WHRO Education has been awarded the Innovation in Education Award, a distinction that highlights the organization's efforts to modernize learning through technology. The recognition focuses on the network's development of educational programming and its unique strategies for connecting with students and educators in the Hampton Roads region.
The award was presented by Innovate Hampton Roads, an organization dedicated to fostering the growth of the local innovation and technology ecosystem. Each year, the group honors individuals and organizations from various industries, as well as regional leaders. Their mission involves educating entrepreneurs and business leaders, providing access to essential resources, and building synergistic partnerships within the business community.
A central component of WHRO's digital learning initiative is the creation of thirty high-quality, standards-aligned online courses. These courses are integrated into eMediaVA, which serves as the network's statewide digital teaching resource repository. The collection includes an extensive library of interactive and instructional assets designed to support educators in their daily work.
Each full-year course is aligned with State of Virginia Standards of Learning (SOL) and is independent of specific textbooks. The curriculum features multimedia lessons, interactive activities, and both formative and summative assessments. Additionally, the packages include instructional videos and downloadable classroom resources to support diverse teaching needs.
Elmer Seward, Vice President of Education Services, explained that the integration of these digital assets into eMediaVA allows teachers to access individual learning objects for use in various settings. This includes face-to-face, blended, and flipped classroom environments, rather than limiting the content to online instruction alone.
Seward noted that this approach maximizes instructional flexibility. By making individual learning objects available, the resources can be used for intervention, enrichment, and personalized learning without requiring a full learning management system or a complete online course. This strategy extends the value and reach of every digital resource developed by the organization.
Educators have reported significant benefits from this model. Teachers can now quickly locate high-quality videos, interactive content, and assessments that meet specific student needs, saving valuable planning time that would otherwise be spent searching the web. Last year, Virginia teachers accessed eMediaVA resources more than one million times.
The impact of this approach was highlighted by a teacher in Franklin County, who stated, 'I always look at eMediaVA as one of the first resources to offer, teach, or find resources to integrate.' This sentiment reflects the growing reliance on the platform among educators across the state.
Seward further emphasized that WHRO has reimagined online courses as dynamic collections of instructional resources rather than standalone products. As the hub for a consortium of school divisions, the organization increases return on investment by creating content once and sharing it among all partners. This model broadens the impact by making all digital resources available to every teacher in Virginia at no cost.
WHRO is proudly owned by the 21 school divisions in the southeastern Virginia region, a structure that supports its mission to provide robust educational resources to educators and families across the area.
