March 2005

Online Courses Increase Opportunity

Oakesdale High School, Daniele Gardner, Class of 2004

"I wanted to apply to private schools, which are smaller and more competitive. So I needed a strong record and to be someone who stood out," says Daniele Gardner in response to why she took online classes through the Digital Learning Commons.

Daniele is a freshman at Santa Clara University in California, majoring in biology. She graduated from Oakesdale High School in Whitman County; there were twelve students in her graduating class.

"There were about forty to fifty students total," Daniele says. "I knew everybody in my high school. My English classes were for juniors and seniors my junior and senior years. A lot of the junior/senior classes are combined. They can't offer every class every quarter, because they don't have enough teachers."

More opportunities to challenge yourself as a student

"Oakesdale didn't have honors classes," Daniele explains, "so online classes were a way for me to take classes that were more challenging…Colleges are looking for students who are willing to put themselves out there."

During her senior year, Daniele took AP Statistics and Nutrition, a college-level course. (During her junior year, she took AP Psychology online, prior to her school's participation in the DLC, and she passed the AP exam with a high enough score to earn college credit.)

Daniele plans to go into Physical Therapy after undergraduate school. When she researched graduate programs through ECOS, statistics was an important class. ECOS, Education and Career Opportunities System, is a college and career planning tool offered through the DLC.

College-level courses offer a dose of reality

"I'm interested in health, so the Nutrition course jumped out at me. And I was able to earn college credits," Daniele says. "And when I got to college I was prepared. I already knew the level of work expected. Nothing came as a huge surprise."

The Nutrition course requirements included a couple of homework assignments, a midterm, and a final. These requirements had to be completed between October and February. It was up to Daniele to pace herself and set her own deadlines, since this was a college course. So she learned some valuable time-management skills.

"At the beginning of the year, I looked at the syllabus and made a schedule of when I wanted to have things done…I set a goal of taking my midterm by Christmas break during the week of my other midterms and finals," Daniele explains. "The AP classes already have that schedule set up for you."

Online instructors just an email away

Even though both classes required Daniele to tap into self-motivation, her online instructors were easy to reach when she had questions or needed clarification. "For the AP course, we were required to participate in online discussions with our teacher and the other students…If I had questions about the Nutrition class, I could email or call my professor."

Daniele had a class period in which she worked on assignments for her online classes. The classroom-based teacher/mentor was always present during this period in case students had questions, needed to call their instructors, or were taking a test that had to be proctored. Although Daniele is a self-starter who has always been actively involved in her learning, she can see the value of the teacher/mentor beyond administrative duties. "I can definitely see some students needing a mentor to be there to help them out and make sure assignments are completed."

Advice to students considering AP and college-level courses

"Your success is the result of the time you put into [online learning]. For those students who take initiative in their learning, I highly recommend it. The classes are more challenging, but they're also more interesting and more fun. They prepare you for college level classes, and you get a greater variety of classes through the Internet."

Daniele adds in closing: "I think the online classes helped, maybe not as far as being accepted, but in being admitted with distinction. And all the schools that accepted me offered scholarships."

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