NCVPS Community
New Items for This Week's E-lert
Essential Links
Click here for the online District and School Checklist for Summer 2011.
Click here for the online Student Information & Checklist for Summer 2011.
Follow this link to SchoolTube to watch a short video on the registration process.
Be Empowered - Know the Trends in E-learning
Many educators are just now embracing the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. Take the lead with Digital Blooms: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/bloom%27s+Digital+taxonomy+v3.01.pdf
E-lert Subscription Have you subscribed? If not, you can subscribe at the http://www.ncvpselaportal.org/e-lerts.html. Look for the subscription service at the top of the sidebar. You will receive a confirmation email to activate your subscription. Each notice will have an unsubscribe option, too.
E-learning Success Stories ELA, teachers, administrators, parents, and students, submit your stories here: http://bit.ly/ncvpssuccess Please tell how virtual learning has made a difference!
Professional Networking Are you into networking and social media? Come join over 850 other educators who have fanned us on Facebook. Find our fan page at Facebook/ncvps
Follow the virtual learning consultants on Twitter at Twitter/MyVLC
Important Dates!
Summer Calendar
July 27 Progress Reports and Status Forms sent to DLAs
August 3 Progress Reports and Status Forms sent to DLAs
August 8 End of Traditional Courses and Credit Recovery Courses
August 11 Final Grade Report sent to DLAs
Current Enrollment Options & Course Closings
Click here to view our current enrollment options. A number of courses have been closed in our early calendar offerings! If you are an early calendar school, please follow the link.
OCS Blended Learning update
Update as of July 25:
All schools and their OCS students that were on the waitlist as of July 25 have all been moved into sections as of July 25.
Please continue to enroll students as needed and the waitlists will be evaluated weekly based on the capacity to pair additional classroom teachers with the NCVPS content teachers.
To find more details here for the OCS Blended Learning registration process, click here! There are also important details concerning the OCS Blended Learning registration within the NCVPS registration site.
The NCVPS E-learning Advisors Portal
We are phasing our the DLA Spa in Blackboard, and all resources are being moved to the NCVPS E-Learning Advisors Portal. Visit the new site at http://www.ncvpselaportal.org/index.html .
In addition to a new site, we are phasing our the title "Distance Learning Advisor." We will start using the more appropriately named "E-learning Advisor" for the school-level contact, and "E-learning Coordinator" for the district contact. "E-learning" is the more universally recognized term for NCVPS operations. Learn more about e-learning here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning
You may choose a different title for yourself, of course, but our language will now start to reflect this change.
Learn and Earn Online
"In recently passed budget bill, SL 2011-145 Section 7.1A, Learn and Earn Online was rebranded Career and College Promise effective July 1, 2011.
Deborah Pedersen's position with the Department of Public Instruction has been eliminated effective July 26, 2011.
For information about Career and College Promise contact your local community college."
Fall 2011 Enrollment - Health Education Course
The Health Education course is 1/2 credit course, and classes begin at the beginning of the semester and at mid-semester. Typically registration is heavy for the classes that begins at the start of the semester. NCVPS will balance that enrollment starting in Early Calendar 2011. Please click this link for details.
Credit Recovery Grading: Fall 2011
As described by the North Carolina State Board of Education, beginning in the Fall of 2011, all courses taken as credit recovery, despite the program, can only receive a final designation of PASS or FAIL. No final numerical grades may be given for these courses. If a student wishes to take a failed course in order to earn a final grade, credit recovery courses should not be taken. Here is the Executive Summary released by the North Carolina State Board of Education:
http://www.ncpublicschools. org/docs/stateboard/meetings/ 2010/12/gcs/12gcs.pdf
Health Course - summer sessions
The first session of Health is coming to a close on Monday, July 11. Please review your student's progress in the first session and promote students to complete their assignments and prepare for the course to end on Monday the 11th. Review teacher's comments to get a better idea of student's progress. Communicate with teachers, immediately, on any special requests or unique circumstance you may have with a student in completing by the closing date.
