Factoids

The factoids are a result of a report based on student completion surveys by students enrolled in the Wisconsin Virtual School. The data is from 192 surveys collected prior to March 2007. Additional data will be added as students complete courses. This data is provided for the sole purpose of WVS and its members. Unauthorized use is strictly forbidden.

• Reasons for Taking Online Courses: 13% of WVS students take online courses for credit make up, 29% because the course is not offered locally, 17% for schedule conflict, 10% want to try courses online, 3% are expelled, and another 5% want to accelerate graduation.
• Most Popular Course: 20% of WVS students  take foreign language, 18% take Social Studies, 17% take Math courses, 15%  take Science courses, 12% take language arts, and 18% take electives such as career planning, business, art, music, computers.
• Average Grade: 87% is the average grade received for taking a WVS course.
• Average Time Spent in the Course: WVS students spend an average of 115 days on a virtual course.
• Hours Spent per Week on the Course: WVS students spend an average of 4-8 hours per week on each virtual class.
• Communications in the Courses: 81% of the communications are by e-mail. 8% of the students also use threaded discussions. 6% communicate with other students via email, and 3% chat with their teachers online.
• How WVS Students Evaluate the Technology: On a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 being excellent and 1 being poor, students give the readability of the text a rating of 3.4. Computer exams were rated a 3.4, and multimedia quality a 3.0.
• What WVS Students Think About the Content: WVS students give the courses a 3.2 rating for covering the topic well, 3.2 for ease of course navigation, and 3.0 for the course being interesting.
• What WVS Students Think About Their Virtual Teachers: A rating of 3.5 was given for the teacher "knowing their subject". 3.1 was given for the encouragement they received. Overall satisfaction with the teacher was 3.0 Teacher feedback rated a 3.2 on a scale of 1 to 4.
• What WVS Students Think About Their LEG (Local Education Guide) or Mentor: Students indicated with a 3.0 rating that their LEG encouraged and motivated them. LEGs gave personal attention:  3.0. LEGs provided technical support: 3.0, LEGs provided the guidance for enrolling: 3.3.
• What Students Liked Most About the Course: 35% indicated they like the self-pacing.  34% indicated the course was convenient. 11% indicated the course was not offered at their school.
• What Students Liked Least About the Course: 18% didn't like technical problems. 12% prefer face-to-face instruction. Other answers included: took more time than they thought, more difficult than they expected, not enough contact with other students, self-discipline needed, and being alone.
• What Students Thought About taking Another WVS course: 91% would take or seriously consider taking another online course.
• Age of WVS Students: 68% of the students are between 16 and 18 years old, 32% are 15 and under.