In today’s digital age, students can instantly access a wealth of knowledge, information, and resources at the touch of a keyboard. With the cell phone they hold in their hand, or even the smartwatch on their wrists, they can create movies, design and build 3D objects, and communicate across the world.
Additionally, their learning is no longer limited to a physical campus space or a specific time of day. As students enter university and choose career paths, they need skills to engage with classmates and colleagues in both face-to-face and online environments. Understanding the benefits of virtual learning can equip them with the necessary tools to thrive in this evolving educational landscape.
Because of this, ISP now offers high school students the option to take one online course per semester. But, how does having access to both face-to-face and virtual learning options benefits them?.
Expanded choices
At ISP, our mission is to inspire learning, spark curiosity, and support our student body as they become global citizens. On campus, students can choose from a range of in-person elective classes in fine arts, STEM, physical education and social sciences. In addition, ISP is expanding student learning options through a partnership with Global Online Academy.
As a member of this consortium of schools from across the globe, ISP students now have access to an additional 40+ virtual courses, ranging from topics like Medical Problem Solving, Legal Thinking, Entrepreneurship, Branding and Marketing, Bioethics, language courses in Arabic and Japanese, as well as Introduction to Artificial Intelligence.
These courses allow all high school students to specialize in specific fields of study that truly interest them, while advanced learners can also take higher level courses such as math, science and computer science for a more challenging academic experience.
Global connections
The virtual courses from GOA connect learners from different schools around the world, providing ISP students the opportunity to collaborate and communicate with expert teachers and with classmates across a global community. Students share unique cultural perspectives and background knowledge through their discussions and projects, fostering empathy and understanding and building intercultural competencies.
While the classes are mostly asynchronous, students often need to work on projects and assignments together in small groups, requiring them to build communication skills and solve problems such as finding common times to work across different time zones.
Skills for success
Online learning requires students to practice executive functioning skills essential for success in university and future careers. These skills include self-motivation, time management, self-advocacy and independent learning.
While GOA courses include deadlines to complete assignments throughout the semester, students have flexibility with how they allocate their time each week to complete tasks and how they connect with their teachers and other peers. They have to learn strategies to organize large projects into smaller chunks, focus and minimize distractions.
Furthermore, they build competencies like evaluating and curating reliable resources relevant to issues they face in real life, and learn to use digital platforms responsibly to communicate, demonstrate their learning and advocate for their own needs by requesting support from both their online teacher or an ISP faculty member.
Real-world issues
Many virtual learning courses are designed for students to think critically about challenges they see in both their local and global communities and then take action to improve these issues.
For example, at the end of a GOA course, students showcase their learning through a final project called the Catalyst Exhibition. They form a question and research a topic that holds personal interest to them and then apply the skills and knowledge they learned from their course to real-world issues.
Teachers then nominate note-worthy projects for the Catalyst Exhibition Showcase, an online space where the final projects can be viewed by a public audience. Last December, an ISP senior was one of 47 participants, out of 590 projects submitted, to be featured in the Showcase!
In conclusion, a combination of virtual learning and face to face learning increases student agency, which is the ability for students to take responsibility for their learning and advocate for their needs. Students also improve their time management and communication skills, while still having both online and in person teachers to support and guide them.
And perhaps most importantly, students have increased opportunities to study what they are passionate about and what inspires them as global citizens. independent, knowing they can always count on you to be there for them.
About the Author:
Summer Alcauter is the Blended Learning Specialist at the International School of Panama, where she has worked for the past 3 years.
She has been an educator since 2009, first as a Spanish as an additional language teacher and then moving into the field of digital learning, coaching teachers around best practices for using technology tools in the classroom.
She holds a masters in Instructional Technology from Sam Houston State University. In finding balance between digital life and real life, you can also find Summer curled up with a good book or out hiking with her husband and puppy.
