{"id":9613,"date":"2014-09-16T11:38:03","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T16:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=9613"},"modified":"2014-09-16T11:38:03","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T16:38:03","slug":"phs-students-and-staff-identify-differences-between-online-and-in-class-courses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/?p=9613","title":{"rendered":"PHS Students and Staff Identify Differences Between Online and In-class Courses"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Canvas<\/a>

Canvas is used for the new online classes available at PHS. Because of the nature of online courses Canvas has been extremely helpful in turning in assignments. Photo by: Jon Sommers<\/p><\/div>\n

By Paige Thompson<\/p>\n

To start out the 2014 school year at PHS there were many changes. One change was the availability of online courses.<\/p>\n

As the school year came to an end in June of 2014, administrators mentioned that online courses would be available. Students then began to sign up for online courses so they could work independently and at their own pace. The online subjects available for online courses are Econ, Government, and English 12.<\/p>\n

Teachers along with the students of PHS knew online classes were aware of a new learning process dealing with technology. This year Mr. David Hatcher and Mrs. Amy Schmeltz became online course teachers. Mr. Hatcher stated, \u201cA student has to be very disciplined and organized with an online course, making sure not to miss an assignment deadline.\u201d He also said \u201cthe expectations in an online course are the same as they are in a traditional course.\u201d Mrs. Schmeltz then said, \u201cStudents are expected to login to Canvas at least three times per week and are to maintain a course average of a C or better in order to maintain a seat time waiver. Students are required to uphold all of the same academic policies as students in face-to-face classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The main Canvas page for Online Government displays homework, assignment due dates, and tests\/quizzes. Mr. Hatcher’s Canvas page is a direct link between him and his students. Photo by: Jon Sommers<\/p><\/div>\n

From above the teachers and students are adapting to an online course rather than a traditional course. “The grading policy is exactly the same, in other words if you get a 60% (D-) in an online course or traditional course, you pass,” Hatcher said. However, with the online course, “if you have an average below a C-, you have to report to the teacher’s classroom until you improve your grade,” Hatcher said. Then once their grade has improved, students regain the privilege of leaving PHS. This policy has been great help to students,” Hatcher also said.\u00a0 \u201cOnline classes during the summer allows students to complete the course prior to their senior year.\u201d \u201cDuring the summer, online courses test outside of school, but during the school year, online classes test at PHS. There are differences though with being prepared for an online class and traditional courses,\u201d said Mr. Hatcher. Different requirements and materials are needed for online courses. The number one material students need is their laptop. Another variation is where assignments are found and what web tools are used.<\/p>\n

Mr. Hatcher said that he communicates with his students \u201cvia Canvas, Email, in-person (during office hours in the summer), and any time they stop by during the school year.\u201d Mrs. Schmeltz communicates with her students, \u201cPrimarily via e-mail and the Canvas messaging center, but some students come to the media center and I meet with them individually on a daily basis.\u201d In English 12, new software is being used like, \u201cCanvas along with other web tools such as Turnitin.com, the Collections textbook, NoRedInk grammar, vocabulary.com, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Online classes have also been beneficial for students at PHS. According to Senior Nadia Baca, \u201cI have more time to do the homework for that class and have more room in my schedule for other classes I would like to take.\u201d While taking my online courses she \u201cgoes home\u201d and \u201cworks independently since the teacher is not there to walk me through it.\u201d Baca said, \u201c I then procrastinate more because the deadlines are on different dates for different assignments, \u201cI do other homework that is due the next day and hold off my online course.\u201d New software and websites are being used during traditional classes and online courses, but she said \u201cI am not using different software programs during the online course that I am not using in classroom courses.\u201d \u00a0It might be difficult to get some assignments done, but overall she says \u201conline courses are easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another student taking an online course is Senior Jason Doody. Doody said, \u201cOnline classes allow me to get assignments done on time and also lets me accomplish things at school that I can\u2019t get done at home.\u201d While taking this online course he chooses to \u201cgo to his engineering class and work on his robot since I can not work on it at home.\u201d Doody feels online classes are easier than learning in a classroom because \u201cyou learn at your own pace and you have things to complete at a certain time, but in addition you can take your time and get it done right.\u201d He also said, \u201cI procrastinate a little bit more because I know it\u2019s not due till Sunday night so I wait till friday night to start most of it.\u201d Communication may be hard to come across since the students are not physically in the classroom, but Doody said, \u201cI think it\u2019s a lot easier to communicate with the teachers. I can send her\/him a quick email and get what I need sorted out quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Overall Plymouth High School added many changes and one major one is the online courses. This gave students and teachers the ability to learn together through new web tools, communication, and organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Paige Thompson To start out the 2014 school year at PHS there were many changes. One change was the availability of online courses.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":9621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[57],"class_list":["post-9613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-school-news","tag-september-2014"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9613"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/178"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9613"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9663,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9613\/revisions\/9663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/social.plymouth.k12.in.us\/perspective\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}