Monday, February 16, 2009

Blog post #3

Virtual Success
By Julie Young, Pam Birtolo, and Raven McElman

In an article titled Virtual Success by Julie Young, Pam Birtolo, and Raven McElman, the authors explain the advantages of a school fully online. In Florida, the first statewide public virtual school in the United States opened in 1997. This school went out of the box to try and reach it's students. The students learn all the tools they need and that other students learn in a physical classroom, but online, on their own time, and from the comfort of their own home. It is home schooling, tech school, and traditional classroom all combined. Students feel the advantages of this online school because everyone learns differently. Also, some students want to focus on their Olympic or professional sports as well as other concentrations and this online school gives the students the flexibility they need to pursue them. As college students we are familiar with online classes but this gives the opportunity to high school students as well.
Online classes are a great way to integrate the new up and coming technology that the younger generations use every day and know. There are several ways to integrate technology and computers into the classroom. The three main types of classrooms are classrooms completely without computers also known as traditional classrooms, classrooms that meet in person throughout the week but also have an online component, or a classroom fully online. All options work for different students but it is always beneficial to have the options for everyone to choose from to cater to those hands-on students.
Q: Are online classes at the elementary level possible and/or beneficial?
A: I think it is possible but not beneficial. There are a lot of other aspects outside of the curriculum that students learn being on the campus of the school. They learn a lot of social skills that they wouldn't get from being only online.
Q: Would online classes be beneficial for high school?
A: I think they would but in small, controlled settings. Only some classes should be offered so that the student still has to be on the high school campus for some of the week. I think having an online aspect to classes would be great also.

No comments:

Post a Comment