Innovative Learning Center
In college, students are expected to be proactive not reactive. Undergraduates need to feel comfortable independently identifying when they need assistance in course work and what resources to use to better their understanding of the material. Blended high school classrooms allow students to transition into this independent and proactive mindset. While students are encouraged to be proactive in blended high school classrooms, the teacher can initiate the conversation when it is apparent that students are struggling and guide them to the appropriate resources.
“I had a student struggling mightily in online Algebra Two so we sat down to see what the problem was and realized there were only a few concepts causing a barrier to his overall understanding,” said Brent Bower, online math teacher. “He left my office with instructions and resources to better understand these few concepts and came back with the most clarity that I had seen him work with the entire school year.”
The Innovative Learning Center (ILC) in Hilliard school district was created to facilitate experiences like this. The ILC is a partner school of College Ready Ohio (CRO) that has blended existing programming with newly developed ideas to offer options for each student to find their best fit. Students from all three of the district’s high schools and middle schools are shuttled to and from the ILC every 90 minutes to participate in classes in one of our four networks: College Jump Start, Imagination, Personal Success, and Young Professionals. Online classes like Bowers, are an option within these networks.
He has no physical classroom. Instead he meets with students that need assistance, either around the building or in his office. Bower is available 24/7 through his extensive library of video tutorials and lesson posts. Time away from the classroom does not take away from his connection to his students.
“I get to know kids better now than I may have ever in my previous traditional classroom,” said Bower. “When I get that same kid that appeared to not care or focus in the traditional classroom before, we meet one-on-one and he or she has a completely different attitude.”
The ILC networks contain courses that allow all students from grades 7-12 to come together in a centralized location to have an experience that may not have been possible at their home school. The foundation for this CRO partner school is that traditional schooling and traditional programs do not meet the needs of every student. In an effort to meet the unique needs of all students, the ILC was developed to enhance the experience of students, not replace their home school.
See more ways that partner schools are changing Ohio’s classrooms at collegeready.osu.edu/schools.