, not to scare them away, but almost," she says, laughing. Udelhofen also checks in with a few of the student's teachers and the counselor, and if all of that indicates that a student is a good candidate, he or she is eligible to sign up for an online class.

Students at Columbia usually register for electives. "It's almost always a passion for something we don't offer here, since we're a small school…Psychology, animal zoology, careers in motion…everything under the sun. And that really surprised me, how broad the spectrum is. But it always comes down to a personal passion that the kids want to pursue."

Udelhofen believes that these electives give students a foundation to build on once they get to college and that students benefit from all the skills they learn in the online environment. "It's really just a double-positive experience…I think online learning is worth the investment."

"What's really exciting is giving kids an opportunity to take something that they wouldn't have otherwise had an opportunity to take. I'm so happy to be a part of that."

"The DLC's suite of digital tools has had the greatest impact on my teaching practice in the sixteen years I've been teaching," Tim Renz, a biology teacher at Foster Senior High School, proclaims.

"I think I'm doing a better job of teaching. Portfolio, especially, has given me an opportunity to ask for more from my students, which means that I have to teach them better…It's really forced me to improve my practice so that students are prepared to be able to meet the standards that I've set for them." Renz regularly uses Portfolio, WebQ, and EPost, three of the five digital tools available through the DLC.

From composition notebooks to electronic portfolios

Students used to write up their labs in composition notebooks and receive written feedback from Renz after a series of labs. "If I had the notebook, we couldn't do another lab," Renz explains. But now that his classes use Portfolio, Renz can give them timely feedback and students can revise their work up until the time it is due. Portfolio allows students to create and organize electronic copies of their work that their teachers and peers can easily access.

Renz started using Portfolio when the DLC first launched, as part of a digital tools pilot. "I sort of threw together a template, but when I saw the quality of the lab work, which was so much better than their handwritten work, I decided Portfolio was worth putting more time into."

Renz explains that students are comfortable using the computer and tend to be more verbose when typing than when handwriting, like himself. Portfolio has also allowed him to extend class time. Lab work is often due on a Sunday night, after a Wednesday finish. "They can put in the time that they want to get to that level that they're expecting from themselves," Renz says.

Individualizing learning and increasing performance

"When I'm grading a kid's portfolio, my class size is one," Renz says. Even though all of the students are working on the same lab, they are not necessarily working at the same level. Renz is able to adjust his teaching for students who want to go further and give extra help to those that are lagging behind.

Since students receive feedback from Renz on a regular basis, during class he is freed up to work closely with individual students and groups of students and to tailor his teaching to their needs. "This interaction has been great," Renz says. "I think they're learning more." Renz also finds that his students are working harder. "For conclusions, before I would get paragraphs. Now I get a couple of pages. They're really striving to do their best work."

Student success beyond the classroom

Renz happily reports that one of his student's work was picked up by an international annotated bibliography that focuses on a specific type of virus that she had done some work on. "It's pretty cool for a fifteen-year-old sophomore to have her work cited in this type of a publication." Another one of Renz's students, who was originally turned down by WSU, got in on an appeal after presenting his portfolio of work. And students who have gone on to the UW take their portfolios with them. (Since Portfolio is hosted by the UW.)

Portfolio also provides an alternative for students who don't fit the stereotypical mold. Renz had a second-semester sophomore, diagnosed with ADD, who hadn't passed a class other than his music class when he enrolled in Renz's biology class. The student was fairly antisocial and often reacted negatively to his classmates. "In my class he was able to get totally focused in on the computer and doing his work. He put on some headphones and sort of tuned out the rest of the class and would interact with his computer…and ended up actually passing my class…the rest of his teachers were amazed."

The student went on to graduate on time. Renz says: "He really turned himself around, and part of it was probably maturity, and part of it was probably the way my class was set up…It really gave him a sense that he could accomplish work and be academically focused. He wasn't a straight A student…but he worked his tail off to get to the point where he could graduate on time."

