CyberLearning Report
Collier County Education Group
Semester Two, 2006-2007
Collier County School District, Naples, FL


June 14, 2007


2006-07 Second Semester Report on the CyberLearning IT/Math Academy Program set up with a 95% Grant from the Nonprofit

Result: 20% improvement in student scores in one semester

By Grace Vaknin, Project Manager
 
The Collier County Public School District serves the city of Naples and the city of Immokalee in Florida . Immokalee has a large agricultural area and is the home to many migrant workers and their families. 98% of the students in this area are on free or reduced lunch. We have concentrated the CyberLearning IT/Math Academy Program in this area. Our goal is not only to improve the technology and math skills of our Immokalee Students but also to prepare them for "school to work". The CyberLearning course work lends to IT certifications in areas such as Microsoft office (Word, Excel and Access), Web Development (Dreamweaver, Flash, Adobe Photoshop CS, etc.) and Networking (A+, Novell and Cisco). Our expectations are that some of these students will achieve this certification, allowing them to be competitive as they enter the work force.
 
CyberLearning Program Locations and Licensing
Location Packages Assigned # of Licenses
Immokalee Middle School(IMM) IC3 & Remedial Math 306
Immokalee High School (IHS) School & Office Computing & Web Development 611
Immokalee Career Center (ICC) IT Professional & School and Office Computing 511
Technical High School (ALT) School and Office Computing & Web Development 343
TAPP (ALT) Remedial Math 21
PHOENIX (ALT) Remedial Math 21
New Beginnings (ALT) IC3 & Remedial Math 42
Lake Trafford (LTE) IC3 55
 

Michael Garcia
PACE Center
160 N. 1st Street
Immokalee, FL 34142

Michael Garcia is the Business Education Teacher at the PACE Center for Girls. He teaches Business Keyboarding and Business Systems and Technology for Grades 6 to 12. His students work within the School/Office Computing and Web Development Packages. CyberLearning Group Performance Reports (Appendices A/B) were generated and run to track student progress. The average Pretest, Post Test and Improvement Scores are depicted in the charts below. Michael's careful attention to details speaks to the successful Improvement Scores (23.08% and 24.87%).

Jamie Hernandez
Immokalee High School
701 Immokalee Drive
Immokalee, FL 34142

Jamie Hernandez is a Graphic Arts high school teacher. He works with his students in a state-of-the-art lab that houses 36 high end computers and flat screen monitors. He sees approximately 80 students per day. His second semester was a repeat of the first semester. He started his students out in the Adobe Photoshop CS course work. Then, he moved his students to Flash MX which he is using as a precursor to Flash MX Actionscript. His students were required to take the Skills Assessment Test at the start and end of their coursework. Then, a CyberLearning Group Performance Report (Appendix C) was generated and run to track the progress of Mr. Hernandez's students. The total number of students engaged in the CyberLearning coursework was 77 with an average time spent in the coursework of 14 hours and 55 minutes. The Average Pretest Scores, Post Test Scores and Score Improvement are depicted in the chart below.

Ada Campos
Immokalee High School
701 Immokalee Drive
Immokalee, FL 34142

Ada Campos is a Business Lab high school teacher. In the second semester her students concentrated on the School/Office Computing Package. She also had two students in networking. CyberLearning Group Performance Reports (Appendix E/F) were generated to track the progress of her students. The Average Pretest Scores, Post Test Scores and Score Improvement are depicted in the chart below.

Barbara Jacobson
Immokalee Career Center
614 South 5th Street
Immokalee, FL 34142

Barbara is a Business Lab teacher at the Immokalee Career Center. During the second semester her students worked with both the School/Office Computing Package and the Web Development Package. CyberLearning Group Performance Reports (Appendix G/H) were generated and run to track the progress of her students. The Average Pretest Scores, Post Test Scores and Score Improvement are depicted in the chart below.

