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Students using the IQity study guides will receive not only test preparation tips, they also will gain the opportunity to improve their reading and writing. This outstanding resource is likely to go a long way toward meeting the needs of student who must pass the OGT.

Carol Dodson

Language Arts Specialist

Ohio Resource Center

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Advantages Of A Common Course Delivery Platform

One of the challenges of school district administration is deciding when to strive for uniformity and when to support differences among schools. Interestingly, when it comes to offering online courses, opting for uniformity actually helps schools adapt to their students' needs. How can that be? When the district uses a common course delivery platform to provide online classes, everyone uses the same familiar software with the same familiar functions and commands. This eliminates confusion about process and allows teachers and students to concentrate on content. And content is the second major reason that a common course delivery platform is a definite advantage to school districts. School districts that sign up to use a comprehensive course delivery platform like the IQity Learning Management Suite find this is true.

Common Platform Addresses Student Mobility

Perhaps no issue vexes educators more than student mobility. While more prevalent among urban schools, mobility is a problem everywhere. According to the Hoover Institute, mobility rates range between 45 and 80 percent for inner-city schools and between 25 and 40 percent for suburban schools. A 1994 study by the government's General Accountability Office (GAO) reported that a quarter of all third graders have attended more than one school.

Changing schools is hard enough. As it becomes more and more common for K-12 classes to have an online component, changing schools would be even more complicated if every move necessitated learning a new software system. A common course delivery platform eliminates this concern. Students who change schools within the district will find the same look and feel to their online classes wherever they go. Some states have opted for a common course delivery platform for all their school districts, increasing the benefit to students who relocate. Of course, teachers who wish to be assigned to a different building also benefit from a common course delivery platform.

Classrooms Without Walls Need a Common Platform

Many school districts find they can offer specialized classes online that can't be provided in traditional classrooms. Some address the shortage of teachers for certain subjects by offering those classes online, so a teacher at one school has students at several. This is only practical, however, with a common course delivery platform.

Take the example of Emily, a gifted high school junior. Emily wants to take advanced calculus, Italian, and biochemistry, classes that are not offered at her home school. Imagine the difficulty she will have taking these subjects online if the math teacher is using one course management software program, the language teacher another, and the science teacher a third. Emily's problem will be solved if teachers throughout the district are using a common course delivery platform. She'll still have a problem, however, if the district doesn't have an Italian teacher and the teacher in the adjoining district is using different software. This is yet another argument for a common course delivery platform to be shared on a wide basis. An added possible benefit is that multiple districts, including districts statewide, may find economies of scale in choosing a single software provider.

Shared Software Eases Content Sharing

One of the advantages of online education is that teachers can share content more easily. Again, this is facilitated by having a common course delivery platform. The district may want its middle school teachers to collaborate on a civics curriculum. It may want a particularly successful math teacher at one high school to help others in order to raise passing rates on state achievement tests. Such content sharing is easier for teachers and students if the framework in which it is presented � the course delivery platform � is consistent.

The IQity Learning Management Suite takes this concept even further, because it includes a state-of-the-art learning object repository called Reactor. All the content in Reactor is aligned with state standards, so teachers can use it with confidence. And for those who want to upload lessons to share with others in their school or district (or even more widely), Reactor contains tools that make that simple. Teachers can create a graph, chart, or web page in Reactor without any specialized programming or design skills. They can upload videos and other content created outside Reactor easily as well. When teachers and student in other schools want to use content from Reactor, having IQity as a common course delivery platform will make that seamless.

How Do We Get Started?

It's easy to make IQity the common platform for your district's online education. Just ask for an online demonstration by an e-learning expert.