An increasing number of college-ready high school students are seeking the challenge of college-level coursework, and now an online pilot program is bringing such courses to smaller school districts that couldn't provide them on their own.
During the current academic year, Minnesota State Community and Technical College, Alexandria Technical College, and Northland Community and Technical College have teamed with tech prep coordinators from Lakes Country Service Cooperative in Fergus Falls, Pine to Prairie Cooperative Center in Red Lake Falls, North Borders Partnership in Crookston, Runestone Area Partnership in Alexandria, and Freshwater Education District in Staples to give the "Online College in the High School" program a year-long test run.
Perham-based Distance Minnesota, a regional provider of online coursework from Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, has created the web-based format and hosts the program's interactive web site used by the students and instructors.
"We chose general education courses in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Minnesota Transfer Curriculum. Courses that will ease transfer to higher education institutions. Courses that are taught by experienced, online instructors," said Dr. Jill Abbott, MSCTC associate dean. Abbott serves on the project's planning team. Students from 11 school districts have enrolled in courses, including College Algebra, General Biology, and Social Problems. Participating students have come from schools at Barnesville, Clearbrook-Gonvick, Frazee, Hawley, Lake Park-Audubon, Lancaster, Norman County West, Oklee, Pelican Rapids, Waubun, and West Central.
"High schools are doing a good job of talking to students about whether online learning is a good fit for them," Abbott said. To be eligible for the college coursework, all students must complete and pass on online assessment. High school seniors must have a 2.8 cumulative GPA and juniors must have a 3.2 cumulative GPA. To assist the students' adjustments to higher demands of college-level online coursework, each school assigns a proctor who works with them for one hour each day.
The proctors are trained by computer and phone, minimizing the costs. All students and proctors will participate in an evaluation of the pilot program as well. As the pilot is evaluated, expansion to other interested school districts is a possibility to consider, according to Abbott. As enrollment increases, more classes would also be planned and included on the schedule.
Already planning for next year, the participating colleges plan to offer six courses fall semester, including Ethics, General Psychology, College Algebra, Math Reasoning, U.S. History, and Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology. Plans for the 2007 spring semester courses include Minnesota History, Developmental Psychology, Biology of Human Concerns, Introduction to Statistics, Medical Terminology (a non-Minnesota Transfer Curriculum class), and World Regional Geography.
What benefits from the program are expected? The benefit to students is clear: they can access challenging, college-level coursework that otherwise would not be available to them. The students don't pay tuition for the college courses, they are able to stay in their high school environment, and they receive more exposure to online learning.