User:ElizabdsWiki/Virtual Lab School

History
Originally developed for the more than 30,000 professionals who daily nurture more than 200,000 youth in child and youth care and education programs across the four military services, the Department of Defense Child Development Virtual Laboratory School (VLS) was designed by a faculty and staff team at The Ohio State University led by Dr. Cynthia Buettner in partnership with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Content
According to the Virtual Lab School 'About Us' page, the VLS addresses a critical need for an easy-to-navigate online professional development resource for child-care professionals. VLS covers developmentally-appropriate practices for children from birth to age 12 across all functional roles in child care. Five distinct tracks (infant & toddler, preschool, school age, training & curriculum specialist, and management) include 13 Child Development Associate competencies used in early care settings around the world. The VLS simulates learning experiences found in university lab school settings with its extensive repository of interactive materials for expert instruction including streaming video, research-based content, expert narratives, reflective questions and downloadable activities & resources. The VLS professional development tool includes content across 15 core courses: The Virtual Lab School is included in the US Department of Health & Human Services Early Educator Central which identifies resources for educators working with infants and toddlers.
 * Safe Environments
 * Healthy Environments
 * Learning Environments
 * Physical Development
 * Cognitive Development
 * Creative Expression
 * Self and Cultural Understanding
 * Social Emotional Development
 * Positive Guidance
 * Family Engagement
 * Program Management
 * Professionalism
 * Communication and Language Development
 * Child Abuse: Prevention
 * Child Abuse: Identification and Reporting

Future Tracks
According to Dr. Sarah Lang, Associate Director of Research and Professional Development at the Virtual Lab School, plans are in progress to roll out a home-based care provider track in 2017.

Credentialing
While all content is available to the public at www.virtuallabschool.org the Virtual Laboratory School does not currently offer completion certificates, end of course assessments, or progress tracking for individuals who are not affiliated with military child and youth programs.

With a user account, individuals working in military child and youth care and education programs can access a learning management system that tracks progression through course content and facilitates the coaching relationship between direct care staff members and training and curriculum specialists (coaches). This coaching relationship also provides staff members with one-on-one support for their learning. Training and curriculum specialists also actively mentor staff at all stages of learning, track progress, and verify that learners have completed all learning activities prior to being issued a completion certificate.

Future Credentialing Plans for Non-Military Users
According to E. Smyth, Communications Coordinator at the Virtual Lab school, the VLS team at The Ohio State University is actively exploring ways to offer credentialing to non-military users.

Sponsors
The Department of Defense Child Development Virtual Laboratory School was developed by The Ohio State University for the US Department of Defense’s Office of Family Policy/Children and Youth under Grant 2012-48711-20101 of the US Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food & Agriculture.

Terms of Use
According to its Terms of Use, educators may use VLS resources for noncommercial, educational purposes. Additional questions or requests are answered when sent by email to [mailto:inquiries@virtuallabschool.org inquiries@virtuallabschool.org].