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Online Campus

Time Requirements

How Much Time will a Fairfax County Public Schools Online Campus Course Require from a Student?

Often, a student is under the impression that a virtual class from the internet will be a quick and easy way of finishing a course for credit. In reality the time spent in an online course will demand at least the same amount as a typical face-to-face course.

A FCPS Online Campus course is designed to deliver fully-aligned FCPS High School curriculum. In every face-to-face course, an average high school student will be engaged for 3.5-5 hours per week for the entire school year (36 weeks).

Some quick facts about learning time:

• Starting a class in September: An average student will need to work 4.25 hours per week to finish a full credit online course by June.
  
• Starting a class in January: An average student will need to work 8.5 hour per week to finish a full credit online course by June
  
• Starting a class in Summer School: A student will need to work 30 hours per week for the 5 week session!

All online campus courses require at least 2 face-to-face meetings that are held in the evenings. These are for orientation and assessment purposes.

You can see that enrolling later in a section will create greater demands on the student's time. We also see students creating problems by enrolling early but not working in the online course. Our instructors will interact with their students, but in a virtual world (just like a face-to-face class), the student must be motivated to show up.

Recommendation for students and school counselors:

Don't overload your schedule.

• If you already have seven classes at your base school, you want to be very careful. It will be difficult to maintain your current class load and an additional online course without sacrificing your free-time and social activities.

Develop a routine.

• In a face-to-face high school class, the routine of attending classes regularly is a priority for success. The online staff understands that our courses allows flexibility in time, but routinely working online will increase your success in the course.

Schedule time for class.

• Whether you work at 6 am, 11 p.m., or all day Saturday, you need to block-out time to be online. We recommend that you schedule your time weekly for your online sessions especially when a routine hasn't been established.

Avoid the Roller Coaster Effect.

• When a student does no work for two weeks and then immerses himself for four days to catch-up, this is the "Roller Coaster Effect". Our instructors understand that many factors play into why a student is taking an online course. For students who are sick or injured, we see the roller coaster effect due to their treatment and condition. You need to communicate with your instructor when you have schedule or time conflicts.

Communicate with your instructor.

• Although a lot of the course can be done asynchronously (online at a different time as the instructor), feedback from the instructor is important. Whether turning in an assignment, posting to a discussion thread, or emailing a question for clarity, communicate regularly. This will give the instructor information to assist you in the learning process.

Testing

Teacher Administered

• Teacher administered tests will be posted on the course website.  It is up to the discretion of the teacher as to how these tests will be administered.  The teacher will decide the percentage of each test within the total course grade.  See the course syllabus page for more information.
  

Final or End of Course Exam

• All courses include a Final, End of Course exam, or appropriate administered activity that is based upon the Program of Studies standards.  Testing locations and times are posted on the course web page.  All students will need a picture ID for the testing.  Teachers may require students to bring other supplies such as #2 pencils to the exam. 

Standardized Testing

• All Standards of Learning and Advanced Placement Testing will occur at a student's base school. See your counselor for details.

Tech Requirements

Note: Students will not be able to access and complete online courses using iPads, iPhones, Blackberries, Smart Phones, and tablets.  Currently, Macs are not supported in FCPS.  However, students do use Macs to take online courses.  We test all computers through our Student Technology Primer Course.

Your system must meet or exceed the following minimum requirements:

PC/Windows:

• Supported versions of Windows and Java:
• Windows XP (32 bit) with 32 bit Java
• Windows Vista (32 bit) with 32 bit Java
• Windows Vista (64 bit) with 64 bit Java
• Windows 7 (32 bit) with 32 bit Java
• Windows 7 (64 bit) with 64 bit Java
• Pentium III 1 GHz processor
• Supported Client Java Versions (Please Note - Blackboard Collaborate Support recommends that you use Java 1.6.0_13 or higher for the best experience!)
• 1.5
• 1.6 (32 and 64 bit)
• 32 bit Java with 32 bit Operating System
• 64 bit Java with 64 bit Operating System
• Java Access Bridge 2.0.1 (Using Jaws)
• Supported Browsers for use with Blackboard Collaborate
• IE 7
• IE 8
• IE 9
• Firefox 3.6+
• Google Chrome 3.0.15
• 256 MB of free RAM
• 20 MB free disk space
• 28.8 kbps Internet connection
• Speaker and Microphone, headsets are preferred

MAC:

• Supported versions of Mac OS X and Java:
• OS X 10.5 (32 bit) with 32 bit Java
• OS X 10.5 (64 bit) with 64 bit Java
• OS X 10.6 (64 bit) with 32 bit Java
• OS X 10.6 (64 bit) with 64 bit Java
• G4, G5 or Intel processor
• Supported Client Java Versions:
• Apple Java 1.5.0_16 (J2SE5 - 32 bit) or higher
• Apple Java 1.6.0_07 (J2SE6 - 64 bit) or higher
• Supported Browsers for use with Blackboard Collaborate:
• Safari 4.x or 5.x
• Firefox 3.6+
• 256 MB of free RAM
• 20 MB free disk space
• 28.8 kbps Internet connection
• Speaker and Microphone, headsets are preferred

Is Online Learning For You?

Take the Quiz
Online courses provide additional educational opportunities for students with their anywhere, any time method.  To be a successful student with this method of learning, students need to consider the following questions prior to registering for an online course. To take the quiz, you'll need Flash Player.