eLearning Plan

Purpose

The purpose of the District 123 eLearning plan is to provide a continuum of learning for all students during a period of emergency closure. This plan addresses the eLearning program requirements as determined by statute and the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE). Each requirement is addressed in the plan and references the program requirements within the footnotes. 

District 123 will maintain the momentum of learning and minimize disruptions through the eLearning plan. Faculty and staff will leverage the district’s one-to-one resources to provide students with relevant, meaningful and manageable learning tasks that all students can complete when a short-term closure occurs due to weather or other related building concerns.

History

The Illinois State Board of Education established an e-learning pilot in 2015. Through Public Act 101-0012 enacted on July 1, 2019, the ability for school districts to utilize eLearning was created. eLearning was to be used on no more than five school days per year and would count as attendance days without the need to add emergency days to the end of the school year, according to the statute.

In April of 2019, a district committee was assembled to begin exploring the feasibility of eLearning at District 123. The committee consisted of faculty representatives from District 123 schools across different grade levels and from the district’s collective bargaining unit.[10] The committee has met six times during this period. The committee served to help build and guide the creation of this eLearning plan for District 123. Additionally, the committee will continue to meet after the use of an eLearning day to discuss lessons learned, address areas for improvement, and make further revisions and modifications to the current plan.