Online FAQ

You will receive an email at the beginning of your course with information to teach you how to "navigate" the system. All your assignments are listed in a checklist, and there is a course calendar that tells you when each assignment is due. You will also be able to email and call your teacher when you need assistance. The big difference in an online course is that the student must take responsibility for planning worktime, keeping up-to-date with assignments, and reaching out to the teacher before any small need becomes a difficult problem.

There is no textbook. Ideas and information are presented in the online course platform. You use the online materials to complete the assignments and create the products required for the course.

A teacher is essential in an online course! Our course delivery software allows teachers and students to communicate with each other using email, instant messaging, and video conferences, all within the safety of the closed course platform. Our teachers are necessary to the design and delivery of online learning, and any student who takes an online course in Virginia Beach Digital Campus operates under the guidance of an experienced professional instructor. In fact, students have commented that their online teachers are able to get to know them well and care deeply about their success.

VBDC courses are delivered using a Learning Management System called Brightspace. To see it in action, see the course demonstration below. To be successful in an online class, you need a computer in your home and a high-speed internet connection. You follow links to course content that take you to written material, videos, interactivities like timelines and presentations, and assessments. You "turn in" assignments on time using a Dropbox that’s built into the system, and share ideas with other students in discussions that are part of the course requirements.

By following the link below, you will be able to view sample content from several of the Virginia Beach Digital Campus courses. Just follow these steps:

1. Click on the link https://vbschools.desire2learn.com
2. When you arrive at the Virginia Beach Digital Campus portal, enter the username: 128-demo. Don't forget the 128-!
3. Enter the password: password
4. Click the login button
5. When you arrive at the "My Home" page, read the "News" item in the center of the page. It will tell you how to access the demonstration course content.

Take a close look at these Minimum Computer Requirements. If your computer matches these requirements and you have a good high-speed internet connection at home, you should be fine.

Desktop Support

Tablet and Mobile Support

Plug-ins Needed:

A webcam and microphone are highly recommended, so students may take advantage of the web conferencing tutorial opportunities.

Software:

• All users will need a Word Processing application capable of opening documents in Rich Text Format. If your computer does not have such an application, we recommend Google Docs or a free open source office tools suite called Open Office:
  • PC users - http://www.openoffice.org/download/
  • Mac users - http://www.openoffice.org/porting/mac/
• Media Player – we recommend VLC which can be downloaded free at http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

No, phones and tablets do not have adequate processing speed and memory to run our enriched curriculum. Many features of the course exist as Flash files, which are not supported by iPads.

If your course has materials that the teacher needs to give you, there will be a face-to-face meeting that you will have to attend. If your course requires such a meeting, your teacher will contact you using the email address you provided when you registered. Some science courses have experiments you need to do at home, using only materials that most people have in their homes.

If you register for English 11, Geometry, Algebra 1, Algebra 2/Trig, Biology, Earth Science, Chemistry, VA/US History, World History I, World History II, or World Geography, you will be expected to attend the SOL Test scheduled during the summer school program. SOL tests are scheduled in a face-to-face setting at the Renaissance Academy. Information about dates, times, and locations for these tests will be provided by your online instructor.

If you need your industry certification to graduate, then you may be expected to complete the WISE exam. Teachers will provide information to students about this testing once summer classes begin.

In Virginia Beach Digital Campus courses, there is a high level of interaction between teacher and student. Through telephone conversations, emails, oral assessments, and other communications, the teacher becomes familiar with each student's patterns of thinking and expression. The teacher can also tell when the student is logged in to the course and how much time is spent doing each task. Parents can also monitor student progress by logging into the course and examining student work.

Teachers will arrange for optional face-to-face tutorial meetings. In addition, teachers will offer tutorials using web conferencing software. A face-to-face meeting will be established for courses bearing an SOL End-of-Course test. Three mandatory meetings are required for Online HPE I and Online HPE II.