EL CENTRO, Calif. – If Web-based learning had a “biggest fan,” Donald Jeffers would be it. The online credit recovery teacher has seen lives change at Desert Oasis High School thanks to EdOptions™’ Stars Suite™.
Desert Oasis High is the last stop for many students who have fallen behind in their education due to behavior issues or challenges they’ve faced outside the normal school day. But according to Jeffers, this stop provides new opportunity.
“These students are not going to be a bad statistic. They’re not going to be ‘just another dropout,’” Jeffers said. “They now see the opportunity for success, and know that…you can succeed no matter what has happened to you.”
After returning to the teaching profession following a long stint in the information technology field, Jeffers heard about Web-based Stars Suite and thought it was the perfect match for at-risk students at the school.
“(At-risk students) tend to get bored very easily,” Jeffers said. “With online credit recovery, I’m able to work with them and get resources that you wouldn’t readily have available in the regular classroom.”
By using Stars Suite, which includes a library of more than 39 Web-based courses available anytime, anywhere, Jeffers says students are more motivated to complete their work.
“Stars Suite for me, as a teacher, has been the most powerful tool I’ve used in my teaching career,” Jeffers said.
“It is very much like a video game for some of them,” Jeffers said. “Many of them want instant gratification. It moves right into their forte and they feel comfortable to succeed.”
Though he’d seen and used hundreds of Web sites in his former information technology job, Jeffers said he was especially impressed with the Web-based Stars Suite.
“Stars Suite for me, as a teacher, has been the most powerful tool I’ve used in my teaching career,” Jeffers said. “I’m allowed to manipulate the things I need without extreme headaches.”
“Basically, I can go home and finish (all of my submissions) all the way up to my final in the same night,” Jose said.
Jeffers said he enjoys being able to “see student progress daily.”
“As a teacher, you can’t visit all 35 students individually, constantly,” he said. “But online, you can.”
