Unit 8, Article 33

The Virtual Revolution

Article Summary:

This article chronicles the development of virtual schools over the last 10 years in the United States. The author began by detailing distance learning that occurred back in the 1800s via the mail, and he went on to discuss some of the first online schools that were created during the early 1990s. The Florida Virtual School, the Arkansas Virtual School, the Cyber Village Academy, and the Delta Cyber School were all outline and the structure of their virtual classrooms were examined. One interesting thing that the author talked about was that virtual classrooms result in much more self-paced instruction for the students. Each student completes assignments, readings, and tests on their own schedule. This self-monitored pace tends to draw students who fall on either end of the spectrum to virtual classrooms. In other words, students who are struggling and falling behind have the advantage of moving at their own pace, and students who are gifted and becoming bored in a regular classroom can jump ahead. Towards the end of the paper, the authors cited that in a large, five-year study of virtual classrooms, researchers could find "no significant difference in performance between students who participated in online programs and those who were taught in face-to-face classrooms" (Greenway et al., 2006).

Response to Article:

This article was very interesting, and it contained a very balanced discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of online classrooms. I definitely agree with the authors' comment at the end of the article in which they say, "we will always have a need for personal contact, and computers are no replacement for genuine human interaction - or for teachers and tutors" (Greenway et al., 2006). Virtual classrooms definitely have their uses, especially when it comes to educating students who live in rural settings. Their discussion of schools in Alaska who use virtual classrooms to help students that would otherwise not be able to get a public education shows just how necessary of a tool this can be. However, besides helping rural students and helping students who need supplementary assistance, I see virtual classrooms as more of a hindrance rather than an advancement. I think that receiving an education is only a small part of going to school at the gradeschool level. Children need to be able to interact with their peers, to play at recess, to eat lunch together, to get into trouble, to deal with bullies, and experience everything else that comes with being a young person. Those students who are in a virtual classroom would miss out on all of the social lessons that I believe are the main reason for going to school.