Virtual Schooling: Where are We Now? Where are We Headed?

Virtual Schooling:  Where are We Now?  Where are We Headed?

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The blogger Andrew Miller is a self-professed advocate of virtual schooling.  He posits that students who may not have thrived in a traditional classroom can gain essential college-readiness skills and thrive in a virtual setting.  For some, Miller argues, the virtual classroom can be a life saver.  However, Miller also cautions that advocates for virtual schooling can also do as much harm as good if they fall into a mold of cranking out as many students as possible with a high student to teacher ratio.  

Miller goes on to cite statistics revealing the growing popularity of distance learning, indicating that the movement is on the rise and that virtual classrooms are cropping up in the majority of U.S. states.  Two of the more common reasons for the rise in virtual education are the potential for credit recovery for students whose traditional experiences ended in failure, along with a broader range of subjects and greater access to learning opportunities.  

One potential drawback to online education, says Miller, is the quality of online courses.  He has personally witnessed online classes which lack the rigor and engagement needed for student success.  Rather, they resemble the more traditional methods of "sit and get" learning which plague many traditional classrooms as well.  To combat this, Miller suggests that teacher training and professional development be extended to teachers of distance classes, and that standards for instruction exist to ensure rigor.

Miller laments that, too often, blended learning is perceived as simply offering technology in an otherwise traditional setting.  This misunderstanding is partially responsible for the failure to add rigor and relevance, and for the online learning opportunity to underachieve in its goal to engage students and provide meaningful instruction.  The solution to this lies in a shift to competency-based pathways, says Miller, in which the required "seat time" espoused by the Carnegie model is eschewed in favor of a competency-based model which affords more individualized instruction and pacing.  

Finally, Miller points out that, in order to ensure the success of virtual learning, we must avoid replicating a "broken system," and instead ensure that the virtual model include both quality and innovation.  As a traditional classroom teacher whose attempts to integrate technology into my teaching, and as a current distance learner in this cohort, I can't help but be excited by the idea that a model for distance learning which includes rigor and relevance might one day impact my traditional on-site instruction.