The second session of Health is scheduled to start Tuesday, July 12. Please be sure you have provided enrolled students with their user ID and password so they are prepared to begin on Tuesday the 12th. There will be an Admin Drop process to follow the second session. Please review and be familiar with the dates for the Admin Drop here http://www.ncvps.org/docs/courses/calendars/2010-11/summer11.pdf
TECH HELPDESK CHANGES - IMPORTANT!!!
The NCVPS technology helpdesk contact changes as of July 1, 2011! www.help.ncvps.org NCVPS has terminated their contract with the current helpdesk vendor and are now operational with an internal technology helpdesk. While service hours are no longer 24/7, we hope to efficiently handle your NCVPS technology needs and be more customer focused. Please make sure you refer students to this online ticketing system for their tech issues. www.help.ncvps.org
DETAILS OF THE NEW HELPDESK:
NCVPS Technology
EOC and CTE Testing for Summer
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please make arrangements for ALL students enrolled in summer EOC and CTE courses to have the final exam administered to them. NCVPS DOES NOT administer any EOC or CTE state final exams. If you have questions, please contact the EOC and CTE coordinators at your school.
UPDATE from NC DPI: (7/6/2011) LEAs with students enrolled in Virtual Public School (VPS) summer session will be responsible for administering state tests to those students. A list of students enrolled along with course data will be provided to each LEA on the secure FTP site around June 27th. Each of the students must also be enrolled manually in their home LEA and school in order for you to administer to them state tests.
Instructional Management Coordinators and Distant Learner Coordinators must work together to ensure VPS students are notified of testing arrangements, as some students may be taking courses remotely. Contact information for your LEA’s Distant Learner Coordinator will be included with the list of enrolled students.
For more information or if you have questions or concerns, contact Margaret Harris at mharris@dpi.state.nc.us.
IEP Guidelines Update for NCVPS Courses
Please become familar with the updated NCVPS IEP guidelines: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/educators/operations-guides/
NOTE: The most recent upgrade to the NCVPS Registration System includes a required data field for school's "IEP Contact" when a student's record is flagged as having an IEP. NCVPS teachers MUST have the course modification criteria to provide modified course instruction. It is imperative for the school IEP contact to be recorded on the student's NCVPS profile record. See guideline for directions.
LOCK Webinars
LOCK = Linked Online Connecting Knowledge. LOCKs are hosted in the DLA Spa, Wimba Classroom. Instructions for how to access the classroom are provided in a QRG which can be viewed in the DLA Spa - "DLA e-Lerts" tab. LOCK webinars are professional development opportunities, specifically planned for DLCs and DLAs to keep abreast of the NCVPS operations.
Summer LOCKS will not be hosted on the typical routine 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, but will be announced when scheduled.
SCHEDULED Webinars:
Tuesday, 09/20/11 - "Peer Tutoring" - presented by NCVPS CTE Department Lead, Crystal Pullen
See previous LOCK recordings on SchoolTube here:
LOCK recording for March 1: NCVPS Semester Overview
LOCK recording for March 8: Registration for Summer 2011 and Fall 2011
LOCK recording for March 22: Best Practices from Wayne County with John Martindale
LOCK recording for April 5: Opening a New School with NCVPS - Presented by Kelley Townsend
LOCK recording for May 10: Introducing the School Support Services Think Tank Team (S3T3).
LOCK recording for May 31: Registration System Upgrade.
Thanks for your participation.
SAS Computer Programming Course
NCVPS and SAS Institute are partnering to offer high school students a course in SAS Computer Programming. The prerequisites for the course are Algebra I and at least 1 programming course such as Visual Basic, C++, Java or Python.
The course is not available in the registration system. You must contact Karen Creech at karen.creech@ncpublicschools.gov if you are interested in enrolling students in the course.
Here is a short video and brochure with more information on the course(s).
SAS Computer Programming Video and SAS Computer Programming Brochure
Reminders
DLA & SCHOOL MAINTENANCE
> DLA Contact Information - Be sure to update your contact information in the registration system. Follow this link to see how to update your contact information.
