Grinnell College Will Partner With Global Online Academy to Offer For-Credit Courses for High School Students
News Releases 2013-09-13
Summary:
Grinnell, Iowa—High school students at a select group of 32 schools across the U.S. and in four other countries will be able to take some Grinnell College courses for credit online, thanks to a new partnership between Grinnell and Global Online Academy.
A nonprofit partnership of leading independent schools, Global Online Academy is designed to bring the intellectually rigorous programs and excellent teaching of its member schools online.
"We are very pleased to announce this innovative new partnership," said Raynard S. Kington, president of Grinnell College. "Global Online Academy offers online courses that are consistent with what we emphasize and value here at Grinnell: small classes, close attention from talented faculty members, and small-group discussions. This new partnership will give Grinnell exposure to the world of online education in an environment that allows our faculty to interact with very talented high school students. A lot of schools are talking about MOOCs—but this is the approach that seems right for Grinnell."
While much attention has been paid to MOOCs—massive, open, online courses that allow large-scale enrollments—Kington noted that there are several important differences between MOOCs and Global Online Academy offerings. GOA classes are deliberately small (enrollment is capped at 18), and students are graded and evaluated as they would be in a traditional classroom setting. Perhaps most importantly, Global Online Academy courses are offered for credit. Students who enroll in Grinnell's GOA classes will receive course credit at their own high school, as well as course credit that will apply if they enroll at Grinnell.
"This is an exciting and important new opportunity for GOA students," said Michael Nachbar, director at Global Online Academy. "Allowing our students to participate in college courses—particularly at an academically rigorous liberal arts college like Grinnell—will allow our students to explore subjects that are academically interesting and challenging while supplementing their coursework and preparing for college. Students will be able to engage with world-class Grinnell faculty around challenging and rewarding ideas while earning academic credit. This is a very valuable addition to our programs."
Global Online Academy seeks to complement the strong course offerings of its member schools by providing classes that don't exist within existing programs. Grinnell's immediate plan is to offer one course—Advanced Statistics, taught by Shonda Kuiper, associate professor of mathematics and statistics—beginning in fall 2013. Enrollment for the course—as for all GOA courses—will be limited to 18 students, to ensure close faculty attention and productive student interactions.
How Do GOA Classes Work? GOA classes meet asynchronously in an online classroom, where students share and discuss ideas and materials. Because students come from time zones all over the world, the classes do not have set meeting times; rather, the professor creates the class materials and assigns student work throughout the week. Students manage their own schedules, logging into an online learning management system to complete assignments and engage with the class. Students collaborate on work with their classmates, often using Skype or other similar platforms. Students work together on projects, discussions and in other collaborative ways. Experienced GOA staff work with teachers to develop online courses, which often incorporate online materials (video, photos, news media, journal articles) that supplement teacher-created materials. Through discussion boards and video-recordings, teachers facilitate dialogue among students and ensure that every member of the class participates and is heard. Though the class doesn't regularly gather as a whole through an online chat room or videoconferencing, teachers hold regularly scheduled virtual office hours, and having the classroom online allows students to interact constantly with the subject matter, supplemental materials and one another.
Funding for the Program Grinnell's involvement in Global Online Academy will be supported by a gift from Clint Korver '89 and Miriam Rivera, of Atherton, Calif. Korver, who chairs Grinnell's Board of Trustees, said he made the gift to help Grinnell explore innovative new innovative teaching strategies, including new uses of technology to enhance our liberal arts curriculum. "We're still in the early days of understanding what constitutes great online teaching and learning," Korver said. "And I believe Grinnell has an opportunity to contribute to best