Odysseyware Academy Student/Parent/Guardian Handbook

2015-2016
Odysseyware Academy
Student & Guardian Handbook
Version 3.0
Released 07.01.15
Version 2.6
Release Date: 07/21/2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1.
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................. 3
2.
OWA POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ...................................................................................................... 4
TECHNICAL SUPPORT ..................................................................................................................... 4
GRADING SCALE/WEIGHTING FOR ASSESSMENT ........................................................... 4
SEMESTER COURSE EXPLANATION ......................................................................................... 5
STUDENT CODE OF CONDUCT ................................................................................................. 5
TECHNOLOGY SKILLS NEEDED FOR STUDENT SUCCESS ............................................ 6
PLACEMENT TESTS........................................................................................................................... 6
STUDENT ORIENTATION .............................................................................................................. 6
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY ................................................................................................. 6
ACTIVE WORK POLICY ................................................................................................................... 8
TEST/QUIZ RETAKE POLICY ....................................................................................................... 8
COURSE END DATES ....................................................................................................................... 8
OWA DIPLOMA STANDARDS/HIGH SCHOOL TRANSFER STUDENTS ...................... 8
TRANSCRIPTS....................................................................................................................................... 9
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY ............................................................................................................ 9
3.
MYGENIUS MODULE ................................................................................................................................. 10
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1.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to Odysseyware Academy! This Handbook and User Guide is designed to inform you of
our policies and procedures while providing you with instructions for how to use our system.
The web-based Odysseyware Academy system allows you to operate in a virtual/online environment
by providing access to course content, grades, communication, and reports about student progress. If
you have any questions regarding the information in this handbook, please contact your designated
education coordinator for more information.
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2. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
Technical Support
Our Technical Support department at Odysseyware Academy provides an outstanding service to
our students. Whenever you have a technical issue, you may contact our toll free number for
technical support. Our expert team is ready to assist you with setting up your school or home
workstation with the necessary system requirements to view and work in the academy’s online
platform.
You may contact our Technical Support team at:
1-888-399-4267 press Option 2, then press Option 4
Monday – Friday: 7:00am to 5:00pm CST
Be sure to call while you are near your computer and ready to make suggested adjustments to
your workstation.
If you prefer, you may email your issue to [email protected].
Grading Scale/Weighting for Assessments
Each unit is weighted as an equal part of the semester average. Individual unit grades are
calculated using the following grading scale and weighting for assessments.
A+
97.00-100%
A
93.00-96.99%
A-
90.00-92.99%
B+
87.00-89.99%
B
83.00-86.99%
B-
80.00-82.99%
C+
77.00-79.99%
C
73.00-76.99%
C-
70.00-72.99%
D+
67.00-69.99%
D
63.00-66.99%
D-
60.00-62.99%
F
0-59.99%
Units With Projects
 Tests = 30%
 Quizzes = 25%
 Projects = 30%
 Lessons = 15%
Units Without Projects
 Tests = 43%
 Quizzes = 36%
 Lessons = 21%
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Semester Course Explanation
Odysseyware Academy’s full credit courses (or full school year courses) are divided up into two
parts (Part A – Semester 1, and Part B – Semester 2). This is in place for all grade levels
(elementary, middle school, and high school).
Student Code of Conduct
Students should:
 Log in daily and make progress in their course;
 Be willing to put forth effort in their course and complete the course in the allotted time
frame;
 Reach out to their instructor for help;
 Call in to Technical Support for any known technical issues;
 Complete student orientation;
 Have their parent/guardian contact OWA when they are not going to be active in their
course for 1 week or more;
 Complete their own coursework and maintain academic integrity at all times;
 Always use their given name when attending live sessions or training; or when turning in
projects or assessments;
 Respond to teacher and staff messages when a response is required.
Students should not:
 Cheat or plagiarize;
 Falsify log in time or technical issues;
 Send inappropriate messages to instructors (i.e. profanity, disrespectful tone, etc.);
 Allow another student access to their student login password, keyboard, etc.;
 Close out of a quiz or test prior to completion;
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Skills & Access Necessary for Student Success
 Internet Access – OWA curriculum requires internet access. Students need to know how to log in
using a password and username in order to access the curriculum.
 Create and modify documents - students need to know how to create, edit, and modify
documents. OWA projects require the use of applications such as MS Office, and/or Google Docs.
 Self-learning of technology and where to go for help – students need to be willing to utilize the
resources provided to them when they need help. These resources include Help Page within OWA,
Student Resources, Teacher access, and more.
 Typing – Students need to know how to type or be in the process of learning to type. Odysseyware
Academy is user-friendly and works for students grades 3-12. It is expected that high school students
can type fluently.
 Netiquette - Internet/Email etiquette – Students need to know the proper way to use the internet
and write clear and appropriate emails and messages.
Placement Tests
Placement tests may be administered to enrolled students when there is a question of proper
placement in Odysseyware Academy curriculum.
Student Orientation
The Student Orientation module is provided to ensure success in OWA coursework. It is
recommended that ALL students complete orientation annually to maintain program
comprehension.
Academy Integrity Policy
Definition of Plagiarism
 The act of passing off the literary or academic work of another as your own (including
ideas, thoughts, direct quotes, reports, essays, research papers, projects, publications,
articles, etc.).