Not an add-on but a value-add

"For me, Portfolio wasn't an add-on. It allowed me to do something I was already doing, only do it better," Renz says. "On the same lab the other biology teachers were doing with paper and pencil, I was using the tools, and we were able to compare student work. It's not that I'm a better teacher; it's that I'm using a different tool. It's like trying to drill a hole with a screwdriver. You know it works, but it's a lot harder."

By now all three biology teachers are using the Portfolio tool with their classes and to collaborate with each other on creating new labs. Renz is also starting to get other teachers at Foster on board. "I'm not necessarily trying to push the DLC. I'm trying to push better teaching," Renz explains. "And I think better teaching is happening through the DLC."

This summer, North Kitsap High School (NKHS) used the DLC's Math ClassTools^® with students in their Summer WASL Prep Program for Math.

Math teachers Bill Hobaugh and Mike Daling worked with students four hours a day, four days a week, for five weeks. The students' time was divided into two two-hour blocks: Math ClassTools and OSPI Math Modules.

Of the Math ClassTools, Hobaugh and Daling used Math Fundamentals, Algebra, and Geometry, focusing on the units and lessons that correlated to the standards measured on the 10th Grade WASL.

This year, 200 tenth graders at NKHS did not pass the WASL; 61 of these signed up to retake the math portion in August; and 19 of them attended the summer program (15 of the 19 took the August math WASL).

When the WASL remediation program started, students took the Math ClassTools diagnostic tests. "That really showed where their weaknesses were," Hobaugh says. He and Daling then used the ClassTools management system, which created individual learning plans so that students could focus on the skills they needed to learn. At the end of each unit, students took diagnostic tests to see how they were doing.

"We could see their scores instantly," Hobaugh says. "I thought that was kind of powerful. It breaks it down into categories. We could tell students, 'The only problem you had was right here. Just work on this.' And if they had questions, we'd go over it with them."

Hobaugh and Daling found that the various Math ClassTools "worked beautifully," specifically because these resources:

• Are versatile and flexible so they easily adjust to the needs of the students and the format of a class or program.
• Appeal to both students who need to review as well as those who need remediation.
• Work well for students who want to do extra math review and go beyond WASL preparation topics.
• Can be used for homework to extend and support classroom instruction.

Hobaugh plans to continue to use Math ClassTools with his students during the school year, and to share these resources with parents, since they're easy to use and parents are always asking how they can help students at home. Daling will use Math ClassTools with both his support and Algebra 2 classes.

"I didn't use ClassTools a lot last year. I thought: I've got to get into the book and get going. Then after spending two or three days with it this summer, it was so easy I wish I had used it," Hobaugh says. "I thought ClassTools was a lot better than some of the books that we use. It uses everyday language so the explanations are really clear."

Lynden High School regularly falls into the top 10 schools with the heaviest use of DLC resources. We caught up with Lynden's principal, Jeff Baglio, toward the end of the 2005-06 school year to talk to him about the story behind the numbers.

Baglio offers the following advice to administrators who are working to increase their school's use of DLC resources:

1. Set the expectation that technology be built into lessons.
2. Provide staff with digital resources. "That's where the DLC comes in."
3. Offer a number of professional development opportunities.

"If I'm going to insist that teachers use technology in their lessons, then they have to have the technology to use and know how to use it," Baglio explains.

Training through the DLC

Lynden has used a wide array of DLC resources, including library databases, college and career planning tools, teaching resources, digital tools, and online courses.

At the beginning of the school year, the DLC led an all-staff training at Lynden to introduce educators to the resources. This was followed up with another training in which educators explored the resources that were most relevant to the work they do.

In addition, ninth- and tenth-grade students received training to learn how to use the resources. Lynden also scheduled DLC trainers to work with students on specific resources, such as college and career planning tools.

Students and staff find relevant resources

Baglio says that what has been most valuable about being a DLC member-school is having access to an "umbrella of resources that are all in one place." Students are able to find relevant resources without being overwhelmed or sidetracked by the tens of thousands of choices they'd get if they went through a general search engine.

