Volcano School to Pilot Blended Learning

The Volcano School of Arts and Sciences, a state public charter school in Hawaii, is piloting a blended learning program in the upcoming school year.

The program, called the Kula 'Amakihi Community-Based Education Program, will be open to any student in grade 1-8. However, the school will limit the program to 30 students for the first year. The school will also designate one educator as the main teacher and coordinator of the program, although the teacher will receive support from the Volcano School's other teachers.

The program will use both digital and print-based curriculum, as well as project-based learning. Students will spend at least seven hours a week in face-to-face instructional time with a licensed teacher and the rest of their time learning from home. Students will be required to take Smarter Balanced and other statewide assessments, including NWEA, Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA) and classroom assessments.

School representatives said they hope the program will appeal to students who are currently homeschooled, according to a report in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. "Once they enroll, they're no longer homeschooled kids but they will be doing most of their learning at home or in the home environment, just not physically on campus," Kalima Cayir, education director of the Volcano School, told the publication.

Based on the results of the pilot program, the school plans to expand the Kula 'Amakihi Community-Based Education Program in the 2016-17 school year.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Two autonomous AI figures performing tasks in a tech environment; one interacts with floating holographic screens, while the other manipulates digital components

    Gartner Names Agentic AI Top Tech Trend for 2025

    Research firm Gartner has named Agentic AI as the top tech trend for 2025. The term describes autonomous machine "agents" that move beyond query-and-response generative chatbots to do enterprise-related tasks without human guidance.

  • students using technology in the classroom

    Community School of Digital and Visual Arts Selects DreamBox Reading Plus

    North Carolina's Community School of Digital and Visual Arts is ramping up efforts to improve student achievement in reading with the deployment of DreamBox Reading Plus by Discovery Education.

  • minimalist geometric grid pattern of blue, gray, and white squares and rectangles

    Windows Server 2025 Now Generally Available

    Microsoft has announced the general availability of Windows Server 2025. The release will enable organizations to deploy applications on-premises, in hybrid setups, or fully in the cloud, the company said.

  • futuristic VR goggles with blue LED accents, placed in front of a fantastical landscape featuring glowing hills, a shimmering river, and floating islands under a twilight sky

    Los Angeles Unified School District Adopts VR Learning Platform, Resources

    Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) recently announced a partnership with Avantis Education to bring educational virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) solution ClassVR to its students. A news release reports that the district has already deployed more than 16,000 ClassVR headsets as part of the Los Angeles Unified Instructional Technology Initiative.