They're certainly not for everyone, and if I were consulted on the topic I'd probably spend some time crafting some fairly rigid requirements that would have to be met before allowing any particular high school student to take online classes, but there's certainly nothing wrong with the idea of
online study. In fact, it's one of the areas in which I'd consider getting a master's degree, because I think there's a (limited) future in online coursework in the K-12 arena.
We have some classes set up for this already. One of the lead online teachers broadcasts live or via podcasts daily. Then they have a specific time to meet online for forum discussions. The only problem is that some students simply don't have the necessary equipment to make such a program inclusive across the board. For college classes, it's been a double edge sword. The classes are more available, but the programs to access it are sometimes not as seamless as the techies would have you believe. And frankly, some professors need to monitor their information links because there are lots of dead ones in the classes I have taken.
ReplyDeleteI teach at a small private school. We have a few AP classes taught by teachers (physics, biology, calculus, art history), but our size makes it impractical to add instructors for everything that may interest students. So, we've started using online AP courses for subjects like economics and history and it's seemed to work well.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter is taking an independent study Geometry class this semester. It is online. She was put in an Algebra 1 class that she aced last year. The regular teacher quit just before school started and she had a series of subs before a new teacher was hired. By the time anyone would actually listen to us about a schedule change it was too late to change. She is a straight A student and is doing great in this online class. She is in contact with the school's geometry teacher to make sure she is where she should be in order to join her class after Christmas.
ReplyDelete