Gone are the days when learning was limited to the classroom, lab, or library. Web-based learning now makes it possible for students to access content, assignments, classmates, and teachers from anywhere as long as they are connected to the Internet, even on their smartphones.
To blend the power of online learning with our teachers’ classroom instruction, NDCL recently partnered with Blackboard, Inc., the world’s premier learning management system. Blackboard, which is used at thousands of colleges and universities, is a user-friendly, web-based program that offers our students an always-on, media-rich learning environment that effectively engages today’s students while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the learning process.
Teachers use Blackboard to create learning modules that include video instruction, reading materials, resource links, written and multimedia assignments, online discussions and chats, virtual labs, practice tests, and much more.
To focus the entire NDCL community on the possibilities of the Blackboard system, this year’s school calendar includes six special “blended learning days” when students will participate in online learning remotely while teachers focus on professional learning at school. The first took place on September 26th and the second on Octobeer 23rd and the third will be November 17th.
English Department Chairperson Elizabeth Walsh-Moorman is already sold on the benefits of Blackboard. She and her colleagues in the English Department piloted a similar learning management system last year.“The results were impressive. We focused on literacy skills in a way that was more student-centered. Students found the work less burdensome and more engaging because they had ample opportunities to get it done using their smartphones, tablets, or home computers,” she says.
Science teacher Christopher Poulos, who served with Walsh-Moorman and about a dozen other teachers on the task force that selected the Blackboard system, agrees. “Blackboard allows our students more flexibility to work at their own pace. The system also gives them immediate feedback so that they can correct their mistakes and misunderstandings before they come to class,” he explains.“They’re learning how to navigate the web and how to think their way through a problem. By practicing this way of learning now, NDCL is setting our students up for success in college.”