Today's students learn in a variety of ways, so it follows that our schools must strive to accommodate this diverse group of learners. American Virtual Academy utilizes an online platform to deliver a real-world, interactive education that engages all learning styles with instructors who provide personalized, one-on-one attention.
AVA's courses utilize traditional research-based practices that encourage growth and progress. Students are required to master the content, apply this content to a realistic project, and then reflect on it with relevant discussions. This allows students to think through tasks and accordingly produce quality and thoughtful work. Each lesson incorporates the use of educational theories and practices that have proven to be highly successful in curriculum development for the teenage learner, including:
- Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning
- Jerome Bruner's Constructivist Model
- John Keller's ARCS Motivational Model
- Robert Gagne's Events of Instruction
- Lev Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development
- SIOP© EL Language Development Skills
American Virtual Academy recognizes that each state has their own educational standards. As a testament to our educational accountability we use these state standards as the core for each course that we develop. In order to fully prepare students to master these state-defined objectives, each student's progress is tracked by our proprietary software. At any time point in time administrators, teachers, parents, as well as the student themselves can view their progress to make sure they are on track to meet designated achievement points. Because of this philosophy we have consistently seen standardized test scores improve, not because the courses are “teaching to the test”, but because students are obtaining valuable time management and goal setting skills.
American Virtual Academy has spent years creating and perfecting systems to address the various demands of online schooling. In order to effectively meet these demands, we have taken a holistic approach by offering a fully integrated software suite that an organization needs to effectively manage and grow an online program.
What makes our system offerings so unique is that we manage them for you. This hosted solution means there are no large infrastructure investments or the need to become technology experts. We take care of the details, allowing you to focus on educating students.
The following offerings represent the most cutting-edge technology in the industry and allow administrators, teachers, students and parents alike to easily access, navigate and manage their daily activities.
Our digital classroom is engineered specifically for the teenage mind using technologies that are user friendly. Course blogs and classroom discussions allow for collaborative learning while providing the essential sense of community. Students can customize the interface to their liking such as choosing color and layout. Teachers also have the opportunity to develop curriculum and personalize courses for their students.
This is the hub for all school-related information. It is a monitored community network where students can create a profile and communicate with other students. It is also where parents and students can view current class enrollment, progress and performance, as well as obtain technical support.
Communication will always represent a major factoring in maximizing performance and achieving success. Our communication center integrates a number of tools that centralize all channels of communication between student and teacher. A sampling of these tools includes: a student directory, class blogs, gradebook, live chat, and classroom discussions.
Administrators need to measure outcomes and results in order to make good decisions for their schools. Our robust system allows you to produce instant reports on a wealth of quantitative and qualitative data. This information can then be used to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the curriculum, audit teacher and student activities, review completion and retention rates, and track student progress.
Teachers play a pivotal role in framing the success of any school program. They spend years mastering the strategies and skills necessary to yield success in the classroom. These skills typically translate well into most learning environments, however online teaching comes with its own set of unique challenges. If you are starting a new online program, it is essential that you have a plan of action to give your staff the necessary tools and exposure for online teaching success.
The teaching staff at American Virtual Academy has a wealth of experience in both traditional classroom and virtual environments. They have also played a significant role in developing and optimizing our online systems. Because we understand the seemingly daunting task of transitioning classroom teaching experience into online proficiency, we are now offering a comprehensive teaching training program that allows teachers with little or no online teaching experience to learn what it takes to be successful.
Training programs can be highly customized to meet your needs. They typically include a mix of both online and face-to-face learning opportunities. Sessions incorporate the same technology used for students such as webinars, blogs, online books, and exercises. In addition to the teaching training we also offer services to help you manage your staffing needs such as the recruiting and hiring of accredited and certified teachers. Below is a basic overview of our teacher training offerings.
Teacher Training Topics:
- Basic web training
- Education-based software systems
- Learning Pedagogies
- Online Teaching Theories and Practices
- Systems interface, navigation, management
- Student Communication
- Class Management
Whether you are a traditional school looking to start an online program, or after many years are considering making enhancements to your technology or curriculum—American Virtual Academy offers a variety of consulting services that will help your organization move to the next level. Our consulting offerings include the following areas of practice:
- Technology - We consult on the technology necessary to run your online school such as Learning Management Systems (LMS).
- Curriculum - We advise your school on the online curriculum offerings available including their alignment with state and national standards.
- Instruction - We consult on how to effectively recruit, train, and manage an online teaching staff.
- Admissions - We advise schools on how to properly design, staff, and manage the admissions department for an online school.
- Marketing - We consult with schools on how to properly market their organization's online programs in both the traditional and interactive channels.
- Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) - If your organization does not have the infrastructure or expertise to support any one of the aforementioned five areas of practice, AVA can outsource these services for you.