> Central Office Distance Learning Coordinator: Follow this link to watch a short video that shows how to check your district's enrollment, check grades, and enroll and drop students at the school level.
DISTRICT INFORMATION
> Find our course catalogues here: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/courses/catalogue/
> If plan to enroll home school or private schools students into NCVPS courses through your districts, be sure to read this link first: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/parents/homeprivate-school/
> NCVPS is seeking GO LIVE districts. With customized training and support, the GO LIVE initiative helps leaders develop solutions for e-learning and e-leadership. Click here for more details!
> If your district is enrolling home-schooled students, follow this link to see the new process: http://www.ncvps.org/parentstudent/homeschool/index.html
STUDENT SUPPORT
> Follow this link to see a full list of assistive technologies that are beneficial for a variety of student disabilities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Am5iphYrw8o_gwzsWHvO3RhhhPop81tLyhfiB-WK4g8/edit?hl=en&authkey=COv327YI&pli=1#
> If your students need tutoring help, be sure to check out our Peer Tutoring Center by following this link. http://www.ncvps.org/?s=Peer+Tutoring
New Items for This Week's E-lert
- OCS Blended Learning Update
- New Student Success Survey: http://bit.ly/ncvpssuccess
- New E-lert Subscription: http://www.ncvpselaportal.org/e-lerts.html
Essential Links
Click here for the online District and School Checklist for Summer 2011.
Click here for the online Student Information & Checklist for Summer 2011.
Follow this link to SchoolTube to watch a short video on the registration process.
Be Empowered - Know the Trends in E-learning
Many educators are just now embracing the Revised Bloom's Taxonomy. Take the lead with Digital Blooms: http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/bloom%27s+Digital+taxonomy+v3.01.pdf
E-lert Subscription Have you subscribed? If not, you can subscribe at the http://www.ncvpselaportal.org/e-lerts.html. Look for the subscription service at the top of the sidebar. You will receive a confirmation email to activate your subscription. Each notice will have an unsubscribe option, too.
E-learning Success Stories ELA, teachers, administrators, parents, and students, submit your stories here: http://bit.ly/ncvpssuccess Please tell how virtual learning has made a difference!
Professional Networking Are you into networking and social media? Come join over 850 other educators who have fanned us on Facebook. Find our fan page at Facebook/ncvps
Follow the virtual learning consultants on Twitter at Twitter/MyVLC
Important Dates!
Summer Calendar
July 27 Progress Reports and Status Forms sent to DLAs
August 3 Progress Reports and Status Forms sent to DLAs
August 8 End of Traditional Courses and Credit Recovery Courses
August 11 Final Grade Report sent to DLAs
Current Enrollment Options & Course Closings
Click here to view our current enrollment options. A number of courses have been closed in our early calendar offerings! If you are an early calendar school, please follow the link.
OCS Blended Learning update
Update as of July 25:
All schools and their OCS students that were on the waitlist as of July 25 have all been moved into sections as of July 25.
Please continue to enroll students as needed and the waitlists will be evaluated weekly based on the capacity to pair additional classroom teachers with the NCVPS content teachers.
To find more details here for the OCS Blended Learning registration process, click here! There are also important details concerning the OCS Blended Learning registration within the NCVPS registration site.
The NCVPS E-learning Advisors Portal
We are phasing our the DLA Spa in Blackboard, and all resources are being moved to the NCVPS E-Learning Advisors Portal. Visit the new site at http://www.ncvpselaportal.org/index.html .
In addition to a new site, we are phasing our the title "Distance Learning Advisor." We will start using the more appropriately named "E-learning Advisor" for the school-level contact, and "E-learning Coordinator" for the district contact. "E-learning" is the more universally recognized term for NCVPS operations. Learn more about e-learning here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-learning
You may choose a different title for yourself, of course, but our language will now start to reflect this change.
Learn and Earn Online
"In recently passed budget bill, SL 2011-145 Section 7.1A, Learn and Earn Online was rebranded Career and College Promise effective July 1, 2011.
