Rhode Island Code of Regulations
Title 200 - Board of Education
Chapter 20 - Council on Elementary and Secondary Education
Subchapter 10 - Academic Standards, Programs and Operations
Part 5 - Virtual Learning in Rhode Island (200-RICR-20-10-5)
Section 200-RICR-20-10-5.1 - Definitions

1. Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) means a policy that outlines the responsibilities of students, teachers, staff and others as they use the computers, software applications, and Internet when using the school or district computers or internet connections. AUPs also outline the consequences for failure to adhere to this policy.

2. Asynchronous Learning means communication exchanges that occur in elapsed time between two or more people. Examples are email, online discussion forums, message boards, blogs, podcasts, wikis, etc.

3. Blended Learning means learning opportunities in which a student learns, at least in part, at a supervised brick and mortar location away from home and, at least in part, through online delivery with some element of student control over time, place, path, and/or pace.

4. Brick and mortar site means the physical location where teachers and students are interacting and the location for some of the computers that students are using to connect to the Internet and online sources.

5. Commissioner means the Rhode Island commissioner of elementary and secondary education.

6. Common Core Standards means standards adopted by a majority of states, including Rhode Island, that are robust and relevant to the real world, reflect the knowledge and skills that young people need for success in college and careers, and provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn.

7. Course means a connected series of lessons and learning experiences that:

8. Dual Enrollment means the concurrent earning of college credits while enrolled in high school.

9. High-speed broadband Internet access means infrastructure that provides reliable connections to the Internet which allows transfer of large quantities of complex digital content at sufficient speeds to ensure fast and reliable delivery of data and content.

10. Individual Learning Plans (ILP) means a planning and monitoring tool that customizes and directs students' goals and development in three domains: academic, career, and personal/social.

11. Online (or distance) learning means education in which instruction and content are delivered primarily over the Internet.

12. Online courses means a course in which more than half of the content is delivered by a teacher from a different location than that of the student.

13. Online school program means programming delivered by a school district or cooperative of school districts, and provides an online, comprehensive and sequential program of courses or grade-level coursework and instruction in which more than half of the program is delivered online and more than half of the instruction is delivered online by a teacher from a different location than that of the student.

14. Open enrollment means opportunities for students to enroll in online content and programming outside of those online opportunities provided by the district of residence.

15. Synchronous learning means online learning in which the participants interact at the same time and in the same space.

16. Virtual learning means learning opportunities that make use of technology to enhance the teaching and learning experience.