A La Carte Model

What is the A La Carte Model?

The A La Carte Model is designed to allow students to take a class or course online (with the teacher of record being online as well) along with face-to-face classes. This model gives students the opportunity to take classes that may not be offered at their location. Many schools will provide students with a time and location to work on these classes with an on-site facilitator available for help (Tucker et al., 2017).

Utilizing the A La Carte Model can also help schools meet a variety of student needs. This is not limited to but does include:

  • Scheduling Classes

  • Credit Recovery

  • An Increased Availability of Course Offerings

  • Dual Enrollment

  • Completing Graduation Requirements

Edmentum. [Benefits of the A La Carte Blended Learning Module]. (2018, November 14). https://blog.edmentum.com/talking-ed-which-blended-learning-model-right-you

Role of Teachers:

  • Offer support or guidance when students are in need

  • Create a learning environment that will be beneficial to students to work via computer

  • Ensure students are actively engaged in the online class and staying up to date with assignments

Role of Students:

  • Actively work on the course they are enrolled in

  • Ask for guidance or help when needed

  • Communicate with the virtual teacher for assistance or guidance

  • Keep up with course work and stay focused to complete class in a timely fashion

Benefits:

  • Personalized learning opportunities

  • Meet student interest needs

  • Provide students with more flexibility in their class schedules

  • Provide a supplement to the face-to-face learning environment that offers additional learning options


Challenges:

  • Time management

  • Computer access

  • Online learning opportunities



Considerations for preparing to implement the A La Carte Model:

  • There will need to be a designated location for students to go to when they are working on their online classes. There will also need to be a facilitator that will be able to help students if they encounter issues.

  • The digital curriculum provider utilized to provide the courses may have to be selected at the district level.

  • A process for selecting courses will need to be carefully designed and implemented. There will also need to be a process for students if they would like to drop a class.

  • All students will need to be able to access the online classes via computer and have access to tech support when needed.

Now that you have learned about the A La Carte Model, complete the chart on your reflection sheet based on your understanding of the model.

Click the NEXT button to learn more about the Enriched Virtual Model.

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