Deborah Pedersen's position with the Department of Public Instruction has been eliminated effective July 26, 2011.
For information about Career and College Promise contact your local community college."
Fall 2011 Enrollment - Health Education Course
The Health Education course is 1/2 credit course, and classes begin at the beginning of the semester and at mid-semester. Typically registration is heavy for the classes that begins at the start of the semester. NCVPS will balance that enrollment starting in Early Calendar 2011. Please click this link for details.
Credit Recovery Grading: Fall 2011
As described by the North Carolina State Board of Education, beginning in the Fall of 2011, all courses taken as credit recovery, despite the program, can only receive a final designation of PASS or FAIL. No final numerical grades may be given for these courses. If a student wishes to take a failed course in order to earn a final grade, credit recovery courses should not be taken. Here is the Executive Summary released by the North Carolina State Board of Education:
http://www.ncpublicschools. org/docs/stateboard/meetings/ 2010/12/gcs/12gcs.pdf
Health Course - summer sessions
The first session of Health is coming to a close on Monday, July 11. Please review your student's progress in the first session and promote students to complete their assignments and prepare for the course to end on Monday the 11th. Review teacher's comments to get a better idea of student's progress. Communicate with teachers, immediately, on any special requests or unique circumstance you may have with a student in completing by the closing date.
The second session of Health is scheduled to start Tuesday, July 12. Please be sure you have provided enrolled students with their user ID and password so they are prepared to begin on Tuesday the 12th. There will be an Admin Drop process to follow the second session. Please review and be familiar with the dates for the Admin Drop here http://www.ncvps.org/docs/courses/calendars/2010-11/summer11.pdf
TECH HELPDESK CHANGES - IMPORTANT!!!
The NCVPS technology helpdesk contact changes as of July 1, 2011! www.help.ncvps.org NCVPS has terminated their contract with the current helpdesk vendor and are now operational with an internal technology helpdesk. While service hours are no longer 24/7, we hope to efficiently handle your NCVPS technology needs and be more customer focused. Please make sure you refer students to this online ticketing system for their tech issues. www.help.ncvps.org
DETAILS OF THE NEW HELPDESK:
- Hours of service are 8am-4pm, Mondays - Fridays (except state holidays)
- An online ticketing system is used to collect info for technology help issues. The URL for this is www.help.ncvps.org .
- Online tickets will be addressed throughout the business day, and handled in the order they are opened.
- There is also a helpdesk phone number, 919-480-8770. However we strongly encourage online ticket submissions for quicker service.
- Voice messages left on the helpdesk phone line will be addressed in 1 business day.
- A valid email will be required for ticket submission - so make sure you are ready to check your inbox! :)
- Password resets, course access problems, etc. will be handled and a notification of a solution emailed.
- Return phone calls will not happen unless there is a time sensitive need for further information to solve the user's problem.
- Note that this helpdesk will only be for technology issues. All Curriculum, Policy, and School Support issues will not resolved by the technology staff. Please make sure you continue to contact the appropriate NCVPS staff for help with non-technology questions.
- Make sure you notify your local technology department so they can verify that the new URL is unblocked. Again, the link is www.help.ncvps.org
- Password resets in Bb, email and registration system
- Fixing class access when they are enrolled in registration
- Figuring out why a video can't be viewed by a student
- Figuring out why a course content item can't be viewed by a student (possible adaptive release issues)
- Bb bugs - we will work to escalate this to Bb.
- Registration bugs
- Basic Bb information and how-to's, etc...
- enrolling/dropping of students into courses - (Consult with DLA and VLC)
- unlocking of locked assignments - (teachers should be consulted)
NCVPS Technology
EOC and CTE Testing for Summer
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please make arrangements for ALL students enrolled in summer EOC and CTE courses to have the final exam administered to them. NCVPS DOES NOT administer any EOC or CTE state final exams. If you have questions, please contact the EOC and CTE coordinators at your school.
