Course Provider Caveats

In an effort to highlight some "must know" facts and features about our various course providers, we've compiled them here for you.

If you have additional provider caveats you think should be shared with your Course Support peers, or if you would like to participate in a provider-specific Course Support orientation, please contact Leslie St. Pierre, Assistant Director of Course Support, at lstpierr@learningcommons.org.

Apex Learning

• Science labs: Labs are a required part of all AP science courses (in accordance with the College Board's guidelines). Most online AP courses offer students the choice between conducting hands-on lab experiments in the high school science lab or completing dry/virtual labs. Some colleges will only grant credit to students who have completed the hands-on labs and may require a completed lab manual as proof of actual lab experiments. Contact the college(s) for complete credit requirements. For all science courses that include activities to be done in a laboratory setting, Apex Learning requires that students do these activities online in a laboratory setting while supervised by a staff person qualified to supervise laboratory activities. To find out more about the labs and lab materials go to http://support.apexlearning.com, choose the product you are using and click on Get Started, then on Course and Lab Materials.
• Comprehensive and Essentials science students conduct experiments in the high school lab and at home. School personnel must supervise the labs at school, and students should follow all normal safety precautions for the at-home labs (no adult supervision required). For a list of required lab materials and equipment, go to http://support.apexlearning.com, choose the product you are using and click on Get Started, then on Course and Lab Materials.
  • If a school is unable to provide the required lab access and supervision, the lab requirements can be waived; however, it is at the discretion of the college with whom the student requests Advanced Placement to accept or reject the AP credit.
• Books: Apex orders materials opted for purchase by the DLC Registrar upon receipt of registration; materials are sent to the Teacher/Mentor's attention at the school.
• Course Support roles: Typically, Apex asks schools to designate a school Site Coordinator in addition to a Mentor for each subject your students are enrolled in. The DLC has designated Registrars as site coordinators; Teacher/Mentors are assigned to students by the Registrar just like in other courses.
• Registration confirmations: Apex emails your students their account information, including login and start-up instructions; Teacher/Mentors and Site Coordinators receive separate emails that include Mentor and Coordinator login information which provides access to student account info within the Apex system.
• Grades and progress information: Apex's mentor logins give Teacher/Mentors and Site Coordinators access to grades and progress information.
  • Although Teacher/Mentors have access to enrollment and grade info for any students taking an online class that falls in the same subject area as the Teacher/Mentor's assigned students, it's only necessary for Teacher/Mentors to access information about students who are assigned to them.
  • Site Coordinators are able to view grade and progress information for all of the school's students.

Aventa Learning

• Books: Aventa orders materials opted for purchase by the Registrar upon receipt of registration; materials are sent to the Teacher/Mentor's attention at the school.
• Registration confirmations: Aventa emails students their account information, including login and start-up instructions; Teacher/Mentors receive a copy of those welcome messages.
• Exam proctoring: Due to the common request to require proctoring of their credit recovery course unit exams, Aventa online teachers disseminate passwords needed to access the exams to the Teacher/Mentor. If the Teacher/Mentor does not need to proctor student exams, they may provide the password to the student at the beginning of the term, thus releasing total access to the student.
• Grades and progress information: In addition to emailing Teacher/Mentors with access to a course observer feature and online grade tracking system, Aventa Learning sends student progress reports to the student's assigned Teacher/Mentor, by email, every two weeks.

Internet Academy (IA)

• Books: IA courses generally link to required reading online, or require students to read materials readily accessible at local and school libraries. Neither the DLC nor IA orders these print materials for your students.
• Course Support roles: Typically, IA does not work with Teacher/Mentors, communicating instead with students' parents; however, IA considers DLC Teacher/Mentors the primary adult contact for students. IA instructors often engage parents, though, when parent contact information is provided during the registration process.
• Email: After students have retrieved their IA "welcome" email messages and login instructions from their DLC email accounts, all correspondence with IA should be done using IA's FirstClass email system. Students continue to use their DLC email accounts to communicate with their assigned DLC Student Mentors.
• Registration confirmations: IA emails students their account information, including login and start-up instructions; a copy of this email is sent to the Teacher/Mentor and parents.
• Grades and progress information: IA emails Teacher/Mentor logins to parents and Teacher/Mentors to access to students' grades and progress information.

Spokane Virtual Learning (SVL)

• Books: SVL courses generally link to required reading online, or require students to read materials readily accessible at local and school libraries. Neither the DLC nor SVL orders these print materials for your students.
• Registration confirmations: SVL emails students their account information, including login and start-up instructions; Teacher/Mentors receive a copy of those welcome messages.
• Grades and progress information: SVL sends student progress reports to the student's assigned Teacher/Mentor, by email, every two weeks.

University of Washington Extension (UWE)

• Books: Materials opted for purchase by the Registrar are by the DLC on your behalf and sent to the Teacher/Mentor's attention at the school.
• Course Support roles: UWE course instructors are not required to work with Teacher/Mentors, communicating instead with the students about their progress and grades. Teacher/Mentors are strongly encouraged to introduce themselves to the course instructors (contact information is included in the students' course introductions). Provide an explanation of your role as Teacher/Mentor, and let the instructor know that the student is a minor taking the course through your high school.
• Drop policy: The "start date" selected for UWE courses during the registration process determines the date on which the registration is sent to the provider. UWE registration processing may take up to one week. Therefore:
  • Students should expect to receive access to the course one week after the indicated start date.
  • Drops for UWE courses must be submitted to the DLC within two weeks of the processing/start date to be eligible for the 75% course fee reimbursement as per the DLC Drop Policy.
  • Students who wish to drop their UWE course must submit a written request to the DLC in addition to the drop request submitted via the DLC registration system; students should be warned that the drops are counted in their total allowance of UW drops (for more info, see the UW withdrawal policies).
• Transcripts: UWE college credit (non-ESL) courses are worth five college credits on University of Washington transcripts. While the grade awarded for the completion of the course does not affect a student's college GPA, credits and drops are counted.
• Registration confirmations: UWE sends student enrollment confirmation and start-up instructions in a letter mailed the Teacher/Mentor's attention at school. Note: Only one letter is sent to the student via the Teacher/Mentor.
• Grades and progress information: Most UWE instructors welcome the additional contact and support provided by Teacher/Mentors, but they are not required to share any grade information with anyone besides the student. Students should request that UWE instructors submit grade reports to their Teacher/Mentor on a regular basis.

VHS

• Books: Required books and materials are sent to the VHS-eligible Teacher/Mentor at the school one week after the course start date. Books can be tracked via the VHS media tracking system on the VHS website.
• Course Support roles: Once Teacher/Mentors have successfully completed the VHS Course Support Training and have signed the VHS participant agreement, they are given VHS login credentials and activated in the VHS system.
• Registration confirmations: VHS does not send registration confirmations and login information to the students. This information can be located within the DLC registration system in the registration roster under "Existing Registrations." Registrars should email VHS login and start date information to students' DLC email accounts upon registration.
• Grades and progress information: Student grades and progress information can be accessed via the VHS online grading system on the VHS faculty website.