Enrolment and Participation Fees | Informational Webinars | Course Descriptions
Participation Requirements | Monitoring of Student Progress

Pamoja Education, in collaboration with Virtual High School Global Consortium (VHS), will be offering four International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme courses, beginning September 2009. Pamoja Education will offer Economics standard level (SL), Economics higher level (HL), Business and Management standard level (SL) and Information Technology in a Global Society (ITGS) higher level (HL). Both HL courses will be taught over two years, both SL courses will be taught over one year, and all courses are offered in English only. To be successful in the course, students need to be fluent in reading and writing in English.

Enrolment and Participation Fees
In order to ensure that we reach the maximum 200 enrolments in 2009, and recognizing that it is already late in the 2008-2009 academic year, Pamoja is offering schools a one-time introductory Jump Start Package, combining flexibility and low course costs.

Schools wishing to enrol a minimum of five students can take advantage of the Jump Start Package with the following benefits:

• A fifty percent discount on the price of existing online IB Diploma Programme courses with a full year of instruction of SL courses for US$500 and two years of instruction of HL courses for US$1,000.
• Free site based coordinator training (to the value of $1,500). (The IB requires that all schools designate a site-based coordinator, who may or may not be the DP Coordinator, to support communication between the student and the online teacher).
• No additional costs for physical textbooks or materials.
• The IB per subject assessment fee (ordinarily paid by Schools or Parents) will be paid by Pamoja Education.
• Based upon students’ attendance and course participation matching agreed requirements and final predicted examination grades being above a four, the discounted price of the course may be fully rebated to the school.
• For schools who want to enrol fewer than five students, they may do so at the regular course rate of US$1,000 for SL courses and US$1,900 for HL courses.

This initiative forms part of International Baccalaureate’s Diploma Programme Online that seeks to both support delivery in existing IB World Schools and also reach out to completely new communities of students who cannot physically attend an IB World School. For general questions about the Diploma Programme Online, please contact dp.online@ibo.org.

Informational Webinars
To learn more about participation requirements, webinars are offered.
Webinars will be held:
Click this link to access the IB Webinar Registration Form and register.

Pamoja Education has contracted with Virtual High School Global Consortium (VHS) to provide services for all enrolments and coordination with interested schools. For more information about this opportunity, please email or telephone 978-450-0411.

Courses
The one-year Economics SL course provides students with a core knowledge of economics and also incorporates elements of history, geography, psychology, sociology, political studies and other related fields of study. It involves the systematic and critical study of economic theories and relates those theories to real-world examples. The course also considers how economic theory is to be applied in an international context and explores how some developing countries are dealing with growth. This is a year-long course and students are expected to take the external examination May 2010.

The one-year Business and Management SL course is designed to give students an understanding of business principles, practices and skills. It promotes the understanding of technological innovation and day-to-day business functions of human resource management, finance, marketing and production. It provides students a rigorous and critical study of the ways in which individuals and groups interact in a dynamic business environment. It is an academic discipline that examines how business decisions are made and how these decisions make an impact on internal and external environments. The ideals of international cooperation and responsible citizenship are at the heart of business management. This is a year-long course and students are expected to take the external examination May 2010.

The two-year Economics HL course provides students with a core knowledge of economics and also incorporates elements of history, geography, psychology, sociology, political studies and other related fields of study. It involves the systematic and critical study of economic theories and relates those theories to real-world examples. The course also considers how economic theory is to be applied in an international context and explores how some developing countries are dealing with growth. The Higher level economics course also includes an in-depth analysis of the theory of the firm (microeconomics); the Keynesian multiplier and trade-offs between inflation and unemployment (macroeconomics); absolute and comparative advantage, the measurement of the terms of trade, and an examination of different exchange rate regimes (international economics). This is a two year-long course and students are expected to take the external examination May 2011.

The two-year Information Technology in a Global Society (ITGS) HL course involves the study and evaluation of the impact of information technology on individuals and society. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of the use of digitized information at the local and global level. ITGS provides a framework for the student to make informed judgments and decisions about the use of information technology within social contexts. This is a two year-long course and students are expected to take the external examination May 2011.

Each course is offered in English only.

Participation Requirements
Students are expected to actively participate through online discussions, team projects, group activities, submission of weekly assignments, and all required internal and external assessments. Students are required to take the IB examinations in May 2010 for year-long courses, and May 2011 for two-year courses.

Monitoring of Student Progress
VHS will electronically provide student current grade averages every two weeks, as well as term, semester, and course grades to the school’s Site-based Coordinator identified on the school participation form.

Participating schools will receive free Site-based Coordinator training as part of the school’s participation requirement. The Site-based Coordinator is the VHS on-site liaison for students and VHS teacher and staff, and will have access to the VHS online grading system to review their students’ performance. Site-based Coordinator training is entirely online, is four weeks in duration and is eligible for two graduate credits from Plymouth State University. Please email or call 978.450.0509 for details on Site Coordinator training.