Baglio adds, "Students still want to Google. It's just part of their nature. But now teachers can say, 'We're not gonna go there.' "

Baglio says that teachers benefit too. "It frees up time for them as well. Instead of getting inundated with choices and spending a lot of time trying to figure out what's best, teachers can find resources that are more specific to what they're looking for."

Looking for alternative ways to fund online courses in your school? Consider looking to your community for help. On Orcas Island, The Funhouse Discovery Center, a nonprofit community center, established the Online Learning Program, which supports Orcas Island High School students taking online classes through the DLC.

Here's how the program works: Students go to The Funhouse for their online class period where they check in with Catherine Laflin, who fills the roles of DLC Registrar and Teacher/Mentor. She oversees the students' progress and acts as a liaison between online teachers, the local high school, and the students' parents. The Funhouse has taken on the tasks of funding the students' course fees and providing the salary for Laflin's position. But perhaps what is most unique about this program is that Laflin matches each student with a local mentor.

"This partnership between the high school, The Funhouse, and the community as a whole has proved to be very strong," Laflin comments.

Students matched with local professionals in the field—a recipe for success

Laflin matches students with professionals in the community who have expertise in the subject students are studying. "Kids in the high school are getting to that stage where they want exposure to something real…to find out what that world is like and how the classes they are taking might relate to the world outside of school," Laflin explains. "Furthermore, this helps bridge the gap between the cyberworld, which can at times be a lonely place, and the students' everyday interactions."

This year, a group of students taking a scriptwriting class met regularly with a local screenwriter; a student taking a zoology class worked with a field vet; a group of students taking Japanese learned the art of the tea ceremony; a student studying German met with native German speakers; and a student learning digital music composition and arrangement met with a professional audio engineer.

The mentor aspect of the program does three things: (1) invests community members in the local youths' education, (2) helps foster student appreciation of adults in their community, and (3) creates a larger context for learning for both groups.

Laflin credits this interaction between the local community and online students for the program's successful course completion rate. "We are lucky to have a community not only willing to give their time, but also comprised of such talent and variety."

Support structure and accountability ensures student success

As Registrar, Laflin promotes the program within the school, registers students for courses, and makes sure all the paperwork is in order.

Before students are registered, they sign an agreement outlining their responsibilities as an online student and parents sign an agreement that they will reimburse The Funhouse for course fees in the event that a student doesn't finish a course. Both agreements ensure that students take their online classes seriously.

As Teacher/Mentor, Laflin helps students with coursework, monitors their progress, communicates with the online instructors and parents, and helps students set goals to successfully complete their classes. She also runs the island-based mentor side of the program.

Online courses widen the course selection at school and provide connections for students that otherwise wouldn't exist

Orcas Island High School is a small rural school with less than 200 students in attendance, so class offerings are limited. The main goal of The Funhouse's Online Learning Program is to provide opportunities that don't already exist.

"We're serving the edges of the bell curve mostly, the students that want accelerated classes and AP classes that we just don't have the funding for, or students who are struggling along and need a change or an alternative from what's offered in school," Laflin says. "I view [online courses] as keeping those kids on both ends in school, providing options for pursuing personal goals and helping them get into college."

When The Funhouse surveyed participating students after the first semester, they said that they really valued the opportunity to pursue personal goals rather than just the core curriculum.

Laflin explains: "We have 400 students total in K through 12, and that can get really small for the kids once they enter high school. With online courses, students say 'Wow, here's something different and I can converse online with students from all over.' It widens their community, which in turn enriches the community that's here."

Mary Kay Rolwes, the librarian at Medical Lake Middle School, says the reason her school signed on for the DLC's middle school pilot this year was "to have access to free stuff with budgets the way they are." She adds that Medical Lake joined for the 2006-07 school year because "the staff's use convinced my principal that we should have it."

Rolwes herself hoped to get library resources all in one place for the students. "And I got that," she says, adding "as long as I can stay on them and get them before they go to Google." To wean students off of Google, Rolwes put the DLC search box on the library web page.

