More Kids Going To School Online

(AP)  As a seventh-grader, Kelsey-Anne Hizer was getting mostly D's and F's and felt the teachers at her Ocala middle school were not giving her the help she needed.

But after switching to a virtual school for eighth grade, Kelsey-Anne is receiving more individual attention and making A's and B's. She's also enthusiastic about learning, even though she has never been in the same room as her teachers.

Kelsey-Anne became part of a growing national trend when she transferred to Orlando-based Florida Virtual School. Students get their lessons online and communicate with their teachers and each other through chat rooms, e-mail, telephone and instant messaging.

"It's more one-on-one than regular school," Kelsey-Anne said. "It's more they're there; they're listening."

Virtual learning is becoming ubiquitous at colleges and universities but remains in its infancy at the elementary and secondary level, where skeptics have questioned its cost and effect on children's socialization.

However, virtual schools are growing fast - at an annual rate of about 25 percent. There are 25 statewide or state-led programs and more than 170 virtual charter schools across the nation, according to the North American Council for Online Learning.

Estimates of elementary and secondary students taking virtual classes range from 500,000 to 1 million nationally compared to total public school enrollment of about 50 million.

Online learning is used as an alternative for summer school and for students who need remedial help, are disabled, being home schooled or suspended for behavioral problems. It also can help avoid overcrowding in traditional classrooms and provide courses that local schools, often rural or inner-city, do not offer.

Advocates say those niche functions are fine, but that virtual learning has almost unlimited potential. Many envision a blending of virtual and traditional learning.

"We hope that it becomes just another piece of our public schools' day rather than still this thing over here that we're all trying to figure out," said Julie Young, Florida Virtual's president and CEO.

Florida Virtual is one of the nation's oldest and largest online schools, with more than 55,000 students in Florida and around the world, most of them part-time. Its motto is "Any Time, Any Place, Any Path, Any Pace."

Struggling students such as Kelsey-Anne, who suffers from attention deficit disorder, can take more time to finish courses while those who are gifted can go at a faster speed.

Casey Hutcheson, 17, finished English and geometry online in the time it would have taken to complete just one of those courses at his regular high school in Tallahassee.

"I like working by myself because of no distractions, and I can go at my own pace rather than going at the teacher's pace," he said.

For all its potential, virtual schooling has its critics and skeptics.

"There is something to be said for having kids in a social situation learning how to interact in society," said state Rep. Shelley Vana. "I don't think you get that if you're at home."

But virtual students get a different kind of social experience that is just as valuable, said Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the North American Council for Online Learning in Vienna, Va.

"We should socialize them for the world that they live in," she said, suggesting that people spend much of their time interacting via computer these days.

Many policymakers approach virtual learning with dollar signs in their eyes, expecting big savings from schools that do not need buildings, buses and other traditional infrastructure.

"We should not, as stewards of public money, be automatically paying the same or even close to the same amount of money for a virtual school day as we pay for a conventional school day," said Florida Senate Education Committee Chairman Don Gaetz.

Florida Virtual this year is slated to get $6,682 for every full-time equivalent student, just slightly less than the average of $7,306 for all of the state's public schools. Young said her school has expenses that traditional schools do not.

"Our data infrastructure is our building," she said.

Teacher unions have opposed spending public dollars on some virtual schools, mainly those that are privately operated or function as charter schools.

Indiana lawmakers this year refused to fund virtual charter schools. Opponents argued they are unproven and would have siphoned millions of dollars from traditional public schools.

Florida Virtual's Young said she plans to recommend that her state follow the example of Michigan, which passed a requirement that students complete some type of online experience to earn a high school diploma.

If "we do not give them an opportunity to take an online course, we're doing them a tremendous disservice," she said. "It's become the way of the world."

[lwebb82]

There IS a way for us to give ALL our kids a WORLD CLASS EDUCATION. Read www.classroomspectaculars.com and www.ideasforourfuture.com -- see how this plan will connect the few FANTASTIC teachers with the millions of students dying to be TURNED ON to education. It would cost a pittance compared to the fortune we're pouring into our schools today and boring our kids. It would also be a terrific teaching aid for TEACHERS. Let's bring our K-12 kids and teachers into the 21st century -- it's about time.

