Odysseyware is a leading provider of online curriculum and eLearning solutions for public, charter and virtual schools. It provides online curriculum for elementary education, middle school and high school, covering grades 3-12. Odysseyware offers customizable core, elective and CTE courses, along with assessment and remediation tools.

The more we learn, the more that technology develops and grows, the more we need to constantly keep changing and upgrading our learning tools. To this end, Odysseyware is also continuing in its efforts to meet and greet the changing needs of schools. As of now, Odysseyware has updated and converted 60 of its most popular online courses to HTML5.

According to THE Journal, along with its courses, Odysseyware has also built new virtual labs using HTML5. These virtual labs are designed to recreate, as well as expand the traditional student lab experience. They are fully interactive and designed to encourage an active learning capability.

Whereas before, the online classes were mostly accessed through a computer, the conversion from Flash to HTML5 will make Odysseyware’s top courses compatible with all tablets, touchscreens and handheld devices. This conversion should also make it easier to access the courses on PCs and laptops.

Generally, programs that run on Flash require special browser settings or plugins to work correctly. This is not the case with HTML5 as it is native to all modern web browsers, so there are no plugins or additional settings that could affect your mobile device. Another difference and helpful thing between Flash and HTML5 is that it requires less bandwidth, power consumption and video processing.

Beth Te Grotenhuis, CEO of Glynlyon, Odysseyware’s parent company, has noticed there is a change in how students are accessing the online courses. People are no longer tied to their computers at home and are able to access these courses through their mobile devices.

In speaking about this change where more mobile devices are being used, Grotenhuis said, “More schools are shifting to 1:1 and BYOD programs and we want students and teachers to be able to access our courses no matter what device they are using. This switch from Flash to HTML5 is just another way we are constantly evolving to keep up with the latest trends in educational technology.”

To date, the virtual labs and 60 of the most popular courses have been converted. The goal is that over the course of the next several months Odysseyware’s developers will continue to convert the blended learning platform’s remaining courses to HTML5.