Distance Education:Middle & High School

Sara Carchidi & Glenn Wishner

Middle School: General Middle School: General InformationInformation

There are 3 main types of on-line classes available to students: 1. Virtual charter schools 2. State sponsored schools 3. Independently run school district schools

Four main items to consider on student performance in an on-line class. 1. design of the program 2. demands of the content 3. abilities of students 4. quality of teachers.

The research available shows these are the areas that impact student achievement the most.

Middle School: General Middle School: General InformationInformation

On-line classes is a rapidly growing trend for students. 1,030,000 k-12 students nation-wide took on-line

classes in the 2007-08 school year. By 2004 1/3 of public school districts offer or

have students enrolled in on-line classes. 68% - High school 2% - Middle school 1% - Elementary school

37 states now offer on-line classes

Although many students are choosing to take on-line classes, there has been very little research done on this topic and how it affects student learning and achievement.

Middle School: ProsMiddle School: Pros As for adult learners, DE classes offers a great

deal of flexibility for students to manage their time and learning.

There is a lot of potential for teachers to share materials and ideas in a cost effective manner.

High quality teachers – many virtual schools require 3 years of teaching experience, state certification and highly qualified teachers. Most teachers come from traditional classes.

On-line classes offers students the capabilities to make good use of ICT (information and communication technologies) skills which can be put into practice in real world situations.

Middle School: ProsMiddle School: Pros Highly motivating.

Expands access to education for students.

Helps to improve student outcomes and skills (especially in technologies).

High quality learning opportunities

Teachers report they are able to help students individually and differentiate learning.

Middle School: ConsMiddle School: Cons Difficulty in obtaining approval or

accreditation for schools.

Many students may not have the retention or readiness (traits often shown by adult learners) to keep up with on-line classes.

Teachers who may adopt on-line classes may not adopt the new pedagogy that goes along with it.

No curriculum standards for the technology applied in on-line classes.

Middle School: ConsMiddle School: Cons It is difficult to control cheating because there

are many resources at a students’ disposal within an environment that teachers cannot control.

There is a lack of social skills that can be acquired in an on-line environment.

There is, traditionally, little training for high quality teachers and use of technologies and pedagogy.

On-line degrees may not have as much credibility when applying to colleges moving into the work force.

High School: General High School: General InformationInformation

Online high schools are online programs that students enroll in to complete their high school diploma.

There are several types of online high schools: Public, Private, Charter, University-affiliated, Accredited, and

Non-accredited

• Only public schools need to follow state mandated curriculum 100 %Online public high school and online charter schools are free of charge.

• Universities accept students who have completed online high school as long as the program is accredited.

High Schools: General High Schools: General Information ContinuedInformation Continued

Many online high schools are required to have gym requirements.

Students may work at their won pace, but still have deadlines.

It is only a myth that online students have less work then traditional students.

Students may still participate in extra-curricular activities with traditional students in some areas.

High School: ProsHigh School: Pros Flexibility

Less distractions

May receive diploma at an accelerated rate

Can do your work at your own pace

The time that would be spent at school can be spent working or pursuing something else desirable.

High School ConsHigh School Cons Students do not have the opportunity develop social

skills as they would in the traditional school setting.

Students that need the hands-on help will not be able to have that teacher-student interaction.

Only accredited online schools are accepted by colleges & universities.

Students will not be able to be successful if they are not self motivating

Publications & Recent Publications & Recent NewsNews

1. http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED432668

This article about the start of distance education around the world. The article focuses on The United States on page 32.

2. http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/howell63.html

This article talks about 32 different trends that have an impact on distance education.

3. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/579/1266A

Current study on distance education in the high school setting.

4. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2167/2114

This is an article that discusses how online education has changed education and the classroom.

ResourcesResources http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/c

ontent_storage_01/0000019b/80/43/99/41.pdf 

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/44/83/5c.pdf

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/43/58/9a.pdf

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3e/18/a6.pdf

http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/ba/aa.pdf