Journal # 8

Virtual Schooling By: Niki Davis and Dale S. Niederhauser

Virtual Schooling has been the new boom in the education system. Many school systems are beginning to add virtual schooling or online classrooms into their system. Virtual schooling is similar to regular schooling in that it involves a group of people that work together to form the education system. The most important is the student who has to have some self motivation and drive since unlike a real classroom they won’t have a teacher patting them on the back to stay on task. They do have many of the same people as a regular school has, they have a teacher who makes sure students are doing their work, and an administrator who oversees the entire operation and makes sure things are running smoothly. They also have a facilitator, who has the special job of helping the student decide what classes to take, proctor exams and help the students through their course. Virtual Schooling has become very popular because it helps a variety of students. It gives advanced students more classes, allows students to move through work at their own pace and helps students that aren’t able to make it to a regular classroom.

Should schools require students to take at least one virtual class?
I think it would be a great experience for every student to be required to learn how an online class works. I think that it will be hard for students that are not naturally self motivating but will help them learn skills like time management when they don’t have a teacher breathing down their neck to turn in assignments. Many colleges offer online courses and I think to prepare students for the college experience they should understand what an online course is like.

What are the drawbacks of this program?
One problem that I could see arising is students not being able to self motivate themselves to get the work done. Unlike regular classrooms there is not always a set time where the student must be working on their schooling. This allows students more freedom to choose when they want to do their assignments. I think this could be good for some students but also cause problems for others.