What is the role of the Local Educator Guide (LEG)?
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Here are some answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about the role of the LEG as it pertains to online learning.
 
What is a Local Education Guide (LEG)?
If we were referring to body parts, a leg is something you stand on; it gives you support. In the virtual world, a LEG is someone in the district who gives support to students who are taking virtual courses online.
 
Do we HAVE TO have a  LEG?
Our experience is that it is critical to the success of most students in an online environment to have someone monitoring their progress, locally. If the student had difficulty being motivated to do assignments in a traditional educational setting, he or she may have equal difficulty being motivated to do online course work. In an online course, the student must complete assignments and communicate with the teacher on a regular basis in order to complete the course. Many students need a little prodding to be sure they are moving forward toward course completion. Student contact and encouragement are the most important responsibilities of a LEG.
 
Who can/should be a LEG?
A LEG could be anyone at your school district that would be willing to help support the online student's needs. It could be a teacher, guidance counselor, or other appropriate staff. For instance, it may be logical for a math teacher to be the LEG for students who are taking an online math course, an English teacher for students taking English courses and so on. Or, the district may prefer to have one person, such as a counselor, monitor all of the students who are taking online courses. It is up to the school district to decide which approach will work best for its students' needs.
 
How much TIME will it take to be a LEG?
Being an effective LEG does not need to be time-consuming. LEGs receive either a weekly or monthly progress report that provides a quick snapshot of the student's current progress in the course. If the student is not doing assignments, then the LEG will need time with the student to determine issues and solutions. The LEG can always log in to the system to find out where the student is in relation to the class as well.

Generally, the most time consuming part of a LEG's responsibilities is helping the student get started with an online course for the first time. If the student goes through the Orientation Tutorial, getting started is easy. The LEG will want to coach the student on the importance of carefully following instructions.
 
How to get a student started with an online course for the first time:
  1. Help the student log on to the website where the course is located.
  2. Make sure the student has any required textbooks needed for that course (see course descriptions for requirements)
  3. Make sure the computer the student will be using has all the needed components and plug-ins. Contact your local technology person for a resolution.
  4. Be sure the student completes the Orientation course, if available, which is the critical orientation to the course tools and first communication with the teacher. (It may be helpful to go through this with the student.)
  5. It is critical that the student access the course several times in the first 14 days to determine if it is appropriate in meeting his/her needs, because the district has 14 days from the time of registration confirmation to drop the course at no charge. If the drop is made after 14 and before 28 days, a $100 cancellation fee will be charged. After that time, the district will be billed the full amount of the course fee.
  6. If you need to cancel a student's course, send an e-mail requesting that the student be dropped to Theresa Neuser, tneuser@cesa7.k12.wi.us
  7. Check to make sure your student is not having any problems regarding access, course software, etc. If there are issues, contact your local technology person or NEWON (920-465-5216) to resolve.
LEG Must Do "Check list" (download here)

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