The act of intentionally or unintentionally copying and pasting literary or academic work
from another source or reference material without properly citing the source as a
reference (including journals, newspaper articles, internet sources, magazines, etc.).

The act or attempt of reusing your own work that may have been previously submitted
for another assignment or course.
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Definition of Cheating
 The act of giving or receiving answers on assessments including lessons, projects,
quizzes, tests or final exams.

The act of allowing someone else to complete a quiz or test on your behalf in courses
that you are enrolled.

The act of seeking or providing (publishing) Odysseyware Academy curriculum content,
questions, or answers to internet sources or answer banks.

The act of using materials during closed book assessments (including lessons, notes, the
internet, text books, etc.).

The act of copying answers that have been previously submitted by another student.

The act of working with another student to complete an assignment, test, quiz or project
(including working side by side, accessing another student’s work by logging in as them,
and/or printing completed materials to share).
Odysseyware Plagiarism and Cheating Consequence Policy:
1st Offense—Warning 1*




Parent/guardian contact by teacher or Education Coordinator
Redo assignment for full credit
Phone conference with the teacher
Notation of academic integrity issue in Student Information System
2nd Offense—Warning 2*





Parent/guardian contact by teacher or Education Coordinator
Redo assignment for 75% credit
Letter/email of second attempt – Academic probation warning
Phone conference w/ teacher
Notation of academic integrity issue in School Information System
3rd Offense—Warning 3*





Parent/guardian contact by teacher or Education Coordinator
Redo assignment for 50% credit
Possible 30 day academic probation
Meeting with academic dean or principal
Notation of academic integrity issue in School Information System
4th Offense—Warning 4*





Parent/guardian contact by teacher or Education Coordinator
Zero on assignment
Academy leadership to determine next consequence
Possible failure of course
Possible expulsion from academy
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
Notation of academic integrity issue in Student Information System
Active Work Policy
It is highly recommended that only one unit within a course be open at a time. Students should
plan accordingly for projects that may require more than one day for completion (i.e. growing
seeds, research, etc.). Projects can be worked on concurrently. Students should not be allowed
to advance to the next unit until everything for the current unit has been completed (this
includes projects).
Test/Quiz Retake Policy



