Global Online Academy at MCDS
A unique opportunity for MCDS high school students to learn and connect with an international community of passionate, motivated peers
MCDS is the only school in Wisconsin collaborating with Global Online Academy.
Accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, Global Online Academy (GOA) is a nonprofit consortium of more than 110 independent schools representing 27 countries and over 30 states. GOA reimagines learning to empower students and educators to thrive in a globally networked society.
Our partnership with GOA gives MCDS high school students exciting new opportunities that aren't available anywhere else in the state:
Connect with other students throughout the United States and internationally
Explore interests in a variety of fields far beyond what's available in typical high school classes
GOA's semester classes are available to high school students at no additional charge.
Explore your passion in a variety of fields
GOA courses change every semester. Examples of recent classes are shown below.
Swipe through the list below to discover the variety of GOA course opportunities.
Applying Philosophy to Global Issues
In addition to introducing students to the work of philosophers as diverse as Socrates, Confucius, and Immanuel Kant, this course also aims to be richly interdisciplinary, incorporating models and methods from diverse fields including history, journalism, literary criticism, and media studies. Students learn to develop their own philosophy and then apply it to the ideological debates that surround efforts to improve their local and global communities.
Data Visualization
Students will wrangle data and explore charts, distinguishing between effective and misleading visualizations. Employing principles from information graphics, graphic design, visual art, and cognitive science, students will then create their own stunning and informative visualizations.
Introduction to Investments
What is a meaningful, happy, and fulfilling life? In this course, we’ll dive into what positive psychology research tells us about the formula for a meaningful life, the ingredients of fulfilling relationships, and changes that occur in the brain when inspired by music, visual art, physical activity, and more.
Creative Nonfiction Writing
This course focuses on the art of shaping real experiences into powerful narratives. Students will examine diverse professional examples of the relevant and evolving genre of creative nonfiction while developing their own original works, reflecting stories from their lives and from the communities around them.
Social Psychology
Social psychology examines how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of a person are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.
Business Problem Solving
Students in this course will tackle real-world problems facing businesses large and small in today’s fast-changing global marketplace where radical reinvention is on the minds of many business leaders.
Number Theory
This online number theory course allows you to explore pure mathematical reasoning, along with the algorithms and encrypted transmissions that surround us.
Positive Psychology
What is a meaningful, happy, and fulfilling life? In this course, we’ll dive into what positive psychology research tells us about the formula for a meaningful life, the ingredients of fulfilling relationships, and changes that occur in the brain when inspired by music, visual art, physical activity, and more.
CS I: Computational Thinking
This course focuses on solving problems, designing systems, and understanding human behavior. It has applications not only in computer science, but also a myriad other fields of study. This introductory level course centers on thinking like a computer scientist, especially when it comes to understanding how computer scientists define and solve problems.
Architecture
In this course students will explore the architecture, engineering, and construction of some of the most important buildings from human history. Students will be encouraged to build models of elements of these structures to better understand the construction and engineering behind their design.
Entrepreneurship in a Global Context
In this experiential course students develop an understanding of entrepreneurship in today’s global market; employ innovation, design, and creative solutions for building a viable business model; and learn to develop, refine, and pitch a new start-up.
Climate Change and Global Inequality
Nowhere is the face of global inequality more obvious than in climate change, where stories of climate-driven tragedies and the populations hit hardest by these disasters surface in every news cycle. In this course students will interrogate the causes and effects of climate change, and the public policy debates surrounding it.
Neuropsychology
This course is an exploration of the neurological basis of behavior. It will cover basic brain anatomy and function as well as cognitive and behavioral disorders from a neurobiological perspective.
Bioethics
Ethics is the study of what one should do as an individual and as a member of society. In this course students will evaluate ethical issues related to medicine and the life sciences.
Game Theory
Do you play games? Ever wonder if you’re using “the right” strategy? What makes one strategy better than another? In this course, we’ll explore a branch of mathematics known as game theory, which answers these questions and many more.
Prisons and the Criminal Law
In this 14-week course, students become familiar with the legal rules and institutions that determine who goes to prison, and for how long.
Abnormal Psychology
This course focuses on a variety of atypical psychiatric disorders, helping students understand symptoms, diagnoses & treatments.
Medical Problem Solving I
In this class, students enhance critical thinking skills by collaboratively solving medical mystery cases, similar to the approach used in many medical schools.
Introduction to Psychology
In this Online Psychology Course, students explore three central psychological perspectives: the behavioral, the cognitive & the sociocultural.
Linear Algebra
In this course you will learn about the algebra of vector spaces and matrices by looking at how images of objects in the plane and space are transformed in computer graphics.
International Relations
In this course, you will go beyond the soundbites and menacing headlines to explore the context, causes, and consequences of the most pressing global issues of our time.
Introduction to Legal Thinking
Inspired by GOA’s popular Medical Problem Solving series, this course uses a case-based approach to give students a practical look into the professional lives of lawyers and legal thinking.
Genocide & Human Rights
Students in this course study several of the major genocides of the 20th century (Armenian, the Holocaust, Cambodian, and Rwandan), analyze the role of the international community in responding to and preventing further genocides (with particular attention to the Nuremberg tribunals), and examine current human rights crises around the world.
Personal Finance
In this course, students learn financial responsibility and social consciousness. We will examine a wide array of topics including personal budgeting, credit cards and credit scores, career and earning potential, insurance, real estate, financial investment, retirement savings, charitable giving, taxes, and other items related to personal finance.
Academic English Accelerator
This program helps English language learners in grades 9-12 improve their academic English. The program adapts to meet students' needs and goals, but is intended for students nearing English proficiency.
Cybersecurity
Cyber criminals leverage technology and human behavior to attack our online security. This course explores the fundamentals of and vulnerabilities in the design of computers, networks, and the internet. Course content includes the basics of computer components, connectivity, virtualization, and hardening.
Filmmaking
This course develops students’ basic filmmaking skills across three key areas: camerawork, editing, and sound. Each of these areas is explored in detail through filmmaking practices. Throughout, we will increasingly focus on helping students express their personal outlooks and develop their unique styles as filmmakers.
Global Health
What makes people sick? What social and political factors lead to the health disparities we see both within our own community and on a global scale? What are the biggest challenges in global health and how might they be met? Using an interdisciplinary approach to address these questions, this course hopes to improve students' health literacy through an examination of the most significant public-health challenges facing today's global population.
Graphic Design
What makes a message persuasive and compelling? What helps audiences and viewers sort and make sense of information? This course explores the relationship between information and influence from a graphic design perspective. Topics include: principles of design and visual communication, infographics, digital search skills, networks and social media, persuasion and storytelling with multimedia, and social activism on the internet.
Microeconomics
In this microeconomic theory course, students learn how consumers and producers interact to form a market and then how and why the government may intervene.
Problem Solving w/ Engineering & Design
This course investigates various topics in science, technology, computer programing , engineering, and mathematics using a series of projects and problems that are both meaningful and relevant to the students' lives.
Race & Society
What is race? Is it something we’re born with? Is it an idea that society imposes on us? An identity we perform? These are just a few of the questions that students in this course will explore together as they approach the concept of race as a social construct.
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