Your teachers will provide feedback on any assignments or projects you complete. You can also contact your teacher via email or voicemail. In addition, each teacher has weekly Elluminate sessions to review materials and engage students as well as regularly scheduled online office hours. During scheduled time, students interact with the teacher and other students in a virtual classroom. Students are also assigned a homeroom teacher when they begin their education with iQ Academy Arizona.
Progress is measured through quizzes, exams, written essays, assignments, projects, and proctored semester exams.
A half-credit course is designed to take 18 weeks or about 90 hours. As a general guideline, in addition to the time you spend online, you should also count on spending time reading, completing assignments, and studying for tests and exams. Therefore, you may need to spend approximately 180 hours to complete a one-credit course. This time is a guideline and will vary according to course, study habits, etc. You should assume that a half-credit course will take half as much time as a one-credit course.
At iQ Academy technical support is only a phone call or email away. Once enrolled, you will receive contact information for our technical support that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The main content of all iQ Academy courses is available directly through our secure, online student classroom area. In some cases, links provided by teachers direct students to other websites so students can take advantage of the wealth of educational information available online. In addition to limiting the sites to which students must visit to do their coursework, we have added a piece of software on all student computers that filters out sites that are not appropriate for middle- and high-school-aged children to view. Beyond that, good parental supervision and setting some guidelines for internet use that match with your family values will go a long way in protecting your children from unwanted information on the internet.
No. However, families are required to provide Internet in their homes. And while high-speed Internet access definitely makes the experience of learning online much more satisfying, it is not absolutely necessary. High-speed connections are preferred, but courses will run on dial-up connection.
Yes! Every full-time iQ Academy student has the option to receive loan of a computer for the duration they are enrolled full-time and active in the program. iQ Academy will provide:
- Personal Computer (on loan for duration of enrollment)
- Built-in wireless connectivity
- Virus protection software and filters to protect students from inappropriate content on the Internet
- All course materials, including applicable text books and learning guides
- While high-speed connections are preferred, courses will run on dial-up connections.
The teachers play an important role in the iQ Academy program. It is the role of the teachers to meet individual learning needs of the students enrolled in their courses. Teachers have "office hours" and hold weekly sessions during which students can ask questions and have discussions with their teacher and classmates. Teachers are also available by phone and email, and students are encouraged to contact their teachers with questions.
As long as internet access is available, students can log into iQ Academy and get to their courses. For trips during which internet access may not be available, students can print off their assignments ahead of time and work from those in order to keep up with their work. Students should notify their teachers by email if they will be unable to access the Internet for a period of time.
Some of the qualities that we have seen in our most successful students are:
- The ability to work independently.
- The willingness to ask for help when needed. There are many opportunities to get help from teachers, from other students, or from technical support. Students have to be willing to make use of those resources and let someone know if they don't understand something.
- Some internal motivation to succeed in the program. Students who are forced into an online learning environment will be less likely to be successful.
- Check out our "Is Online Learning For You?" section to learn more.
This is not required, however it is important for your child to know that you are interested in how he/she is doing in school. It is unrealistic for most school-aged students to handle the total responsibility of an online learning environment, without any parental intervention. The iQ Academy program does not require students to do all of their coursework during the traditional school hours, so it may be beneficial for some families to schedule at least some of their "school time" during hours that parents are home to provide support.
Middle school students should have an adult present at all times.
iQ Academy students access their courses through a platform called Blackboard, anywhere that they are online.
Blackboard includes these benefits:
- Password-protected access to all computer-based course material
- Flexible navigation making it quick and easy to move from course to course
- Standard tools so all courses have a similar look and feel
- Allows students to submit assignments, view corrected assignments, check grades, and communicate with classmates and teachers
- Students also attend "live" classroom sessions using Elluminate™ whiteboard software. Just like a real classroom, students can listen to lessons, ask and answer questions, and talk with other students before and after class.
