I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard an advertisement for online high school and immediately I was thinking, what in the world! I quickly formed an opinion (I do that often) and thought that is wrong, a student needs to go to high school and gain the experience. Then I sat back and thought about it more in depth and changed my opinion (I do that often too). I initially realized I had to think about this more because here I am enrolled in an online graduate program so I must think online learning works!
I decided to do an online graduate program because I wanted to continue working, travel and lead a busy life but still complete courses on my own time. I do not know many high school students who need to continue a full time job or have funds to travel constantly so I researched more about virtual high schools and found some good reasons for these online classes. Students take these online classes if they have illness or injury that makes face to face high school difficult, need credit recovery or they want to take classes that are not offered at their school. Some students are able to take advanced classes or classes that will earn them college credit. One article stated that online high school was allowing students to take classes that were not a high demand in their area and without these online courses the student would not had the opportunity to take such a class. I did find out from the North Dakota Center for Distance Education that a student could also graduate from an online high school. The courses run very similar to our online courses. There is a cost and the student is liable to pay the course fees and textbook costs.
What do you think of this idea? If your son/daughter wanted to complete high school online would you allow them to? Do you think a high school student can gain just as much from an online high school as they can from attending high school? This may be something that has been around for awhile but I haven’t heard of it much before so I’m interested to hear any information that one has. I do think this type of program or class would appeal to the 21st century learner. It is a great opportunity for a student to take a class that they are interested in. This type of class is also a great way to prepare for an online college course.
Another website dedicated to Virtual High School discusses how virtual high school works and it is very similar to our graduate classes. This specific Virtual High School even uses Blackboard.
Why restructure? Does it really do anything?
15 years ago
So at first I also formed a quick opinion and thought it was not a good idea. Until I remembered I took an online-like course in high school. I came from a really small school and in order for me to take Human Anatomy, I had to take Algebra 2 by correspondence (they sent you this huge book and you completed units and sent each one in throughout the semester). It was similar to online. I also think of the same school where students now are allowed to take courses such as Spanish, French, Photography, and college level courses, all online. I do think this is a great way to allow students to take courses that are not offered at their school. But do I think completely online is a good idea? At first, I thought no. I think a student would need the social experience, both good and bad, to prepare for the world ahead. But I also think of students who are home schooled. They are ready for the real world and maybe online high school would allow them to take a wider range of courses.
ReplyDeleteI think it could become a trend and we possibly could be seeing more and more students attending high school this way. I think it is a great way to show how technology is changing the world.