UPDATE from NC DPI: (7/6/2011) LEAs with students enrolled in Virtual Public School (VPS) summer session will be responsible for administering state tests to those students. A list of students enrolled along with course data will be provided to each LEA on the secure FTP site around June 27th. Each of the students must also be enrolled manually in their home LEA and school in order for you to administer to them state tests.
Instructional Management Coordinators and Distant Learner Coordinators must work together to ensure VPS students are notified of testing arrangements, as some students may be taking courses remotely. Contact information for your LEA’s Distant Learner Coordinator will be included with the list of enrolled students.
For more information or if you have questions or concerns, contact Margaret Harris at mharris@dpi.state.nc.us.
IEP Guidelines Update for NCVPS Courses
Please become familar with the updated NCVPS IEP guidelines: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/educators/operations-guides/
NOTE: The most recent upgrade to the NCVPS Registration System includes a required data field for school's "IEP Contact" when a student's record is flagged as having an IEP. NCVPS teachers MUST have the course modification criteria to provide modified course instruction. It is imperative for the school IEP contact to be recorded on the student's NCVPS profile record. See guideline for directions.
LOCK Webinars
LOCK = Linked Online Connecting Knowledge. LOCKs are hosted in the DLA Spa, Wimba Classroom. Instructions for how to access the classroom are provided in a QRG which can be viewed in the DLA Spa - "DLA e-Lerts" tab. LOCK webinars are professional development opportunities, specifically planned for DLCs and DLAs to keep abreast of the NCVPS operations.
Summer LOCKS will not be hosted on the typical routine 1st and 3rd Tuesdays, but will be announced when scheduled.
SCHEDULED Webinars:
Tuesday, 09/20/11 - "Peer Tutoring" - presented by NCVPS CTE Department Lead, Crystal Pullen
See previous LOCK recordings on SchoolTube here:
LOCK recording for March 1: NCVPS Semester Overview
LOCK recording for March 8: Registration for Summer 2011 and Fall 2011
LOCK recording for March 22: Best Practices from Wayne County with John Martindale
LOCK recording for April 5: Opening a New School with NCVPS - Presented by Kelley Townsend
LOCK recording for May 10: Introducing the School Support Services Think Tank Team (S3T3).
LOCK recording for May 31: Registration System Upgrade.
Thanks for your participation.
SAS Computer Programming Course
NCVPS and SAS Institute are partnering to offer high school students a course in SAS Computer Programming. The prerequisites for the course are Algebra I and at least 1 programming course such as Visual Basic, C++, Java or Python.
The course is not available in the registration system. You must contact Karen Creech at karen.creech@ncpublicschools.gov if you are interested in enrolling students in the course.
Here is a short video and brochure with more information on the course(s).
SAS Computer Programming Video and SAS Computer Programming Brochure
Reminders
DLA & SCHOOL MAINTENANCE
> DLA Contact Information - Be sure to update your contact information in the registration system. Follow this link to see how to update your contact information.
> Central Office Distance Learning Coordinator: Follow this link to watch a short video that shows how to check your district's enrollment, check grades, and enroll and drop students at the school level.
DISTRICT INFORMATION
> Find our course catalogues here: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/courses/catalogue/
> If plan to enroll home school or private schools students into NCVPS courses through your districts, be sure to read this link first: http://www.ncvps.org/index.php/parents/homeprivate-school/
> NCVPS is seeking GO LIVE districts. With customized training and support, the GO LIVE initiative helps leaders develop solutions for e-learning and e-leadership. Click here for more details!
> If your district is enrolling home-schooled students, follow this link to see the new process: http://www.ncvps.org/parentstudent/homeschool/index.html
STUDENT SUPPORT
> Follow this link to see a full list of assistive technologies that are beneficial for a variety of student disabilities: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Am5iphYrw8o_gwzsWHvO3RhhhPop81tLyhfiB-WK4g8/edit?hl=en&authkey=COv327YI&pli=1#
> If your students need tutoring help, be sure to check out our Peer Tutoring Center by following this link. http://www.ncvps.org/?s=Peer+Tutoring
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