Week 12 - Part 2: Virtual Schools

Virtual Schools - Part 2


After reading the articles on virtual schools and online classes this week, I was most surprised to read that Michigan was one of the first states in the country to create a graduation requirement for high school students which mandates some form of online learning experience prior to graduation. This information was new to me, and I have been teaching for 12 years. I was also surprised to read the facts about Michigan Virtual High Schools, and how quickly they have gained new courses, new students, and new instructors over the last 10 years. It was unbelievable to read about the growth of these aspects of online learning in the K-12 setting from one year to the next.

Before the readings from this week, I reported that in my school district, students were taking advantage of the virtual classroom from two different avenues. One was the group of students that wished to take advanced classes online that were not available within our district. The other group of students that were benefiting from the online classes were the students that were trying to regain credit in a class that they had previously failed. The readings on virtual schooling addressed both of these groups of students as some of the students that have been reaping the benefits of online classes.

In regards to the "Top Ten Myths About Virtual Schools," before these readings I was under the false impression that "Online students are isolated and therefore will be socially disadvantaged." I always felt that it was important for students to be exposed to others students in a classroom setting for the social interaction. I can now see the advantages of online learning for the students that are shy in the traditional classroom setting. Before this class, I was also under the misunderstanding that "Online courses lack interaction." I have had more interaction with this class and the professor, than I have had with the majority of my classmates and professors in my other Master's classes. It is nice to know that even though a course is online, one-on-one interactions will frequently occur with other students in the class and with the instructors.

I think that online classes and virtual schools have the capability of being very beneficial to all students. It is astonishing to see how much progress has been made over the past 10 years in regards to the virtual schooling of high school students. I can only imagine that this will also begin to have an impact on the younger students as well over the upcoming years!

Week 12 Part 1 - Virtual Schooling

Before this course at WSU, I did not know very much about K-12 online learning. However, over the past 12 weeks, I have come to have a better understanding of some of various possibilities on online education.


In the school district where I teach, students have recently been taking online classes to supplement their high school education. They take these online classes to either earn credit in a class that they have previously failed, or as a way to take a course that is not offered at our school. There seems to be a variety of students that take these types of online classes, and they take them from multiple locations. Some students prefer to participate in their online courses from home, but there are also students that would like to remain in the school setting, and they do their online coursework in the computer labs.