Spotlight on the Open High School of Utah

In light of Moodlerooms' involvement in the 2010 Virtual School Symposium, we wanted to applaud two states that have creatively implemented sustainable e-Learning solutions to deliver more effective and engaging instruction that aligns with state budgets, goals and educational standards.

Today, we are highlighting the successes of the Open High School of Utah, a statewide, full-service online charter high school established in 2009 with a commitment to the use of open educational resources (OERs).

Due to budget constraints and the need for flexibility in designing courses that supported unprecedented levels of individualized instruction within a highly responsive curriculum, the Open High School of Utah decided midway through its first year in operation (2009-2010) to re-evaluate the provider of its e-learning platform

For the 2010-2011 school year, Open High School switched to Moodlerooms’ managed open-source Moodle-based e-learning platform, joule, to deliver online classes to 250 Utah students in grades 9 and 10. After making the switch from its initial proprietary solution to Moodlerooms, the virtual school is projected to save over 75% in annual costs. In the future, the Open High School of Utah plans to expand its virtual school program to 11th and 12th graders to serve an enrollment of 1500 students for the 2013 - 2014 school year.

• For more information on the Open High School of Utah's e-learning successes, you can download the full case study here.

• To read the official announcement, head over to the news section of our website here.

Stay tuned tomorrow when we highlight how the South Carolina Department of Education has implemented e-learning to deliver professional development opportunities to South Carolina teachers and offer extended educational opportunities to students in an effort boost graduation rates across the state.

Do you know of any other high schools that have harnessed Moodle? If so, share your story in the comments below.