Virtual High School Migrates to Desire2Learn Learning Management System

International online learning program, Virtual High School Global Consortium, has graduated to the Desire2Learn online learning management system following significant growth

Kitchener-Waterloo – Desire2Learn Incorporated announced its partnership with Virtual High School Global Consortium (VHS), the pioneer of online learning for high school students and course design for teachers. VHS is deploying the Desire2Learn® Learning Environment organization-wide to their more than 600 member schools.

As part of VHS's commitment to providing teachers and students with the highest quality online experience, VHS staff recently conducted an extensive evaluation to ensure that the learning management system (LMS) selected best met the unique needs of the organization.

"What we needed in the beginning from our eLearning software when we were a small organization is much different from what we need now," says Liz Pape, President & CEO of VHS. "Features like automatic notifications when students are in jeopardy and reports that allow us to monitor teachers are a huge value to us at this stage in our development. Desire2Learn enables us to better deliver on future, anticipated growth and also to focus more on organizational quality."

Designed to supplement a school's in-person curriculum with online courses, VHS is a non-profit collaborative of high schools, teachers and students. Teachers who are certified in their specific discipline, and who have completed a VHS professional development program, facilitate and continually monitor all courses. In addition, VHS students benefit from small classes and personalized one-on-one attention from active high school teachers, while mastering subject matter and 21st century learning skills that will increase their chances for future success in higher education and the work environment.

Research centered around areas of critical importance, including providing site coordinators with a more robust "observer" role, providing teachers with batch editing capabilities and detailed student activity reports. VHS has identified Desire2Learn as their new LMS beginning in the 2010-2011 academic year.

The automated migration tool within Desire2Learn will simplify and shorten the migration process of the VHS course material from their former LMS to the Desire2Learn Learning Environment, enabling teachers to become familiar with the new platform over the spring and summer of 2010. VHS is also in the process of developing extensive courses, including videos, facilitating teacher readiness on the new platform come September. VHS is creating instructor training on the Desire2Learn platform that uses a variety of media, including written documentation, screencasts, webinars and even face-to-face training.

"We are very pleased to be partnering with VHS at this point in their growth," states John Baker, President & CEO, Desire2Learn. "We are confident that this partnership with Desire2Learn will provide VHS teachers, site coordinators and students with the necessary services, online teaching and learning tools that they will need for outstanding educational experiences."