Our students develop a global awareness that bridges schools, towns, cities, and countries. Students learn to share their local perspectives on global issues with students from all over the world. We currently represent three continents and twelve states and are continually adding new schools to GOA and new voices to our classes.
Teaching today’s students most effectively requires educators to adopt and put to use the technological innovations that the next generation has embraced. The tools available to educators no longer determine how they should teach; instead, using a plethora of powerful online tools, teachers adapt relevant and master teaching practices to their online courses. With so many powerful choices, teachers do not need to compromise.
More than ever before, classrooms are a place to facilitate discussions rather than just to disseminate information, as teachers seek to lead students to become critical thinkers in every discipline they study. Online classes make possible new and potent methods of fostering discussions in depth.
Discussions in our classes allow every voice to be heard; the only option is to participate. Students learn to engage in deep thinking in online discussions rather than in the quick thinking that is promoted by oral discussion.
Our students require new skills that need to be taught on line. Our students need to learn to communicate effectively over email and in public venues. They need to learn to collaborate with others who aren’t sitting in the same room, to be critical users of media and information, and to communicate with people with different backgrounds and experiences.
One out of three college students is taking an online course. The likelihood of our students taking an online course in the next four to six years is rising rapidly. It is essential that our schools graduate students who are prepared for what will be expected of them, and the only way to do that is to have them actually take an online course.
31% of all higher education students take at least one course online
Students are deeply involved in development of curriculum and the technological tools for its delivery; they are invested in their learning because they are involved, along with their teacher, in the course’s content creation.
Online education also promotes students’ access to a wider range and more types of courses and teachers. We believe that adding classes to our schools’ catalogues will expand students’ options to discover what they’re passionate about. Students have the opportunity to learn from teachers with special expertise or personal experience in a subject area.
Students who take an online course have more flexibility in their schedules. While they need to do work for these courses almost every day, when they do it is up to them. Through online courses, we are teaching how to schedule their time, how to prioritize their work, how to make choices, and how to be proactive about getting what they need.
Because videos, discussions, and materials are all stored on line, students can revisit threads of discussions and manipulate content to reinforce their learning at any point in the course.