MUST READ: School Policies, Important Documents, FAQs

1. Goldenlink Academy Documents

2. Online Course Documents

Goldenlink Video Size guide

Final Exam Proctor Form (to request final exam)

Student Log (complete to receive report cards)

3. Attendance Policy

Truancy Policy

Truancy by definition is the absence of part of, or all of, one or more days from school during which the school attendance officer, principal or teacher has not been notified of the appropriate cause of such absence by the parent or guardian and also means intermittent carried on for the purpose of defeating the intent of compulsory education.

Students are required to attend school until they reach the age of eighteen or graduate. Reaching the age of majority does not imply any specific rights. If a student is eighteen (18) or older and chooses not to follow the rules, regulations, and/or policies of the school, that student can be asked to cease attendance in school. Regular attendance at school is critical for the student’s learning. To encourage regular attendance by students, our school will ensure that students and their parents are informed about the school’s policy on attendance. Where, in the principal’s judgement, a student’s frequent absences from school are jeopardizing his or her success, school staff should meet with the student and the parents to explain the potential consequences of the absences and discuss steps to be taken to improve attendance. Students of compulsory school age whose absence is reported to the school board attendance counsellor will have the reason for their absence investigated.

Attendance Tracking

Tracking attendance during asynchronous classes is a challenge that must be met with flexibility, consideration, and understanding from all parties involved.

While the function and appeal of online education is the autonomy and the flexibility that it provides the students, online classes still require a consistent and reliable rate of work. Though students are given 6 months to finish an asynchronous online course, it is not technically correct to state that the student can begin after 5 months without issue.

Indeed, the course should begin soon after enrollment and the student should be involved in a flexible but steady and consistent rate of work. The reasons for this are as follows.

·       Students might require a grade soon after completion, but there is no guarantee that the grade can be delivered on time if the student does not provide the teacher with sufficient time to assess their work properly.

·       There is a low chance of successful completion if the student begins too late into the 6 months.

·       Students that do not begin their course early on without supervision or notices of attendance might not finish their course.

·       Student learning is impacted if learning and progress are sporadic instead of measured and consistent.

·       Parents might want security and updates with regards to their student’s progress.

·       Most importantly, we want all students at the School to have an enriching experience and to be accomplished students.

Keeping these considerations in mind, The School attendance policy with respect to the Online School Operation is as follows.

Attendance will be tracked by each teacher through the student log and course activity. Student logs are available in each course site. The student is expected to make a copy of the student log, share it with their teacher, and update the log every week.

Though in this case, the student log will also be used as a tool for attendance, a student log is a tool used to keep track of the 110 hours needed to complete an OSSD credit and must be completed regardless of attendance tracking.

Parents should communicate any expected extended absences from the course activity to the teacher. In the absence of such communication, attendance notifications will be sent out to students and parents if,

·       there has been no update on the student log for two consecutive weeks.

Attendance warnings, explaining the consequences of late engagement with the course will be sent to parents and students if,

·       there has been no course activity for a consecutive 2 months.

4. Assessment & Evaluation

Purpose

The primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning. Assessment relates directly to the expectations for the course. A variety of assessments for and as learning are conducted on a regular basis to allow ample opportunities for students to improve and ultimately demonstrate their full range of learning and in order for the teacher to gather information to provide feedback. Assessment tasks relate to the success criteria set out in lesson plans. Success criteria allow students to see what quality looks like.

Evaluation is the process of judging the quality of student work in relation to the achievement chart categories and criteria, and assigning a percentage grade to represent that quality. Evaluation is based on gathering evidence of student achievement through:

• Products
• Observations
• Conversations

The final grade is based on performance in 3 areas: products, observations, conversations.

70% of the grade is based on evaluations conducted throughout the course.

30% is based on a final evaluation.

• Assessment AS: Self-Evaluation, Reflective Journals, Blog
• Assessment FOR: Discussions, Activities
• Assessment OF: Essays, Tests, Quizzes, ePortfolio, Final Exam

As you work through the content of your courses you will periodically come across instructions for you to submit assignments for assessment or evaluation. There will be directions to guide you to the proper place for submission of your assignment or activity.

There are three categories of assignments:

• Assessment AS: Self-Evaluation, Reflective Journals, Blog
• Assessment FOR: Discussions, Activities
• Assessment OF: Essays, Tests, Quizzes, ePortfolio, Presentations, Final Exam

Assessment AS

Some of the activities in the course are designed to help monitor your progress towards achieving your learning goals and your overall understanding of the course content. They will not be given a formal mark, but do contribute to the development of the student as an autonomous learner. Self-evaluations, reflective journals and blogs are among the student-directed activities that can be found throughout the course.

Assessment FOR

A number of assignments to be completed throughout the course will sometimes occur at the start of a unit of study to help your teacher determine what you already know about the concepts presented in the course. You will also complete assignments throughout the unit of study to help your teacher determine the progress of your learning. These assignments will not be given a formal mark, but assist your teacher in supporting you as you move through the content and contribute to the overall picture of you as a learner when final evaluation is considered. You will receive descriptive, detailed, and individualized feedback from your teacher after completing these assignments that indicate how to progress to a higher level of learning and achievement. Quizzes, Discussion Questions are among the activities that fall into this category.

