(SitNews) Ketchikan, Alaska - School districts across Alaska are leading the way for change in our public education systems including the Ketchikan School District. In the summer of 2014, the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District was awarded a 3-year "Digital Teaching Initiative Grant" to start the Alaska Digital Academy.  

The intention of the Alaska Digital Academy is to deliver high quality interactive distance courses to Alaskan middle and high school students.

Now that the grant has ended, the Alaska Digital Academy has moved to its sustainability plan of offering online courses to any Alaskan student. Their scalable system is flexible enough to allow for tuition-based enrollments or, should funding allow for it, tuition-free courses.

Any students who are enrolled in one of the partner districts of Annette Island School District, Craig City School District, Hydaburg City School District, Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District, Klawock City School District, Southeast Island School District can take distance classes from the Alaska Digital Academy (AKDA). The Alaska Digital Academy works to offer increased opportunities for students through a Enriched Virtual instruction model.

These courses are taught by highly qualified teachers who are proficient in distance technology and who understand alternative forms of education.  Students will have access to teachers throughout the school day, after school hours, and when school is not in session. Students will regularly demonstrate mastery through performance-based assessments, assessments during the unit or course, and end-of-unit or -course assessments. Educators will use student assessment results to support interventions that increase student success.

Qualified content area teachers from the Ketchikan Gateway Borough School District are the teachers of record for each course. There will be designated on-site mentors to help students with immediate needs.

The Alaska Digital Academy (AKDA) provides an online enrollment portal to high quality interactive courses for middle and high school students. These courses are taught by highly qualified teachers who are proficient in distance technology and who understand alternative forms of education.

According to Alaska Digital Academy's website, currently, each partner district can enroll their students in up to 25 semester courses without cost. Any costs beyond that limit are listed under courses (see below).

For more information watch this video: https://eduvision.tv/l?Pz0pAA

On the Web:

Alaska Digital Academy (AKDA)
http://www.alaskadigitalacademy.org

Registration
http://alaskadigitalacademy.org/Guardian/CreateParent

Courses & Costs
http://www.alaskadigitalacademy.org/Courses/Courses

Reporting & Editing by Mary Kauffman, SitNews

Source of News:

Alaska Council of School Administrators (ACSA)
www.alaskaacsa.org

Alaska Digital Academy (AKDA)
www.alaskadigitalacademy.org

 

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