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‘Virtual world’ helps real Maine students escape rural isolation
January 3, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
When the virtual world went live in September 2010, it had just one “level,” which was a dead ringer for Mount View High School. Students can use their avatar to socialize with others and then use them to walk into virtual classrooms, where they sit at a computer terminal and begin their actual lessons in classes such as biology, English and math. Real teachers can pop in and out of the world, checking in on the students and their progress.
“They’re very excited to talk to other people,” Hughes said of the students. “This is what our students wanted — a very customized, human touch. They respond to it very well.”
In order to get the credit for their school efforts, students need to demonstrate proficiency in the subject, not just log hours in the world.
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Online Classes Accelerate Math for Middle Schoolers, Research Finds
December 17, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment
Eighth-graders who take an online Algebra I course score higher on end-of-year algebra assessments than other students who take the standard instructor-led math program offered by their schools and are twice as likely to follow an advanced course sequence in high school as their peers. Those results came out of a multi-year study done in 68 mostly rural schools in Maine and Vermont and could influence decisions by more middle schools to begin offering Algebra I classes.
The research was conducted by a team at Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI), one of 10 laboratories funded through the Institute of Education Sciences at the United States Department of Education to perform research for informing policies and educational practices in the area of improving student achievement.
As described in “Access to Algebra I: The Effects of Online Mathematics for Grade 8 Students,” a team of eight researchers randomly assigned a group of volunteer schools in both states to offer either an online Algebra I course to their “algebra-ready” students during the 2008-2009 school year or to serve as a control school by offering their standard math curriculum. At the end of the school year, the researchers collected results of an algebra achievement test and a general math achievement test for each of the 440 students who participated.
In spring 2009 they also collected information from the students about what high schools they planned to attend and which math classes they planned to take. Then the researchers followed them into high school to collect additional data, including which ninth grade math classes they took and what grades they earned and what 10th grade classes they were enrolled in.
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UMaine system ramp sup ads, tries to reverse trend
December 11, 2011 By admin Leave a Comment
The University of Maine System is trying to get into your head
Television commercials, radio spots and newspaper ads started running this fall as part of a $2 million initiative aimed at reversing a decline in enrollment that stands in stark contrast to national enrollment figures.
In the past decade, enrollment at the system’s seven schools has shrunk by about 3,000 students — a drop of nearly 9 percent. During the same period, enrollment in the nation’s public four-year universities has risen about 20 percent, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
In response, the system has developed a new four-year strategic plan to attract students by adding online programs, easing the transfer process and marketing more aggressively. The goal is to increase new-student enrollment by 6 percent by the fall of 2015.
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