Using Our Courses
Virtual Elementary School (VES) recognizes that students need flexibility in how they participate in their education and in how they meet their goals. VES offers this flexibility and provides the tools for families to meet their educational needs. VES does not hold students to any due dates or schedules, allowing students to pursue other commitments and interests. This flexibility also allows for the accommodation of special needs that are limited by traditional school schedules.
Our students and families come from a variety of backgrounds. Students who find the demands of a physical classroom challenging may find VES’s self-paced environment to be a more positive learning experience.
Students may use our courses as a component of an exclusive homeschooling program. VES courses include all of the content and tools that a learning coach needs to deliver the curriculum. Visit our Homeschooling page to learn more about homeschooling in Ontario.
Students may use VES courses while also attending a day school. Students may use their VES course to engage with challenging content beyond what is taught in their physical classroom, as a supplement to review content from previous grades, or for additional practice with the curriculum outside of what is being taught in their physical classroom.
Built-in Tools and Accessibility
Support Features for Everyone
At VES, we recognize that all students are unique. We prioritize the needs of our students by designing our courses and services to respond effectively to those needs. Our self-paced education model offers many integrated accommodations to all of our students in all of our courses.
On-Demand Assessments
No Assignment Due Dates
Rather than providing set deadlines, VES lets students decide when they want to submit assignments or complete tests. The only deadline imposed by VES is a 12-month course expiration date which is determined using the student’s enrolment date. This means that students can finish as quickly as they would like or take advantage of our full 12-month time limit (with the option to purchase course extensions where necessary)!
Chunking of Coursework and Assignments
Students are welcome to divide up their course content and assignments in a way that works best for them. For example, some students may choose to stick to a traditional school day model from Monday to Friday, while others may find they are more productive in the evenings or on weekends.
Online Submissions and Tests
All VES assignments and tests are designed to be accessed on a computer with a strong internet connection. The content and assessments are all housed within D2L’s Brightspace Learning Management System, so students do not need to sign in via multiple webpages and apps to complete or submit their coursework. All VES courses contain navigation tips and training, making the transition to our LMS seamless.
Open Book Unit Tests
All unit tests in all VES courses are open book, so students have access to their course content while completing unit tests.
Built-in Tools
ReadSpeaker
The ReadSpeaker tool is available in all courses and can read the content aloud to the student. ReadSpeaker allows a student to increase and decrease text size, change the colour of the text and background, and use a highlighting tool that masks the page so they only see a few lines of text at once. It also has a built-in dictionary and translation tool on each page.
Pacing Tool
The Pacing Tool helps students gauge their time when completing assignments so they can work to meet any completion goals. Students can input their preferred completion date, and the pacing tool will give suggestions for due dates for assignments. This information is for the student’s use only, as neither their teacher (in facilitated courses) nor VES will see these dates or hold the student accountable to them. The tool is flexible so the preferred completion date can be modified by the student if needed.
Accessible Multimedia
Alternative (Alt) Text for Informative Images
Each informative image in a VES course is equipped with alt text, which provides a written description of the image to assist students who have visual impairments and use screen-reading tools. Alt text will also appear if an image fails to load on a student’s device so that the student is still able to understand the context of the missing image.
High Contrast Images
For images that are necessary for comprehension in a course (e.g., a graph in a science course), the images are contrasted to ensure those with visual impairments can learn the appropriate content from the image. If the image does not have appropriate contrast, an in-depth description accompanies the graphic.
Closed Captions and Text-Based Transcripts for All Audio and Video
Any video or audio content included in VES courses includes closed captioning and/or a text-based transcript so students can easily read along with the video or audio clip.
Have a question about using VES courses in your learner’s education plan? Contact us today!