Mindquest
Encyclopedia
Mindquest was the first online
public high school in the United States
. It operated through the Bloomington Public Schools in Bloomington, Minnesota
, and was created in 1995 by Kevin Byrne within the South Hennepin Adult Programs in Education (SHAPE), a program started in 1978 for adult and alternative school within the Bloomington Public Schools. Mindquest operated until the end of 2003, when the Bloomington Schools closed it in favor of a regional distance learning
program.
completely on the Internet
by means of web-based
interaction between and among student
s, teacher
s, and mentor
s. High school juniors and seniors were able to gain extra credits or undertake their entire high school diploma. Mindquest operated via Softarc’s FirstClass
communications and bulletin board
software.
A key obstacle for Mindquest in its early days was visibility, as few people had access to the Internet in 1995. The original budget was $131,000 and served eighty students, both teenager
s and adult
s. Minnesota
students did not have to make tuition payments, however out-of-state students paid tuition. By 2001 there were about 300 online learners, attending 535 courses, with students enrolled from as far away as India
. Mindquest was unique in that the curriculum
was entirely created by Mindquest staff.
to create the Mindquest Academy, an online college
entrance preparation program that in 2011 was still in operation through the Minnesota Department of Education.
Martin Borg, a Mindquest teacher, and Kevin Byrne created an online assessment company called Achievement Data, Inc (ADI) in 1998, and sold it to Questar in 2005. In 2008 Borg became President of Measured Progress, an assessment company based in New Hampshire
. In 2000 Byrne also helped create and served on the board
of BlueSky Charter School
, the first online charter school
in the country. In 2003 Byrne created a work-based
charter high school called Minnesota Internship Center (MNIC), and as of 2011 he continued to serve as its Executive director
.
ONLINE
ONLINE is a magazine for information systems first published in 1977. The publisher Online, Inc. was founded the year before. In May 2002, Information Today, Inc. acquired the assets of Online Inc....
public high school in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It operated through the Bloomington Public Schools in Bloomington, Minnesota
Bloomington, Minnesota
Bloomington is the fifth largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota in Hennepin County. Located on the north bank of the Minnesota River above its confluence with the Mississippi River, Bloomington lies at the heart of the southern...
, and was created in 1995 by Kevin Byrne within the South Hennepin Adult Programs in Education (SHAPE), a program started in 1978 for adult and alternative school within the Bloomington Public Schools. Mindquest operated until the end of 2003, when the Bloomington Schools closed it in favor of a regional distance learning
Distance education
Distance education or distance learning is a field of education that focuses on teaching methods and technology with the aim of delivering teaching, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in a traditional educational setting such as a classroom...
program.
Operations
Mindquest allowed students to earn a high school diplomaDiploma
A diploma is a certificate or deed issued by an educational institution, such as a university, that testifies that the recipient has successfully completed a particular course of study or confers an academic degree. In countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, the word diploma refers to...
completely on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
by means of web-based
Web application
A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
interaction between and among student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s, teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
s, and mentor
Mentor
In Greek mythology, Mentor was the son of Alcimus or Anchialus. In his old age Mentor was a friend of Odysseus who placed Mentor and Odysseus' foster-brother Eumaeus in charge of his son Telemachus, and of Odysseus' palace, when Odysseus left for the Trojan War.When Athena visited Telemachus she...
s. High school juniors and seniors were able to gain extra credits or undertake their entire high school diploma. Mindquest operated via Softarc’s FirstClass
FirstClass
FirstClass is a client/server groupware, email, online conferencing, voice/fax services, and bulletin-board system for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux...
communications and bulletin board
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
software.
A key obstacle for Mindquest in its early days was visibility, as few people had access to the Internet in 1995. The original budget was $131,000 and served eighty students, both teenager
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
s and adult
Adult
An adult is a human being or living organism that is of relatively mature age, typically associated with sexual maturity and the attainment of reproductive age....
s. Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
students did not have to make tuition payments, however out-of-state students paid tuition. By 2001 there were about 300 online learners, attending 535 courses, with students enrolled from as far away as India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Mindquest was unique in that the curriculum
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
was entirely created by Mindquest staff.
Legacy
Mindquest was managed on a day-to-day basis by Julie Williams, who later developed an online charter school called MN Online High School, was still in operation in 2011. The instructional leader of SHAPE and Mindquest, Greta Ploetz, received grant funding from the Bush FoundationBush Foundation
The Bush Foundation was created in 1953 by Archibald Granville Bush an American businessman primarily involved with 3M and his wife, Edyth Bassler Bush. The organization awards $40 million a year to philanthropic organizations, primarily located in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest....
to create the Mindquest Academy, an online college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
entrance preparation program that in 2011 was still in operation through the Minnesota Department of Education.
Martin Borg, a Mindquest teacher, and Kevin Byrne created an online assessment company called Achievement Data, Inc (ADI) in 1998, and sold it to Questar in 2005. In 2008 Borg became President of Measured Progress, an assessment company based in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
. In 2000 Byrne also helped create and served on the board
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of BlueSky Charter School
BlueSky Charter School
BlueSky was the first charter school in Minnesota to be completely online, following on from Mindquest which was the first online public high school. When Bluesky opened a law was passed that made online schools have to spend at least 2 days per week in a traditional class room with a teacher, but...
, the first online charter school
Charter school
Charter schools are primary or secondary schools that receive public money but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter...
in the country. In 2003 Byrne created a work-based
Vocational education
Vocational education or vocational education and training is an education that prepares trainees for jobs that are based on manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic, and totally related to a specific trade, occupation, or vocation...
charter high school called Minnesota Internship Center (MNIC), and as of 2011 he continued to serve as its Executive director
Executive director
Executive director is a term sometimes applied to the chief executive officer or managing director of an organization, company, or corporation. It is widely used in North American non-profit organizations, though in recent decades many U.S. nonprofits have adopted the title "President/CEO"...
.