My how high school has changed since I graduated from high school in 1983! It is amazing to think that our children have access to learn about “virtually” anything. My son graduated from high school this past May. In his junior year he wanted to take AP Chemistry and signed up for the course. The class was cancelled because only five other students had signed up and it was not economically feasible for the school to provide a teacher for only six students. We were very disappointed. The school did not provide us with any options for my son to take this course. My son is now entering college and is majoring in chemistry. It would have been wonderful for him to be one step ahead in his college career by learning more about chemistry before entering college. He may have even found that he is not interested in pursuing a career in chemistry had he taken the course. I am now wondering why we were not given the opportunity to explore the cyber high school option.
Cyber or virtual high schools are used by many different groups of students: special needs, struggling, gifted and talented, and students such as my son who needed a course that his school didn’t offer. I visited the Michigan Virtual School website (www.mivhs.org). The school offers more than 350 courses, coursed ranging from mathematics to Mandarin Chinese and Film Studies. The virtual school also offers career exploration tools and on-line resources for teachers.
There are many different learning modalities. Cyber high schools are another tool for educators to use to help reach every student. Cyber high schools may not work for all children, however, they may be exactly what some children need to succeed. I hope that all traditional schools see the benefit of cyber high schools and provide this very important option for students who may not be benefiting from the traditional school setting.
Reading this post made me think of how valuable cyber schools and classes can be for our future. Like your son, if a class that students are interested in, is not offered in school, they would have the ability to take it elsewhere. This would be so beneficial for students in preparing for college. Your son is one of the few students going to college knowing what he is majoring in. By providing opportunities online for students to experience different fields would possibly help them in narrowing down or eliminating a field of study that is or isn’t for them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that cyber schools are not for everyone, but it is another tool to help reach students that are not getting that in a traditional school setting. Cyber schools are helping to create opportunities for our students to think about and take a part in determining their future.