Virtually No Child Left Behind
The little red schoolhouse is an icon of American education. It has vanished from the physical world, but is making a comeback—online. That's part of biochemist Billy Hudson's model for the Aspirnaut Initiative. Started in 2007, Hudson's program aims to improve American science education while equipping school buses with laptops and WIFI to support students' learning. Rural children who must spend up to three hours traveling to and from school can now log on and learn thanks to emerging digital classrooms.
It's no secret that online colleges have become more and more commonplace. Even well established schools like Duke University have put entire MBA programs online. But is online education the answer for children as young as first grade?
Increasingly, the answer is yes, say advocates of the growing cyber classroom. For students with various roadblocks to becoming educated, it's another way for them to not be left behind.
No Child Left Behind
In January 2002, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law. The act attempts to reform American public schools by focusing on outcomes-based education, accountability, and specific teaching methods. The act's primary goal is to ensure every child gets educated.
But it's not what's driving online education, says Patty Bietler, head of school at Florida Virtual Academy. Instead, "it's all about school choice." Parents put their children in an online school because it is best for them, the same way, Bietler suggests, parents have moved to different school districts for years.
NCLB has some effect on distance learning, however. According to the principal of Arizona Distance Learning Linda Harless, her school is regularly appraised by Arizona's guidelines for Adequate Yearly Progress, which corresponds to NCLB. Likewise, Karen Ghidotti, head of school at The Arkansas Virtual Academy, notes that her school and instructors meet NCLB guidelines as well.
However, Ghidotti also adds that these guidelines don't come with funding. Bill Thomas, director of Educational Technology for the Southern Regional Education Board, explains that the NCLB act provides the criteria for teacher selection, and in general, they make sure classes are aligned with its goals, but otherwise, the influence is at best indirect."
Who chooses online learning?
If NCLB isn't driving online education at the primary and secondary school levels, then what is? Thomas suggests that it is all about filling gaps. "Far too much public education is still by zip code," indicating that where you live determines the quality of education you get. In his opinion, online education is a way to get around this—the cyber classroom makes distance irrelevant.
For many students, the online class is a safe haven. "Some students have peanut allergies so intense that they can't attend public schools," explains Julie Knobel of Washington's Insight School, a full-time, diploma-granting, online public high school for students across Washington State. Among Insight's student success stories–young parents who didn't fit into traditional schools, those who are mobility-impaired, and ones suffer from social anxiety disorder.
Ambition also drives a growing number of younger students to head online. Young professional athletes attend online high schools, including, as Bill Thomas mentions, the serious amateur swimmer who trains before dawn and takes an online class so he can swim without missing school. Focused students take online classes in order to get more in, as do students from schools who lack some specialization—AP classes, International Baccalaureate (IB) classes, or, more simply, advanced math or foreign language classes.
Online classes work best for students whose families are ready to sort through the "90 to 100 pounds of curriculum and materials" Arkansas Virtual Academy sends students at the start of the year, says Ghidotti.
In short, this form of learning isn't for everyone, and the online schools themselves emphasize this. Some offer self-assessment quizzes to guide families to or away from online schools. Others offer chances to contact school administrators, or provide informational tours and seminars to answer questions.
Thomas indicates that on all surveys, "technological difficulties are always listed last in the reasons people drop online courses." Ghidotti agrees, noting, "Younger students are quick to adapt to online school. It is as if they come 'programmed' to work with the technology." Online schools also provide help dealing with the technology. Florida Virtual, for instance, offers computers to students' families, and no schools noted any real difference in performance among students from different economic backgrounds. In fact, over 90 percent of parents with children attending Florida Virtual report being satisfied with their son or daughter's education.
Is online education any good?
Florida's online schools have shown an impressive success rate for students taking state exams. Florida Connections Academy, a public school serving grades K-8, for example, earned an A on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT), a standardized test given in grades 3-11. So did Florida Virtual. Hundreds of traditional schools fared far worse, earning a "D" or "F" on the test.
Students at Insight have to meet all the Washington state graduation requirements. Ron Mayberry, principal at Washington's Internet Academy, notes that teachers who moved from the traditional classroom to teaching online all observed that the online classes were more rigorous.
Online classes also allow much more individualized instruction, and individualized pacing, says Mayberry. No bells mark off 50-minute periods. Students spend as much or as little time as they need to learn a subject.
"Sometimes it isn't about what's good about online schools but what's not working at brick-and-mortar schools, like distractions," Mayberry says. "You're trying to get stuff done, and the school makes announcements or [holds] assembly. "
Teasing can be a problem in person, as well, but as Beitler observes, "the bully and the bullied person are sitting next to each other in the virtual classroom." Knobel says, "The local alternative high school can be pretty rough. When student mothers brought their babies there, there were some uncomfortable situations."
What about socialization?
Online schools give socialization serious attention, says Knobel. Most have optional field trips that work much as field trips do in traditional schools. Though the majority of the trip's organization is conducted online, the trip is real, not virtual. Parents come to chaperone, and learning and socialization blend together. There are also in-person parent-teacher sessions with face-to-face orientations, and counseling services to help parents meet their children's academic needs.
It all starts with the curriculum, say advocates. According to Mayberry, students are more likely to interact with the instructor and each other online than in traditional classrooms. The best curriculums are also realistic about student needs. At Florida Virtual, for example, only about 10 percent of the time of first and second graders is actually spent online. The rest is spent doing offline activities like experiments that illustrate scientific principles, or by visiting historical sites and museums. The online environment also offers new possibilities for socialization. Students have online clubs, or can access databases to contact fellow students with similar interests.
How well does this work? In the school chat forum, which Insight monitors, explains Knobel, "we had about 18,000 posts the first two weeks—from 600 students. Over the whole year, the forum got about 400,000 posts." By the prom—yes, online high schools have proms—"there were no wallflowers. Everyone knew one another. Everyone was talking."
Schools where everyone learns at their own pace, where there are no wallflowers, and where everyone can get a good education safely? These sound like good reasons for the one room schoolhouse to move online, and explain why online elementary and high schools are growing explosively.
|