Assessment OF

Finally, there are a number of assignments for which you will achieve a formal grade or mark from your teacher. These assignments may be completed throughout the Unit of study, but often occur towards the end. Your teacher will provide descriptive, detailed, and individualized feedback on each assignment that indicates how you might improve your overall mark and continue to progress towards the achievement of the learning goals in the course. Assignments to be marked for evaluation may include quizzes, tests, essays, eportfolio, and final exam.

5. Plagiarism Policy

Students who present the work of others as their own are guilty of plagiarism and will receive consequences and will have the details of the plagiarism noted in their student file.

Goldenlink Academy - PLAGIARISM POLICY

Growing Success Policy

Students must understand that the tests/exams they complete and the assignments they submit for evaluation must be their own work and that cheating and plagiarism will not be condoned.

The school will develop strategies for helping students understand the gravity of such behaviour and the importance of acknowledging the work of others. The school will also develop policies that address, at a minimum, the following:

• prevention of cheating and plagiarizing

• detection of incidents of cheating and plagiarizing

• consequences for students who cheat or plagiarize

Policies will reflect a continuum of behavioural and academic responses and consequences, based on at least the following four factors: (1) the grade level of the student, (2) the maturity of the student, (3) the number and frequency of incidents, and (4) the individual circumstances of the student.

Policy

Academic honesty is critical in any learning environment and educational institution; however, it is rightly perceived to be a fundamental issue especially for an online environment, where communication between student and teacher is less intimate and more reliant on the written word of the student.

Unlike a classroom setting, where the teacher can observe students write their submissions, an online environment does not share this characteristic. For a teacher to evaluate a student’s work properly and objectively, the teacher must be sure that it is the student’s own. Therefore, the School has set up well-defined, articulated policies and a culture of prevention to avoid such scenarios.

As per 7.5 of the School Calendar, Cheating is the act of using unauthorized materials and/or resources during tests, exams or other Assessment of Learning tasks. Examples of cheating include:

• giving your own work to others
• using the work of others
• using unauthorized study aids
• copying the work of others on tests or exams
• Particularly important for online: paying for services, using tutor’s work as your own work, or having tutors extensively edit work rendering it a collaborative effort.
• Particularly important for online: using unauthorized materials during Unit Tests.

o   Note: Cheating on unit tests is not only identifiable, but it also impedes successful completion of a course as the Final Exam will be monitored.

Plagiarism can be defined as using someone else's words, ideas, or thoughts as if they were your own. Plagiarized material may be an entire paper, a paragraph, or even a single sentence. Teachers expect, without exception, that all students will use their own words and do their own work when submitting online assignments. Where you have used ideas or information from another source, you should name the source of that information in a bibliography.

Especially for the online context, students should not copy & paste someone else’s words, ideas, or thoughts as if they were their own from sites such as SparkNotes, Enotes, and other reliable/unreliable sources.

The use reliable and informative sources are encouraged; but students should be aware that these sources do not constitute an exhaustion of knowledge or activity, these sources serve merely as starting points for your own research or development of ideas. Teachers and the assignments provided will specify the expectations with respect to the number of sources used and the proportion of their incorporation into assignments.

Students should be especially aware that teachers are experienced and can often easily identify when writing is not the student’s own. The student should be aware that their work will be reviewed with a reliable plagiarism detectors if any suspicions arise, and regularly if there has been antecedent plagiarism and cheating.

Consequences, for both Online and On-site incidents

Depending on the severity of the incident, the consequences for plagiarism or cheating will reflect a continuum of behavioural and academic responses, based on at least the following four factors:

• grade level of the student
• maturity of the student
• number and frequency of incidents
• individual circumstances of the student 

Procedure

Plagiarized assignments will be given a mark of zero and parents will be notified.

●       1^st offense: Informing the principal, possible zero as a placeholder (at teacher's discretion after consulting with the principal), home contact, if necessary.

●       2^nd offense or more: Informing the principal, zero as a placeholder, meeting with principal and the details of the plagiarism will be recorded by the guidance counselor.

Students who are guilty of cheating on tests or examinations will receive a mark of zero on the test or examination. In order to prevent cheating and Plagiarism, teachers talk about them at the beginning of the semester and familiarize the students with the importance of acknowledging the work of others as well as the consequences of plagiarism and cheating.

*It is important to understand that cases of plagiarism and/or cheating are cumulative. If a student is officially caught cheating in one course and then is caught plagiarizing in another course, the plagiarizing offense will be considered as the second offense overall.

Responsibilities of the Student

When the teacher asks you to use your own words and ideas, it means that you should use your own words and your own ideas. You must demonstrate to the teacher that you are capable of submitting work that is your own. When a teacher asks to put your ideas into your own words, it does not mean that there is a correct answer for the assignment. It means that you have to come up with your own ideas to give to the teacher.