One quiz per unit may be cleared for retake (at any score). The higher quiz score will be
kept and marked completed.
Projects may be reassigned to students at the discretion of the teacher.
Note that lessons are viewed as instruction and may be cleared for retake as often as
needed.
Alternate Tests
 Alternate tests may be assigned upon request of the parent/guardian or student and at
the discretion of the teacher.
 The student should review lessons and quizzes before attempting the alternate test.
 Students are allowed one attempt on unit tests. If the grade on the unit test is below
70%, the student or parent/guardian may request an alternate test (the higher score will
be kept).
Course End Dates
The recommended pacing for a semester is up to 20 weeks. In certain cases extensions may
be granted for a fee.
OWA Diploma Standards/High School Transfer Students
Odysseyware Academy requires 24 credits for graduation. Of these 24 credits, students
transferring to OWA are required to earn their final 6 credits (minimum) from Odysseyware
Academy to receive an OWA High School Diploma. High school credits earned prior
to OWA enrollment can be transferred to OWA on the basis of submission of official
transcript from the school. Credits earned in other high schools will be recorded on OWA
transcripts as 1.0 credit for each standard high school course (150 to 180 hours of
instruction). Upon approval, college course credits will be accepted as 0.5 high school credits
for a three semester-hour course (class meeting three hours per week for one semester).
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Transcripts
High School Transcripts
Transcripts include only courses that apply toward high school graduation. Grade
Reports will be given for elementary or middle school courses. High school courses
completed in previous schools will not be included on Odysseyware Academy
transcripts unless the student enrolled in OWA is a full-time student with intentions
to graduate with an Odysseyware Academy diploma and then successfully maintains
full-time status (completed at least a semester in each of at least six courses).
Transcript Requests
Transcript requests must be made in writing. Requests can be mailed to 804 N. 2nd
Ave. E. | Rock Rapids, IA 51246 or emailed to the registrar or to
[email protected], or faxed to the academy at (480)-907-3032. The
request must include the student’s name and date of birth, and where the transcript
should be sent. Official transcripts are sent only to schools or other
institutions. OWA graduates or students 18 years of age and older may request their
own transcripts. Please allow 5 business days processing plus mail delivery time for
each transcript request. Processing may take up to 2 weeks during peak enrollment
periods. Requests are handled in the order they are received.
Acceptable Use Policy
Odysseyware Academy users are expected to abide by the rules of network etiquette. These include, but are
not limited to, the following:
 Be polite.
 Use appropriate language.
 Abusive messages and the use of vulgarities or other inappropriate language is not permitted.
 Take responsibility for any and all activity initiated by the students account.
Use of the Odysseyware Academy must be in support of the education program in which the user is enrolled.
Students could have their OWA privileges revoked for any of the following reasons:
 Impersonation of other users
 Misrepresentation of self to others
 Sending of hate or harassing email
 Obtaining/modifying files or other data belonging to other users
 Unauthorized entry into networks
 Transferring or creating computer viruses
 Loading or using unauthorized games, programs, and/or files
 Illegal use of copyrighted software
 Using the network to disrupt the work of others
The same standards of intellectual and academic honesty and plagiarism apply to electronic information as to
other forms of published work.
 All internet sources used in student work need to be appropriately cited.
 Appropriate administrative sanctions may be imposed upon students who violate Internet polices.
 Odysseyware Academy cannot be held liable for any loss of data arising directly or indirectly from the
failure of hardware, software, or from human error.
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3.
MYGENIUS MODULE
Students, parents or guardians that sign into Odysseyware Academy will be greeted by a primary
portal similar to Figure 1.1 below. To sign in, go to https://sis.myodysseywareacademy.com. Enter
the username and password you have been assigned by Odysseyware Academy to access your
personal portal.
Along the left-hand column is a list of options. The system automatically opens to the Dashboard
option.
Dashboard
Figure 1.1 shows the student portal dashboard.
Figure 1.1
Academic Snapshot
This widget will display the courses that your student(s) are currently enrolled in,
including the course name, the current grade, the number of assignments completed so
far and whether the student is ahead or behind pace.
Upcoming Events
Here the user can see any events scheduled for the future, based on the student calendar.
The student calendar is described in more detail later in this user guide. Clicking on an
event will open up a window with additional event details, as shown in Figure 1.1.
Activity
This widget will display the last activities of the student on his/her courses, as reported
by the LMS. If this information is not available, no activity will be displayed.
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Messages
This widget will alert the user if there are any messages sent to him/her. Clicking on the
link will take the user to a page where the messages can be accessed.
Course Requests
This widget shows the status for any course requests, including the requested course, the
