eLearning & Technology

Technology:  A part of us; not apart from us!

Oak Hills is committed to providing Anywhere, Anytime, Any Device Access to support students and staff.

A Framework for eLearning & Technology at Oak Hills

Defining eLearning at Oak Hills

Broadly, eLearning at Oak Hills occurs when teachers and students use technology to support their achievement of academic goals.

More specifically, Oak Hills provides eLearning opportunities in many ways including the following:

Companion Sites

Companion sites complement a teacher’s brick and mortar classroom. All teachers, grades 6 through 12, have companion sites (as do many elementary teachers). Companion sites feature:

  • Syllabus
  • Week at a glance
  • News forum (for communication)
  • FAQ forum
  • Important class links
  • Electronic versions of classroom resources (like presentations, handouts, worksheets, etc.)

Hybrid Courses

Hybrid courses split their time between a brick and mortar classroom and an online classroom. Oak Hills currently offers:

  • 9th Grade World History
  • 9th Grade Language Arts
  • Intro to Engineering
  • Sociology
  • Capstone
  • eLearning 3: Societal Outreach through Technology (2012-2013)
  • eLearning 4: Digital Citizenship Community and Media (2012-2013)

Online Courses

Online courses are held mainly online. Students typically complete 5 to 7 hours worth of work each week on their own time. Oak Hills currently offers (or is in the midst of piloting):

  • Spanish 1 (7th Grade)
  • Spanish 2 (2012-2013) (8th Grade)
  • Mandarin 1 (8th Grade)
  • Mandarin 2 (2012-2013) (9th Grade)
  • Health (8th through 12th)
  • Personal Finance (2012-2013) (To be determined)

If you are interested in finding more information about hybrid or online courses and whether it is a good opportunity for your student, please contact your school counselor.

Our Community’s 3 Year Vision for Technology and eLearning

Oak Hills recently completed an engagement process to outline its goals for the next three years (2012-2015).

Goal 1: Academic Excellence

2012-2015: Technology amplifies all students’ ability to achieve measurable academic progress, career & college readiness, and global competency.

Strategies:

  • PD will provide staff with the support needed to implement and use the technologies chosen.
  • Provide support to students & parents on the chosen technologies.
  • Empower students through access to electronic tools that help them measure their growth and learning, increasing ownership of their education and independence.

Goal 2: Communication

2012-2015 Improve and increase consistent two-way communication and collaboration within the school community and with district stakeholders.

Strategies:

  • The community will receive scheduled communication regarding district and building initiatives.
  • The district will seek feedback from its community members and respond promptly.
  • The students will receive communication and be able to share with teachers, families, and other stakeholders their learning initiative using technology while learning about technology.

Goal 3: Universal Access & Collaboration

2012-2015 Collaboration of ideas and learning will occur through the cloud and appropriate/emerging learning tools that work anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

Strategies:

  • Students will collaborate during and after school through use of the cloud and other technology.
  • With the use of technology, stakeholders will be able to share learning and ideas.
  • Students will have access to handheld devices on a daily basis.
  • Implement an eTextbook pilot program by replacing traditional textbooks with electronic books and digitizing classroom instructional materials and curriculum (moving toward a paperless classroom).
  • Expand open access/BYOD to all levels (elementary/middle/high school).

Goal 4: Innovation/Adaptability/Experimentation/Exploration

2012-2015 Recognize, investigate, and evaluate new technologies that offer promise to meet and exceed our goals of preparing our students to be college and career ready.

Strategies:

  • Solicit and share information from sources including conferences, journals, media, and businesses, both inside and outside the education world.
  • Experiment, pilot and evaluate new technologies.
  • Design goals and measures of success for identified technology against which effectiveness and scalability of the technology will be measured at identified milestones.
  • Pilot in an experiment group or activity and compare to a control group or activity.
  • Implement ongoing differentiated professional development and modeling and provide resources.

Additional Resources

To view a sample of some of our initiatives, please view:

  • For information regarding Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), please click here
  • Oak Hills Portfolio, please click here
  • Oak Hills Portal (a collection of our online resources), please click here