"But the DLC is more than just the library resources," Rolwes says. "It's a tool the entire staff can use and that was really the selling point."

Resources to target skills and enrich curricula

Medical Lake's resource room teacher, who works with students who need extra help, uses ALPs and ClassTools. The reading teacher also uses ALPs with his seventh-grade students. Both ALPs and ClassTools allow teachers to target specific skills for individual students as well as enrich their classroom curriculum. Many teachers use netTrekker to find activities for classroom starters, such as a noun game.

Rolwes is facilitating a workshop with the language arts teachers this month to dig deeper into ClassTools and Beyond Books. She initially put off exploring both teaching resources because she needed a password to access them. "You know it was a big excuse, and when I finally got in there, I said, 'Wow, this is really good stuff.' "

When Rolwes saw how rich these resources were, she wanted to work closely with staff to help them set up some units for next year.

Training and support key to technology integration

School staff were initially introduced to DLC resources through an all-staff training in February. "Maile [DLC staff member] did an awesome job…and the training allowed staff to sit down in the lab together and help each other and get the hands-on exploration that they don't have time to do on their own," Rolwes says. She has found that the initial training and follow-up training the DLC provides is really important to getting the resources established.

Rolwes credits Principal Mike Dahmen, who has been with the school for two years, for being the force behind technology integration.

"We have a principal who provides the technology and expects the teachers to use it. So we're pretty fortunate that way. It allows for creativity for the teachers, and the students like it. It's what they see every day and it brings them in, especially kids who don't do well just sitting in the classroom."

"As students move on from high school, more and more delivery systems are going to be digital. And so it's important that students have a chance to try an online class and learn how they work," says Sherry Hahn, Technology Director for the White Salmon Valley School District.

Hahn adds that online courses also "provide opportunities, especially to small and rural schools, like ourselves, that we can't offer to students because we don't have the staff to do it."

As a technology director, Hahn is part of the Course Support team at Columbia High School. The Registrar, Teacher/Mentor, and tech support all contribute to student success in online courses at the school.

The course support process in action

Hahn says that the first time a school offers online courses, the process can be "a little clumsy." But once tech support becomes familiar with the course providers and puts a routine in place, it's easy to get students up and running.

Hahn finds that the critical first step is for Registrars to enroll students in online courses when registration opens at the DLC. This means that students should choose their courses before registration opens. (Registration opens in May for summer and fall classes, and in November for spring classes.)

Hahn works closely with the Teacher/Mentor, Marian Udelhofen, and the counseling staff and encourages them to let students know about the online option and promote the classes.

Once students are registered, Udelhofen looks over the course requirements and lets Hahn know if any software needs to be installed.

"When classes open for registration, if we can hit those dates right up front, then we don't have any problems…Not only do we get the kids in the classes they want, but I have time to check the vendor and see what's needed."

A designated DLC class period makes a difference

To ensure student success once online courses start, Columbia High School has a designated DLC class with the Teacher/Mentor in the room. Hahn explains, "We've found that students who don't have someone to talk to when they get stuck on something are less successful. The kids who have been in the classroom with Marian have done very, very well."

Hahn adds that if she or her colleagues ever need help with anything DLC-related, they know that they'll get a speedy response from DLC staff.

"I am constantly commending the DLC for the quality they deliver. Anybody can go to the online course vendors and get a class, but I think the DLC component makes a big difference…I wouldn't bother to try to do this on my own."

"To break through the barriers of race and socioeconomic status in terms of student achievement, schools have to do two things: increase the pedagogy students receive in the classroom and increase access to learning," Susan Derse, principal at West Seattle High School, believes. "The DLC, which allows students to access Math ClassTools and other resources 24/7, helps answer the second part of those two strategies."

One way that West Seattle High School (WSHS) is increasing access to learning is with Math ClassTools, a DLC Teaching Resource. Reid Earnhardt, a math teacher at the school, is currently teaching Computer Math Class.