Plagiarism means submitting work to the teacher that is not your own. Cheating and plagiarism will not be condoned. When you take ideas and words that are someone else's and pass them off as yours, you are plagiarizing. Plagiarism can involve some of these:

• Using work done by another student.
• Copying someone else's work or homework.
• Taking another student's work and changing some words.
• Cutting and pasting material from the Internet and submitting it as yours.
• Copying information from a book, magazine, website, movie, etc. and not naming the source.
• Leaving out quotation marks for direct quotes.

Responsibilities of the Teacher

Help students avoid plagiarising by:

• Defining the term and reminding them of it when setting out an assignment.
• Giving them examples of what constitutes plagiarism.
• Emphasizing the importance of using process skills to arrive at a product.
• Teaching them research skills so they can avoid plagiarising: note-taking, paraphrasing, summarizing.
• Teaching them organizational skills: finding and organizing information to build an understanding of a topic.
• Teaching them how to make an outline for a report or research essay.
• Having them keep a learning log to reflect on what they learned through the process: how to research and organizational skills helped with the project, how could the product be improved, how can the research and organizational skills be improved.
• Assessing the process steps: notes, outline, summary, bibliography, drafts, etc.
• Informing students of the consequences of plagiarism.

Appeal

A student may appeal to the teacher's decision to the principal after a discussion with the teacher.

Based on Fresh Air: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Secondary Schools

Toronto District School Board, 2006

6. Frequently Asked Questions

1.   I am not a Canadian or live in Ontario, Canada, can I register your online course?

Yes, anyone can purchase and register our Grade 9 to 12 high school credit courses and other programs. Our courses can be accessed 24/7 from anywhere as long as you have a computer and internet.

2. What information do I need for the registration form?

The information required for the registration form is very general and includes full name, email address, phone number, your day school name and address.

3. What is a proof of prerequisite?

A prerequisite is a course deemed essential for the successful understanding and completion of a subsequent course. Proof of prerequisite could be in the form of a report card, a transcript or a credit counselling summary that shows you have completed the course required in order to take the course you are registering for.

4. What is OSSD? What do I need to graduate from high school?

The Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD) is a diploma granted to secondary school graduates in the Canadian province of Ontario.

To earn a high school diploma in Ontario, students must:

• earn 18 compulsory credits
• earn 12 optional credits
• pass the literacy requirement
• complete a minimum of 40 hours of community involvement activities

 5. What support can I receive during my courses?

All online courses will have an assigned teacher who the students could communicate with via Goldenlink Moodle portal. Our certified instructors will reply to any of the student's inquiries within 24 hours and provide comprehensive feedback to the submitted assignment.  In addition, if the student has multiple inquiries, our instructors will recommend to schedule a virtual meeting and provide any necessary support and complementary instructions. 

6. How long will it take to complete a course?

Goldenlink online courses could be completed in 4 weeks with the full immersion or spread over a year.

All Goldenlink online credit courses are designed to be 110 hours of planned instruction. We recommend students make a plan to complete their course(s) and decide on a target date for completion from the outset. Students should look at the breakdown of the units in the course and spread them over their available time. Students should account for other commitments and periods when they will be able to spend more time on the online course, and times when they will be busy with other aspects of life.

7. Is there any certain time for the final exam?

Goldenlink online courses allows the students flexibility in scheduling the exam at any time. After the students have all coursework finished and submitted, they can sit for the final exam. Student must inform the school at least five days in advance when he/she can sit for the final exam. Students have two options for taking the final exam: take it on campus at Goldenlink Academy or arrange their own proctors.

8. How can I take the final exam in my home country?

Students are permitted to take final exams in their home country and arrange their own proctor (supervisor). The proctor must be approved by Goldenlink and is to supervise the exam at their place of work, or at a public place such as a library.

9. How can I receive my report card?

After the course is completed, students can request their final report cards. The report cards will be emailed to the students and mailed to the student’s day school after the request is submitted. 

10. Can I request a transcript and a school letter from Goldenlink?

Full-time students of Goldenlink will be able to request and receive transcripts and school letters for the study permit or university application purposes. In addition, full-time students will receive official transcripts and Ontario Secondary School Diplomas upon successful completion of their credit course.

11. What are the commuter requirements for the online courses?

Students should have the following minimum requirements to participate in Goldenlink online programs:

12. Can I get help if my computer has problems with opening my online course?

If you are having technical difficulties, you could try to reload the page, log out and log in or restart the wi-fi. If you are still experiencing trouble entering the course, please contact us at admin@goldenlink.com

13. Where do I find info about homework (e.g. what to do, when to submit)?
In each lesson, there are different sections to guide students. For instance, Lesson Expectations,  Introduction, Hands on, Consolidation, and Homework.
Lesson Expectations -> student learning goals
Introduction -> ppt with voice recording
Hands on -> in-class activities/ practices (e.g. complete handouts)
Consolidation -> wrapping up 
Homework -> reminder of after-class homework (e.g. post in the forum)