The Online School for Girls, just launched in September, selected Haiku LMS as their virtual campus. We asked the chair of the school’s technology committee, Jason Curtis, to reflect on the process and challenges of taking a brick and mortar concept to the virtual space.
I think there is intrinsic value in reflecting both on where you are and how you got there. I did this recently with respect to my work with the newly founded Online School for Girls. Sometimes that path is twisted and difficult to follow and sometimes events fall into a straight line connecting the past and present. Looking back over the last nine months, I would say that the path has been straight as an arrow, but uphill all the way.
In April, my colleague, Larry Goodman, Co-Director of the Center for Research on Girls, shared an exciting, if not overly an ambitious idea. Larry had been contacted by Brad Rathgeber, the Director of Technology at Holton-Arms School in Bethesda. Brad wanted to gather several of the best girls’ schools in the country and create the first ever girls-only online school.
All the right pieces fell into place
We were already in the process of investigating ways to begin offering classes online at Laurel School, so it seemed as though the stars were aligned, and we jumped in with both feet and joined the effort board. I quickly came to understand that my timeline did not quite fit the timeline envisioned by the other board members. They wanted to start classes in September. I had only spoken to these people a handful of times and never in person, yet we were supposed to create a school from the ground up… in six months. As our first face to face board meeting, slated for July, drew closer, the idea of September classes seemed farther and farther from reality. In early June, my thoughts turned to ways I could convince the board to delay their plans and give us a chance to dot our i’s and cross our t’s. And then we met.
In July I flew to DC full of apprehension and doubt. After three days sequestration and intense work with the other 7 board members, I left not only ready to launch in September, but also ready to take on any comers who said we couldn’t! In those three days, I learned that giving a roomful of motivated experts a series of improbable tasks results in some really creative solutions. We laid the groundwork for an online school deeply rooted in research on how girls learn best and how girls interact with technology.
Translating classroom connections to an online environment
During this process, we knew that we would need a way to make girls feel connected, give them opportunities to collaborate, reward their creativity and help them apply their learning to the real world. Finding one tool to facilitate all of this was challenging. After looking at the usual learning management systems, one of my teachers discovered Haiku, and I was blown away. Haiku’s ability to embed Web 2.0 content compliments the philosophy of the Online School for Girls by allowing girls the interaction that research tells us is so important to the learning processes of girls.
Throughout this process we have overcome staggering obstacles, and today I am happy to report that the Online School for Girls did indeed launch in September and by all accounts has had an excellent beginning. The number of member schools has doubled, our teachers are enjoying their courses, and the students are building relationships and thriving academically. Looking back, it has indeed been an uphill climb, but worth every step.
About the Author
For the last ten years, Jason Curtis has worked in both public and private k-12 schools in the field of academic technology, first as a technology facilitator and then as a director of technology. His career, most recently, has brought him from Houston, Texas, to Shaker Heights, Ohio, where he serves as the Director of Information Resources and Library Services. Jason, his wife and three children are working hard to adjust to what the natives refer to as, “winter,” but love living in Ohio. In his spare time, Jason is an active board member and the technology committee chair for the Online School for Girls.
Jason has used Haiku LMS at Laurel School and the Online School for Girls since August 2009.
