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	November 9, 2005 .................... LCMSNews -- No. 73

	High school finds benefits in offering classes online

	By Paula Schlueter Ross

	It hasn't bought more land or built more classrooms, but
Lutheran High School of Orange County (Calif.) is making its Christian
education available to a wider range of students than ever before.

	The LCMS high school now offers 26 classes -- about half of its
curriculum -- online, and administrators there say they are working
toward making all courses accessible to students worldwide via a Web
site.

	Launched Sept. 5 and promoted nationally beginning in late
October, "Orange Lutheran High School Online," or "OLO," gives students
an opportunity to earn a high-school diploma without ever leaving home.
All they need is a computer with Internet access.

	Current online courses in math, science, English, history,
music, Spanish, and theology include lectures, reading assignments,
homework, quizzes, tests, even class "discussions" -- almost everything
a traditional class would include -- plus some valuable "extras,"
according to OLO Director Patty Young.

	Those extras include multi-media programs that allow students to
use "interactive maps." Students in OLO's New Testament class, for
example, can trace journeys of the Apostle Paul on such a map,"clicking"
with a computer mouse on different sites to "experience the sights and
sounds of the world that Paul lived in," according to Young.

	Another advantage OLO has over its traditional, "on-ground"
counterpart is that students can't "hide," adds Young.

	"In a traditional classroom, a student can sit in the back and
not say much," she explained. "But in a virtual classroom, what we've
discovered is that every student has to participate. A teacher will draw
out a student's response" whether that student is shy, self-conscious
about his or her appearance, or new to the school. "It doesn't matter
because online it's the great equalizer -- they'll really open up and
will share their opinions and thoughts, especially if they don't know
each other," said Young.

	Orange Lutheran began offering online courses more than two
years ago as a pilot program in collaboration with the University of
Phoenix, a public university that has offered Web-based degree programs
for years. Administrators from the Phoenix program helped the LCMS high
school set up their online program, design classes, hire and train
teachers (see related story), and produce promotional materials.

	Like its on-ground namesake, OLO's curriculum reflects Christian
values -- its "core value," like Orange Lutheran's, is "to share the
Gospel message."

	"Words of Scripture are shared on a daily basis -- it's just
online," says Young. OLO's curriculum is the same as Orange Lutheran's
on-ground curriculum, she said.

	"We can't compromise who we are," said Gregg Pinick, principal
of Lutheran High, Orange County. "So if it's going to say 'Orange
Lutheran Online,' it's going to be an Orange Lutheran class. And that
means [there will be] opportunities for sharing Jesus Christ in those
'classrooms' -- be it math, English, social studies, or theology. We
have to be able to do that."

	At present about 100 students are taking OLO classes -- many are
juniors and seniors enrolled at the Orange Lutheran campus who are
taking a mix of on-ground and online courses. But more than 40 are
full-time, diploma-seeking, online students, including a boy from
Bermuda and an Orange County boy who takes all his classes online but
also plays for the on-ground school's "Lancers" football team.

	Of the latter student, Pinick says, "When he found out that he
could also play interscholastic sports and still be online, he got the
best of both worlds. So he does his online courses, and then at the end
of the day he comes [to the campus] for football practice." The local
boy never sets foot in a traditional classroom, says Pinick, "but he's a
Lancer."

	Each online class runs five days a week for eight weeks, and
students are required to log on and do assignments each weekday. They
can do their online work anytime during each of those 24-hour periods,
but they must participate each day. Teachers post lectures, assignments,
and discussion questions, and provide feedback to students -- all
online.

	Young says OLO students log in "from all over the country." The
program is ideal, she said, for home-schooling families, Americans
living overseas, and U.S. students who need to make up a course or two
to graduate.

	Students who are "pre-motivated" are best-suited for OLO, Young
said, because "it's a rigorous curriculum that would require someone who
has strong writing skills and reading comprehension." At the same time,
she adds, it doesn't require any fancy, high-tech equipment.

	Orange Lutheran senior Kris Gilman of Anaheim Hills, Calif., is
taking two online classes in addition to on-ground courses. "There are
both advantages and disadvantages" to the online program, according to
Gilman, who says he enjoys being able to do coursework "at home on my
own time" but admits it is "sometimes difficult to express myself to the
teachers."

	Senior Ashley Baratta of Orange says she enjoys being able to
"log on any time of the day." Course content, Baratta adds, "is just as
good" as her on-ground classes. "We move pretty quickly, but I like it."

	Elizabeth Power, a senior from Garden Grove, Calif., says her
two online classes give her "extra time in my day so I can do both
online work, as well as my regular homework." She also likes "the open
forum with other students [where] discussions are as if I am actually in
a classroom." And, she adds, "I like that no one can interrupt."

	The flexibility of online courses is a plus for teenagers, says
Pinick, and OLO courses cost students about half as much tuition as
taking them on the Orange Lutheran campus.

	But the real beauty of the program, he says, is its potential
for sharing the Gospel worldwide -- not just in Orange, Calif. Pinick
says he expects OLO to attract high-school students from all over the
world -- both Christians and non-Christians.

	"It's exciting," he said, to consider the impact of OLO's
Christian-based curriculum on those who may not have heard the Gospel.
Says Pinick: "We don't know fully how God will use [OLO], except we know
that this is what we're supposed to be doing."

	****************************************

	If you have questions or comments about this LCMSNews release,
contact Joe Isenhower Jr. at joe.isenhower@lcms.org or (314) 996-1231,
or Paula Schlueter Ross at paula.ross@lcms.org or (314) 996-1230.

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