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CLASS™ Background

The CLASS™ (Communications, Learning, and Assessment in a Student-centered System) Project received primary funding through a U.S. Department of Education Star Schools grant. The Project was originally housed in the Research and Development Unit in the Division of Continuing Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. CLASS™ has been housed at National Center for Information Technology in Education (NCITE™) in the College of Education and Human Science (previously Teachers College) since 2001.

The goal of the CLASS™ Project was to produce a complete, accredited high school diploma sequence on the Web. Fifty-three courses were developed providing a diploma sequence plus electives. A major intent was to improve access to high school courses for students who otherwise may not have an opportunity to avail themselves of such courses, including out-of-school adults or at-risk students.

CLASS™ is where:

  • Discovery–not transmission–of knowledge is the basis for teaching and learning
  • Students grasp underlying concepts and processes
  • The emphasis is on integration, application, and performance
  • There is respect for diversity of experiences, interpretations, and learning styles
  • Project-based assessment and portfolios emphasize problem solving and reflection on one's own learning

The task of developing Web-based courses for distance delivery presents unique challenges that require innovative solutions from the areas of instructional design and instructional technology. The Web provides opportunities for rethinking existing instructional design models, choosing the best aspects to incorporate, and revising or creating others to fill in the gaps. Due to technology available at the time, determination was made early in the project that we would require invention and adaptation in both the area of instructional design and instructional technology.

General challenges in developing Web-base courses are:

  • Rethinking existing instructional design models
  • Choosing which aspects of existing instructional design models to incorporate in a web-based manner
  • Creating and revising new instructional design models to fill the gaps where existing models fall short
  • Creating new technologies to implement new instructional ideas
  • Adapting existing technologies and software to implement instructional ideas.

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