requested term and whether the request has been approved or not. Course registration is
handled by the affiliation. If you are not associated with a partnering school or have
questions on course registration, please contact your OWA Registrar at 888-399-4267.
Admission Status
This widget will display the student admission status.
Messages
The system features internal messaging. It makes it possible for you to communicate with your
student(s) and academy faculty within the LMS/SIS framework. Figure 1.2 shows a sample
message screen. Each message can be replied to or deleted.
Figure 1.2 Message Board
Figure 1.3 shows a typical message form. Select who you are writing to, the priority (importance)
of your note, choose a subject and enter the text of your note. The message is HTML-based, so
bullets, fonts and colors can be used.
Figure 1.3 Sending a New Message
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Contact School
If you have any questions, please use this page to contact Odysseyware Academy via e-mail.
Once you have sent the email, you will receive a response within 24 hours.
Figure 1.4 Contact School
Course Information
Students and parents can see detailed course information on this page, including the course
description, the course length and teacher information. Users can also send a message to the
teacher through this page by clicking on the “Email Teacher” link.
Users can navigate between courses by clicking on the arrows on the top portion of the screen,
or by directly clicking on the course name. Only courses in which the student is currently
enrolled are shown.
Figure 1.5 shows a sample of the Course Information page:
Figure 1.5 Course Information
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Academic Snapshot
The Academic Snapshot page provides an “at a glance” view of the current academic status
for each student. For each course which the student is enrolled, this page displays the
enrollment dates, the current average grade, number of assignments completed and total
assignments, pacing status and last activity.
This page also uses graphical indications, based on a red-yellow-green rating system, to
illustrate each student’s status: grade, pacing, number of 0s and activity level (last date logged
into course).
Figure 1.6 shows a sample Academic Snapshot page.
Figure 1.6 Academic Snapshot
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Gradebook
The Gradebook is an area for students, parents or guardians to see how a student is doing in
a specific course. The Gradebook includes information on current course enrollments only.
When you log in to your account, click the Gradebook button. See figure 1.7 to reach the list
of current courses. Click on any course and the Gradebook will provide you with detailed
information on that course, as shown on next page:
Figure 1.7 Gradebook
You can check a variety of factors in the Gradebook. Each assignment in a course is listed.
As you complete the assignments, the results are listed by points and grade achieved,
number of attempts, date completed and any feedback you might receive from the teacher.
The status bar tells you which assignments you have completed, as well as which tasks have
yet to be started, and which ones have been recently assigned.
Student Activity
On this page, students and guardians can see how much time is spent on coursework. A
report can be generated based on a list of pre-defined time periods, ranging from 1 day to 2
months. Customized time frames can also be created. The student activity report shows how
many minutes the student spent working in each course, along with the percentage of the
student time that was dedicated to each course.
In the example shown in figure 1.8, the student spent 120 minutes on his French 1 class
between 6/1/2009 and 6/7/2009. That corresponds to 25% of his total study time in the
selected period.
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Figure 1.8 Student Activity
Course Plan
The student’s path towards graduation can be tracked in the Course Plan page. This page
lists the numbers of credits needed, earned and currently being attempted by department
and/or subject area (for students who are pursuing an Odysseyware Academy diploma only).
If a student is not pursuing an Odysseyware Academy diploma, he or she must follow the
course plans of his or her primary school when seeking a high school diploma.
This page may also be used to track scheduled courses for future terms. See figure 1.9 for an
example of the Course Plan page.
Figure 1.9 Course Plan
Edit Account
This page will let you edit your account information, including name, email address and phone
number.
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You can create your standard signature here, which can be utilized through emails and messages
within Genius SIS.
Figure 1.10 Edit Account
School Calendar
Figure 1.11 shows the events scheduled for a particular month. Clicking on an event will
display additional information, such as any associated URL or a detailed event description.
Figure 1.11 School Calendar
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External Links
Figure 1.12 shows a list of external links that users can access. This page acts like a link
repository, where the school can keep all relevant links to external resources.
Figure 1.12 External Links
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Genius SIS:
OWA Student/Parent/Guardian Handbook and
User Guide
Version 2.5
Release Date: July 21st, 2015
For more assistance, contact Odysseyware Academy:
300 N. McKemy Ave., Chandler, AZ 85226
Phone: 888-399-4267
Fax: 712-472-6830
Email: [email protected]
www.mybridgewateracademy.com
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