Computer Math Class is an extended remedial math class that runs two semesters instead of one. Students were assigned to the class due to their seventh-grade WASL scores. Class periods at WSHS run 85 minutes long; Earnhardt's class spends about half that time in the classroom and the other half in the math lab, using Math ClassTools.

Instant assessments benefit students and teachers

For each class, Earnhardt prints out a Math ClassTools workbook sheet and has his students work on it while they make their way through the day's lesson online in the math lab. At the end of the lesson, they take an online quiz.

"I like the quiz because it gives instant feedback to the students, so they know whether or not they're doing things right. It also provides me with a really quick way to look at the entire class set of data on one computer screen…I can do a quick assessment based on their scores: Do I need to go back and reteach something, or can I move on, or is it time to take the test? That saves me a lot of time."

Earnhardt uses this time to walk around the math lab, providing some one-on-one and supervising students.

Earnhardt says that Math ClassTools makes a difference because he is "able to give every student some direct instruction, which is usually hard to do with a big class, especially classrooms like this where students have so much energy and don't necessarily want to sit down and listen or take notes."

He adds: "Math ClassTools is a great tool to use to reinforce, to reteach, or to remediate a class that's having trouble with a subject…It provides a lot of the extra help that struggling low-end students need."

Working with students beyond the traditional classroom

Principal Derse and some teachers have designed a new class called Math Lab that they'll offer next year, which will be a credit-retrieval course. Teachers will identify the parts of the curriculum each student needs to focus on to retrieve credit, and then students will work at their own pace, using Math ClassTools.

"When I arrived at the school in the summer of '04, there was not one after-school program at this school, there was not one online course, and there were no credit retrieval classes, period," Derse explains. "I think the DLC really did a lot for us in terms of starting to create a culture in which we feel committed to students beyond the traditional classroom."

Students typically attend summer school to make up credits or get ahead for the coming year. One way to help both types of students is with online courses through the DLC.

Karin Engstrom, the College and Career Specialist at Garfield High School in Seattle, worked with a group of students taking online courses last summer. She offers sage advice for helping summer-school students reach their true potential.

Engstrom says that "staying in communication, more than anything else, and really being a mentor" are the two essential ingredients to successfully supporting summer-school students.

Start with accountability and structure

The first thing Engstrom had students do was sign an agreement. This ensured that students understood what was expected of them during summer school. Engstrom also created a notebook with all the syllabi and orientations from the students' online classes. "They couldn't get away from me," Engstrom says. "Once the students saw I was tracking their progress, that made a difference."

Engstrom had students complete their course orientations at the school so that she could walk them through if they got stuck and because she finds that students don't necessarily think that the orientation is important.

"It's structure. It's great!" Engstrom exclaims. "It helped students. I think they would say that they liked this process."

Communicate with students and online instructors

Students were required to come to school twice a week for two hours to check in with Engstrom and work on their courses. Since summer-school classes are condensed semester-long or year-long classes, students did a good chunk of their coursework at home. "That's why the check-in was important," Engstrom says.

Engstrom introduced herself to the online instructors right away, and let them know how she was supporting students on her end. And the instructors copied Engstrom on emails to the students. "I could read those and keep up on things and back them up," Engstrom explains. "The online teachers were great with the students. Very communicative, reinforced their work, but also tough on them. It was very rigorous."

Engstrom adds: "I believe in online classes, because they work. They're not for every student, but there are lots of students who take to online classes like water."

Be the students' cheerleader

"What students need is a mentor," Engstrom says. "And that's what I was. And I loved it."

Engstrom believes that a mentor is important, because a mentor supports students and holds them accountable but doesn't grade them. Engstrom feels that the fact that she isn't grading students allows for a different kind of relationship. "I'm there to be their cheerleader and encourage them. And that's an important part of the learning process."

"I have high expectations of students taking initiative. I don't accept excuses. I raised six kids. I know they can do it." And with a mentor like Karin Engstrom, the students know they can do it too.