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This school is a click away
Online schooling goes beyond the walls of traditional classrooms.
By AUTUMN SIEGEL
© St. Petersburg Times
published August 5, 2002
For most Florida students, school is ominously right around the corner.
Maybe if you didn't have to sit at a desk all day, or you could attend science class without changing out of your pajamas, or take calculus on your own schedule, the thought of going back to school might not be so scary.
All of this is possible at the Florida Virtual School.
"Any time, any place, any path, any place" is the motto. FLVS is an accredited public high school -- only it is online. That means students access their lessons through the Virtual School's Web site, on their own time, and in their own place. If for some reason you need to work late at your grandparents' house, you can! There is no set time of day for coursework as long as assignments are submitted by the due date. Likewise, holidays take on new meaning since the school is never closed.
Students "attend" classes by clicking on the subject, reading the lesson and completing the assignments. They submit their finished work through personalized InBoxes. Teachers, who work from offices or their homes around the state, communicate to students via e-mail, Web chats and discussions and phone calls. Just like any teacher, though, online teachers grade class assignments adding comments that not only point out trouble spots but also emphasize strong points. Communication is key for such an environment, so most teachers require weekly contact.
The FLVS Guidance Department and 24-hour technical assistance hotline are helpful services. If you ever get in a fix (like your computer crashing), tech folks are there to help.
Assignments are divided into modules, or units, and are completed according to a pace chart, which outlines due dates. Each class requires three to 10 hours a week, depending on the student, but is designed to allow students to work ahead if they want. Jones E-education software also offers a discussion board, user profile section and a controlled live chat area, as well as a spot for announcements (both course and school). These are actual classroom discussions, except classmates are joining each other from across the state!
The learning process is entirely student driven, so organization and self-motivation are essential. Pace of learning, assignment methods and projects are customized to the individual learner. Extra- and dual-credit opportunities are available.
English classes have pre-course reading. Health classes require the students to maintain personal fitness plans. Each course meets the Florida Sunshine Standards for education, so they are essentially the same as those offered in traditional classrooms. In fact, a survey published in Education Week showed 68 percent of Florida Virtual School students reported that their classes were as challenging as, if not harder than, regular high school.
All credits are transferable should a student attend another high school. Because FLVS is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Florida Department of Education, credits are accepted by colleges.
Recent statistics show that FLVS student population comprises 55 percent public school students, 35 percent homeschoolers and 8 percent private school students.
Some make use of this technology to get access to classes not offered at their traditional schools. Others enroll because they are frequent travelers, for example, if their families are in the military. Some are homebound, or dropouts who would like to continue their education even if it cannot be in a standard setting. Still others are homeschoolers who either take their full course load online or augment their home instruction.
The school, founded by the state in 1996 as a partnership of Alachua and Orange counties, now has almost 11,000 students registered for the next semester. (If a class is full, students are put on waiting lists.)
All classes are free to Florida residents and offered with tuition to those in other states or overseas.
The school does not offer diplomas, although that is one of its goals, according to marketing director Victoria Zepp. Student IDs may also be available in years to come.
More than 60 high school courses are offered, including a full range of honors and advance placement classes. (On average, FLVS students score higher on advance placement tests than traditional students.) Among the many others, FLVS offers AP art history, which currently is offered at fewer than 10 Florida high schools, and a full Latin program, a language that is becoming popular again among students, though still not widely available.
The Florida Virtual School also offers GED and a few middle school courses, and is developing a full middle school curriculum.
The school is not completely "virtual." There are a variety of extracurricular clubs that meet in person, with a student government council in the works. The Newspaper Club produces online monthly issues of "News in a Click." The Science Club participates in several programs year-round, such as Save the Manatees and Save the Sea Turtles, and also attends other educational functions, including the Science Olympiad and various Earth Day activities. The Latin Club, a branch of the Junior Classical League, sends students to the State Latin Forum yearly, many of them placing. The English department sponsored a field trip to see Much Ado About Nothing in Orlando.
Twelve other states have online schools, and 25 others have proposals in the works. In 20 years, school desks may be a thing of the past, according to Virginia Edwards, editor of Education Week. "E-learning is poking holes in the walls of the traditional American classroom," she says.
For more information, log on (what else?) to the school's home page (www.flvs.net).
- Autumn Siegel, Beverly Hills, is homeschooled through the Florida Virtual School and will be a sophomore in the fall.
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