Larry Litt
Immokalee Career Center
614 South 5th Street
Immokalee, FL 34142

Larry Litt is a Computer Applications Teacher at the Immokalee Career Center. His students started the first semester with the IC3 course work and A+. In the second semester they moved on to Novell 560 and Cisco Networking. His students moved back and forth between the CyberLearning course work and a hands-on lab. A CyberLearning Group Performance Report (Appendix I) was generated to track the progress of his students. The total number of students engaged in the IT Professional Package was 8 with an average time spent in course work of 5 hours and 29 minutes. Pretest, Post Test and Score Improvement are depicted in the chart below.

Westley Bailey
Immokalee Middle School
401 North 9th Street
Immokalee, FL 34142

Westley Bailey is a Remedial Math Teacher at Immokalee Middle School. He works with approximately 70 students that he sees in small groups throughout the day. Many of these students are engaged in the CyberLearning Mathematics Package. The first semester Westley concentrated his students at a lower grade level and then moved them up to 7th grade in the second semester. Each student was required to take the skills assessment test before beginning this course work and upon completion. The pretest and post test needed to be printed out and taken hard copy and scored in a traditional manner with an answer key. These scores were then entered into an excel spread sheet (Appendix J) to create a Group Performance Report. The Average Pretest Scores, Post Test Scores and Score Improvement are depicted in the chart below.


Jaime Hernandez and Grace Vaknin demonstrate CyberLearning Mastery Certificates that his
students earned upon completion of each section of their course work in CyberLearning.
 

 

 

 

CyberLearning Chairman Dr. Appu Kuttan (middle) Congratulates Collier high school teacher Jaime Hernandez (left) and Collier CyberLearning Academy director Grace Vaknin (right)

 As the Super Administrator I entered into training with Deepu Mitra, Program Director for CyberLearning. I initially trained with him intensively for approximately two weeks via webcams and phone conferences. I still am in contact with him almost daily with regard to field issues and updates to the CyberLearning site. In turn, with his initial help I was able to create an Instructional Guide for both the Super Administrator (myself) and the Training Administrators (participating teachers). The teachers and I have worked together to plan out their curriculum for the year, integrating the CyberLearning course work where ever feasible. Each teacher is aware that their students need to begin and end each course with the Skills Assessment Test. This test serves as both the pretest and post test. This test must be done in one seating by the student and takes approximately 30 minutes. It consists of 30 randomized questions that are pulled from a bank of 100. Thus, students sitting next to one another do not see the same questions. The teachers have begun viewing reports to see that their students are on task and to track their progress. These are the reports that will eventually need to be turned into the CyberLearning Center at the end of each semester. Each Training Administrator will receive a stipend from CyberLearning at the end of the first semester and again at the end of the second semester. Also, as an additional incentive each Training Administrator has been personally assigned the CyberLearning course packages for their own use.
 
Students also receive 24x7 live instant mentoring from CyberLearning online mentors. For a nominal hosting/mentoring fee paid to CyberLearning (CyberLearning provides 95% matching grant), the students get a unique opportunity to take a variety of CyberLearning classes which enables them to then master skills and take the certification tests for their particular area of study. In many of the classes the students move back and forth between the CyberLearning course work and a hands-on lab that reinforces the course work. This appears to be a highly successful method of implementation.
 
Many students have already completed the IC3 digital literacy course. This course meets the Federal NCLB (No Child Left Behind) technology proficiency mandates for 8th graders. In addition, it enables the students to obtain a universally recognized digital literacy certification. Such certification will add to their job prospects even if they drop out of school.
 
Currently, I am employed as an Instructional Technology Coordinator and Project Manager, working with teachers and curriculum developers. The costs involved with using CyberLearning, as provided by the National Education Foundation, are far less than the average online curriculum. Most school districts do not have the funds or expertise to offer this type of courseware and delivery. With CyberLearning any school district can now afford to have its own online program packaged specifically to its needs. I strongly recommend that school districts take advantage of the CyberLearning grant to help their students improve their IT and math skills, thus preparing them to enter the 21st century as competitors in the global economy.