Inside a GRPS online class

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - They are high school freshmen in the same Grand Rapids Public Schools classroom, but Eduardo Moreno is studying fjords, Devon Baker is studying oceans and Araceli Hurtado is studying the history of the United Farm Workers.

"It's pretty flexible in here," teacher Melissa Gorman told 24 Hour News 8. "My students are taking two to three classes online. They can choose which subject they want to be working on."

Moreno, Baker and Hurtado -- like all ninth-graders at GRPS' Academy for Design and Construction -- take their math, English, science and history classes online using a system called E2020. In his 'State of Our Schools' speech Wednesday night, Superintendent Bernard Taylor said the in-classroom online classes are an option he wants more students to have.

Use of online classes is on the rise. An educational technology consultant for the Kent Intermediate School District estimated 10 of the 20 ISD districts are using E2020 in some way, though the consultant said most use the system for students who have to make up coursework. GRPS is somewhat unique in offering the courses as an option from the beginning, he said.

So, what does an electronic lesson look like?

Students take a pre-quiz before a lesson, to determine if the student already has mastered the material. If the student hasn't, he or she will watch a video lecture. Then, Hurtado said, students might get a vocabulary lesson, some practice questions and some homework.

Once a student has completed that work, he or she goes to the teacher to review. And then, a quiz. Students might take one every day to make sure they're learning what shows up on the screen.

After quizzes, students go back to the teacher to see how they did and what they did wrong. And they have a chance to fix it.

"We're not saying to them, number four, five and six are wrong, go guess if it's 'a,' 'b,' 'c,' or 'd,' come back," Gorman said. "They've got to learn the material before they can re-do it."

The computers are available for students after school or on Saturdays. "You'd be surprised how many students take advantage of that," the teacher said. "They like being here."

Students do have mid-terms and finals.

Hurtado didn't know some of her classes would be online when she signed up for the academy.

"I wanted to get out. But then I knew I had to try it," she said. Now, she said she's doing well.

The ninth-grader's electives and specialty classes such as design and construction are taught more traditionally. There are things she likes about each, she said.

The online classes are "more one-on-one and you get to know the teacher more. And then on the traditional, you get to see your friends more and everything but the teacher just teaches to the whole group," Hurtado said.

More one-on-one attention in a class of 45?

Moreno and Baker said the same thing -- and so did their teacher. The classes do have two teachers plus other adults. Students are working at their own pace, something Moreno, Baker and Hurtado said they enjoy. And they aren't all asking for help at once, the ninth-graders and Gorman said.

"Some of my special ed learners have done better than some of the general ed learners," Gorman said. "It's really reaching a lot of kids."