By BILL KACZOR, Associated Press
Writer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - 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."