[michellem99-2009]

I have alway wanted to write even with my limited learning and a prond Mainer alway. They may belittle me but that won''t stop me. I add verse is hope it is enjoyed. I figger at 52 I have just as much right to add my say. That is why a friend helpped me to talk to you and I do learn from each. Yes with my magnifier I read eash.
The foster Mum would fight and if I had any home work I would do it at school as it was quiet. She did make it hard to learn.. If the state got me sp needs items she would take them and I would never see them. Yet without them I could not see to do my lessons. So They were never replaced, It was hard.
The one person I love the most is my Dad and he saw me graduate. I did not know he was there. I felt like who would greet me afterwards my foster parents I was 19. I wanted a loved one, I was surprised. I heard my name that he gave me that is Barbara. My late aunts were there. My graduation party was my new foster parents,2 aunts now dead and my Dad. I only wished computer was there to help. that would come later. At 52 it did.

[Krazcarl]

Michelle99 your one hell of a lady keep writing and take-care. Always check your post.

[cfin5]

Works for us! Besides, I know where they are at and who is NOT around them to get them into drugs, beating them up, etc. If the best they can do is being a good dumb kid, that trumps being a smart wicked kid. Glad to say that I have good smart kids!

[sjw1253]

As a 53 year old who just earned her Bachelors of Science - I am a very strong advocate for online classes.

Kids will get their social interactions in many ways - and not all classes may be had online. The Internet has provided a great medium for those who may not otherwise be able to expand their education.

To tmkgls - I don''t know where you had your classes - but it was a lot more work for me to attain my education via the Internet than if I went to a physical school where you passively learn.

When I started my classes so many were naysayers regarding my online classes - and many have now been converted. I also started paying bills online when it first became available in the early 1990''s. I have had so many tell me I was the pioneer and that I was right after all. They did not have faith and now have a new found respect for my "technology adventurous" nature.

[olgreyghost]

One thing my homeschooled children "missed" from the lack of socialization was they had to learn to think on their own and not fall back on "group think" as a way to solve problems. That way they are more likely to detect "male bovine fecal matter" when a politician opens his or her mouth...

[rray52]

"There is something to be said for having kids in a social situation learning how to interact in society," said state Rep. Shelley Vana. "I don''t think you get that if you''re at home."


Home school children are not locked in the home. They play on sports teams, belong to various clubs and originations. They play with their friends both home and public school. They go to the mall, the movies, hiking, camping, skiing. They socialize very well thank you. Given the steady stream of news stories about the %u201Cproblems%u201D in the public schools maybe their socialization aspect isn%u2019t all it%u2019s cracked up to be.

[michellem99-2009]

I am 52. I can speak from my day as a pupil. I was born too early. At my birth legally blind with other handicaps. Started school at 10. Special education from age 10 to 19. How whould you like if you heard from each teacher* I can''t teach a pupil as you*. Would you be pissed,hurt,cry...That day no computer,no print size to read lessons,a child of bloody pity. A girl as that. The boy comes first. Every body knows girls and boys are taught not the same. I was the only legally blind mud multi handicapped in the schools and foster homes. I could NOT learn what others knew as I never got the basics. I do try. The bloody money.This nation can blow money on a dumb war...I was left behind. I had to sit in class as it was the law. It hurts to write this.

. The people paid for my educaion in school and I learn very little when a child and the belittling in the foster homes did not help. I never knew from month to month where I be living, That hell. People paid for my schooling. My friend tryed to help me see that the school system failed me. He helped me get computer. There are times I am in tears , pissed, on this issue. I have very little book learning yet gradauated high school. I share my self with you in every post I try to write.Use one one digit to write. Have C/P as well.

[tmkgls]

My thoughts are that online schooling is beneficial to some. I found, while taking some of my Associates Degree online, that I didn''t learn as much or retain it as well as in a classroom setting. It may have been just the instructor, but it was too easy to get an A.

However, when a child is unable to attend school for some reason, this is a wonderful way for them to continue to learn. As to the social aspect, the students are not able to take some types of classes online such as sports, music, art, home economics, and shop. These should be available to them via the conventional schools thereby promoting interaction with other children.

[olgreyghost]

Socialization in public schools is seriously over-rated. Drug use, disrespect for parents, and promiscuous *** are some of the things your children can pick up through socialization at school - and that''s just from the teachers...