Week 14

As a person that graduated high school in 2004, and had no choice of enrolling in any courses outside of what my school had to offer, I feel like today’s students are very privileged in that sense. Yes, online courses are not for everyone, but it is undeniably a great experience for those that can take advantage of what they have to offer. 

• You're a rural district with only a few hundred students total. A child wants to take courses like calculus, but they cannot feasibly be offered by your high school.

This is a perfect scenario where online learning has a very strong stand. If a student wants to take a class that’s not offered by the school district that s/he attends, then it’s the school’s responsibility to make it possible for them through enrolling them in an online class. Online learning and virtual schools exist for this reason. They were founded in order to give students the freedom from being constrained and limited to the education that their schools have to offer.

• You're a principal of a school. An overbearing parent comes to you. Their first son had Mr. Siko for chemistry and hated him. He's the only chemistry teacher, and now their younger son has him. They want to pull him out and have him take it online. Can you prevent this? Should you prevent this?

This is a tough one but if I were the principal, I will deny the parent’s request for two reasons. First of all, it is not expected of all students to like their teachers all the time! This is something that’s quite impossible. And no one is asking the students to like all their teachers, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need to respect them and learn from them. Second of all, if the student’s brother hated that teacher, it doesn’t mean that he will too! They are two different people and they will likely have different experiences with this teacher. It’s wrong on so many levels for the parents to assume that their son will hate this teacher before even enrolling in his classroom and getting to know him.

• A child comes into your class, having transferred from a 'cyberschool'. It is clear the quality was subpar. Any of this child's standardized test scores this year are tied to your performance evaluation under the new teacher evaluation guidelines.

Regardless of the child’s standardized scores, I will do my best as a teacher to help this child improve and reach the required level for his age. I will use differentiated instructions with this student and focus on the areas that he needs the most help in. I will discuss some options with the child’s parents regarding after school classes or ways that they can contribute to help their child advance.

• I am a teacher whose district is embracing online learning. It is attracting many students from other districts, and this generates extra revenue (students = $$). I am asked to be a 'facilitator' for these students, who are not required to attend during the school day. I am not given extra release time for this. 

It’s great that I am given such an opportunity but it’s not mentioned whether I have any experience with online learning or whether I was trained to work with students virtually without ever having to see them. The other issue here is time. If I am not given extra time to tackle all those responsibilities, then I will most likely not do a good job. At the end of the day, I am only human and can do so much in a day!

• I am a 12th grade student who was diagnosed with leukemia the summer before my senior year. I am unable to attend a full day of school while receiving treatment. I want to graduate on time with my friends.

Again, this scenario is a perfect explanation as to why online courses are beneficial. In certain circumstances, students are not able to attend classes physically and this is when enrolling in online classes should be the solution. In this student’s case, the school is obliged to offer those classes and help this student graduate in time.

• Do you think schools are equipped to handle these changes?  Has your school/district been public about any changes they've made to curriculum and instruction, or have any changes gone unnoticed?  How is your school handling this (consider asking your administrator to see how s/he is imagining the larger picture)?

I am very sure that not all schools are equipped to handle all these challenges because not all districts have the needed funds and facilities. And because the world of virtual schooling is fairly new, I believe that we will experience more changes in the coming years. Since I have no experience with online learning other than my current IT course, I will tackle this subject hypothetically and based on some research that I did in my district. As soon as I typed “Dearborn Heights high school online courses” I was taken to the Dearborn Heights Virtual academy, which is a virtual school that offers online courses to students enrolled in Dearborn Heights schools. On their website, they boldly explained that online courses are not for everyone. 

 “We screen students to ensure that they are good candidates for online learning. Students who struggle in traditional high schools due to attendance problems, chronic illness, bullying, discipline issues, etc. often find success in online learning. Students must be self-directed and motivated to complete courses”.

They even explained that online courses are not ‘easier’ than traditional courses and that they require the same amount of work and effort.  I also talked to a friend of mine who teaches at a Dearborn Heights high school, and he told me that in the 5 years he’s been teaching there, he has experienced some successful and some not very successful stories with online learning. At the end of the day, it all depends on the students, their circumstances, their motives, and their determination.