Education
is constantly changing. As educators we
consistently seek out more effective and efficient ways to meet our students’
ever-changing needs. One of the up and
coming methods to provide for our students' individual needs is virtual
schooling.
The State of Alabama is joining the
virtual schooling realm. While ACCESS
has been provided for students in Alabama schools since 2005, school districts
will be required to provide students in grades 9-12 with a virtual education
option to be in place by the 2016-2017 school year. As of 2015, five states have required
students to take at least one online course as a graduation requirement
(Samuelsohn, 2015). According to Moore and
Kearsley (2011) students will need to have knowledge of “digital literacy” in
order to be able to function in an Information Age society. Digital literacy refers to the knowledge of
input and output of computers, phone, or other electronic devices (Moore &
Kearsly, 2011). Requiring/taking online
courses is a method for incorporating digital literacy into the curriculum.
While some schools in Alabama have developed a virtual school policy,
many are still in the process. The
district in which I teach is one of those schools. A virtual school policy has not yet been
developed, but has been discussed. As of
now, the plan for developing a virtual school plan will begin with
research. Other school policies will be
reviewed, and our district plan will most likely be developed using Best
Practices that best fit our district needs.
The next step for my district in
regard to virtual schooling would be to develop an outline for the policy. We need to review the state requirements for
the policy to ensure the district policy meets all requirements for virtual
schooling—scope and delivery, student eligibility criteria, requirements for
monitoring and testing, and attendance requirements. Requirements for participation in
extracurricular/athletics should also be taken into consideration when developing
the policy. The district should also
choose an LMS, so students will know at home requirements in advance.
The way we teach and learn changes
with our society, but it also changes due to economics. “As the cost of electronically transmitting
information has been falling, the cost of conventional education and training
has been rising” (Moore & Kearsley, 2011, pg. 275). Virtual schooling is another resource to
provide educational opportunities for our students as effectively and
efficiently as possible.
The Dabbs Family, a military family, uses a virtual schooling option.
References:
Moore, M. G., & Kearsley, G.
(2012). Distance education: A systems view of online
learning. United States: Wadsworth, Cenage Learning.
Samuelsohn,
D. (2015). Virtual schools are
booming. Who’s paying attention?