Admissions
School support guidelines
We provide all instruction and any required texts for our online courses, and take responsibility for all internal assessments. Our online teachers interact intensively with their students, providing support and guidance on a group and individual basis.
Nevertheless, since our online students take most of their courses in traditional IB World Schools®, and will want/need to do at least some of their online coursework while they are at school, it is important for us to make sure that we share expectations. It is important to have an agreed framework for communication, with each student's IB World School.
We ask schools to provide the following support to their online students:
- an engaged Site-based Coordinator
- time during the regular school week for students to work independently on their online courses (typically the class periods where the student does not have a face-to-face class)
- computer/internet access at school, during the time allocated for independent work
- registration for, and supervision of, IB external assessments.
The Site-based Coordinator
The Site-Based Coordinator ("SBC") is our primary point of contact within a school, and is appointed by the school administration. The SBC's role is to facilitate communication between the online teacher, the student and (when necessary) the student's parents or guardian. An SBC may be a teacher (in any subject), school administrator, guidance counsellor, librarian, technology specialist, or another person able to provide the necessary support and guidance.
Ordinarily, the SBC will check in on a student´s participation and performance once a week. This could be as simple as spending a few minutes looking over the student´s shoulder while he/she works online. SBCs can also monitor time spent online. However, there will also be occasional situations in which the student or the online teacher asks the SBC for additional support/guidance, or when the SBC feels that such support is required. This might be the case, for example, when a student isn't logging in to the course regularly and the online teacher is uncertain about the reasons.
Pamoja Education provides SBCs with comprehensive online training, using many of the same tools students will be using in their coursework. Our Course Managers would be happy to discuss SBC qualifications and training with you in more detail.
Time for students to work on courses independently during school hours
Schools typically allocate an amount of time corresponding to the class time for a regular IB subject. This time may be spent in the school library, computer room or another location deemed appropriate by the school. Clearly, as with face to face classes, students are also required to work on various 'homework' assignments and course assessments.
Computer/Internet access in school
Students must have access to a computer and an acceptable level of Internet connectivity during the time allocated for independent work. Schools at which this could be a problem should please contact us. Technology requirements are detailed in this section.
Formal IB assessment.
Schools register their online students as IB Diploma candidates through IBIS, for all their courses just as they would register any other student. Students in online courses sit the May or November IB Diploma examinations at their own schools, at the usual time and in the usual way. Students in online courses complete all the internal assessment requirements specified by the IB for each course with their online teachers managing this process.