The Maryland Students Online Consortium (MSOC) was formed in 2002 to develop a collaborative grant proposal to be submitted to the Maryland State Department of Education to apply for funding through the Enhancing Education Through Technology Program. The seventeen Consortium members are pleased to be involved in the program and look forward to the continued collaboration that will take place during the implementation of the grant strategies and activities.

This partnership has provided support and participated in the efforts of the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) as it moves forward to implement the recommended actions of The Maryland Plan for Technology in Education: 2002-2005. One of the priorities is the implementation and evaluation of a distance learning initiative that focuses on the purchase and/or development of online courses for students. This Consortium was created to support that priority initiative and, thus, the goal of this consortium is to review, offer, evaluate, develop and/or modify, and recommend online courses for students. In April 2002, the Maryland General Assembly passed House Bill 1197, which authorizes the establishment, operation, and funding of the Maryland Virtual Learning Opportunities program (MVLO) within MSDE. Coordination and support of activities at the state level related to the use of online courses have realized economies of scale, ensured alignment with state content standards and assessment, and allowed for a more efficient use of resources. It has been the mission of this Consortium to participate in and support the efforts that are being made at the state level to further the implementation of the MVLO. Participation in this program will help all Maryland school districts as they begin to offer a relatively new course delivery system to their students.

Consortium members are working closely with the Director of the Maryland Virtual Learning Opportunities Program (MVLO) so as to further the goals of both the MSOC and the MVLO. The implementation of the grant goals and objectives fall into two major activities: (1) the support of the work of the consortium itself as members meet to learn more about implementing local online programs for students and (2) the support of local activities in each district to plan and implement online learning for students. The latter includes the provision of student courses as well as professional development to subject coordinators, teachers and other staff members who are responsible for the delivery of online courses to students.

Goal: To review, offer, evaluate, develop and/or modify, and recommend online courses for students.

Objectives of the consortium are to:

• Assist each Consortium member in the development and implementation of local policies and procedures for the use of online courses for students.
• Identify online courses that meet the individual needs of Consortium members to provide additional learning opportunities for its students.
• Participate in the review of online courses that have been identified to determine if the courses meet state content standards and the criteria that have been established for courses that will be recommended for use statewide.
• Offer and evaluate the implementation of online courses.
• Participate in the development and/or modification of online courses that have been reviewed so that they meet state content standards and the established criteria for courses that will be recommended for use statewide.
• Report to MSDE those courses that meet the criteria for online student courses and meet state content standards so that information can be disseminated to all.
• Design and implement appropriate professional development activities.

Lead County: Baltimore County
Grant Director: Thea Jones tjones@bcps.org
MSDE Facilitator: Liz Glowa lglowa@msde.state.md.us

Although MSOC members have made a lot of progress collectively and collaboratively, each individual member also has its own story to tell. Use the links below to access a profile of each participating consortium member.  Each profile consists of three parts:  a "fact sheet" information section, a one-page synopsis, and a narrative section describing how online learning has grown in the district as a result of participating in this project.  These profiles were prepared during Spring 2005.

For more information about MSOC, contact Thea Jones .
For more information about the Maryland Virtual Learning Opportunities Program, visit the website at http://mdk12online.org.