Flickr: conbon33

If the way we teach and learn is changing, the way that teachers learn should be changing, too. What are schools of education doing to keep ahead?

Lenny Gonzalez

Most people think of online learning as a quiet, solitary experience. But over the past few months, after interviewing students, parents, and educators, a different sort of picture has emerged. We’ve learned about who teaches and learns online, and why, what works and what doesn’t, and perhaps most importantly, whether online learning affords the same quality of education as that of traditional schools.

I spoke with Apex Learning CEO Cheryl Vedoe, one of the leading online curriculum providers to traditional and virtual schools; Maureen Cottrell, a science teacher at iHigh Virtual Academy in San Diego, California; Rian Meadows, an economics instructor at Florida Virtual School; Patti Joubert, the mother of two full-time Florida Virtual School students; and Carylanne and Christiane Joubert, her two daughters.

As with most issues in education, nothing is black and white. There are many different kinds of learners and teachers, and while virtual education may be a revelation for some, it would never work for others.

It’s true that Skyping and instant-messaging can’t replace the face-to-face experience — and for those who need the social interaction — both teachers and students — virtual schools would be difficult. “The high school experience in which you’re socializing with your peers or doing sports after school is important. There are a lot of teachers who would hate to use Skype all the time; they’d prefer being in the classroom. They would hate my job,” said Cottrell, a science teacher at iHigh Virtual Academy. “I think you have to be a certain personality type and have a certain mindset to be a virtual teacher and still ensure student success.”

That said, here are five surprising perspectives you might not have associated with online learning.

1. Students get more one-on-one interaction with teachers, not less.

• “Students still talk with their teachers; you might even say they talk more. When I was in school, you didn’t have many one-on-one conversations with your teachers. Your teachers spoke to you, they didn’t speak with you. Here, they do oral exams, they talk with the kids, they really get to know each student.” — Patti Joubert, parent of Florida Virtual School students
• “If you have an issue, if you’re not quite getting something, you can email or text your teacher. I get a call from one of my teachers at least once a week asking if I’m doing okay, if I need help. I think you get a better way to talk to teachers [in virtual school]. You get that one-on-one.” — Christianne Joubert, 13, Florida Virtual School student
• “The one-on-one interaction with students is key. My students will say, ‘You’re there to help me when I need it!’ It takes down a lot of barriers that kids have to asking questions in class.” — Rian Meadows, economics instructor, Florida Virtual School.

2. Online courses are not necessarily easier than traditional courses.

• “Many students get into our system and find that they didn’t know how difficult it was going to be. I think the virtual world does make your life easier in a lot of ways. But it doesn’t make education easier. You’re not going to learn more easily or teach more easily; it’s just different.” — Maureen Cottrell, science teacher, iHigh Virtual Academy
• “Our courses are often viewed as too rigorous by the schools. One of the things the New York Times article pointed to was that the student wasn’t required to a read a work of literature. We do require that, but school districts don’t always choose to implement the entire curriculum.” — Cheryl Vedoe, CEO of Apex Learning
• “Most of the assignments are essays and take hours to do,” — commenter and student of FLVS.

3. Online learning could work for unmotivated students, as well as for those who are self-disciplined.

• “People always say, ‘It has to be for the highly motivated.’ No. That is our job as teachers. I don’t care if you’re a virtual or a brick-and-mortar teacher. We all have to help motivate our students across the board to be an effective instructor. Parents of children with learning disabilities will say, ‘How will my child be able to fit in?’ But often, if a child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), most of what it might say we already do here, such as allowing unlimited time on tests or letting kids redo assignments.” — Rian Meadows, economics instructor, Florida Virtual School
• “Whenever I meet another kid my age, I always recommend it as another way to do school. Especially for kids who don’t have an easy time with homework or with school.” — Christianne Joubert, 13, Florida Virtual School student
• “Credit recovery is not new, but in the past the only option schools had was to have the student repeat the course. This was typically unsuccessful. If they failed it the first time, they might fail it the second time using that model. But they might succeed in a different model. Students can go quickly through the material and only take time when they need to work on specific skills.” — Cheryl Vedoe, CEO of Apex Learning

4. Online learning can create a lot more free time for extracurricular activities.

• “I get to travel at whatever pace I want to. If I’m having a bad week, or a bad day with my diabetes, it doesn’t matter. I have Monday through Sunday to do my work. The flexibility makes it a lot easier. And with more time on our hands, it’s easier to do other activities like volunteering or Girl Scouts or other clubs.” – Carylanne Joubert, 14, Florida Virtual School student
• “By having this type of learning, we are able to still have a family life. We have the ability to travel when we want to and choose our time. You can’t do that in traditional schools.” – Patti Joubert, parent of Florida Virtual School students
  

5. Students can learn how to work cooperatively even without face-to-face interaction.

• “In all the courses they’ve taken so far, they’ve had assignments where they pair up with another student and do a project together. It’s a good experience — they’re learning how to overcome the challenges of working with someone else and to interact with other kids. Just because you don’t ‘see’ someone doesn’t mean you’re not interacting.” — Patti Joubert, parent of Florida Virtual School students
• “I’m in the newspaper club at FLVS. I’m able to have my voice heard and get across what I think is important. We have online meetings every Tuesday through Eluminate Live. It’s just like every other school newspaper, we’re just online.” — Christianne Joubert, 13, Florida Virtual School student
• “We have great phone conversations and discussion-based assessments. The students connect with one another, too. We have discussion groups where students post something and other students will post back; plus, they do a lot of collaborative projects and group work.” — Rian Meadows, economics instructor, Florida Virtual School

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Because her husband’s military career kept the family on the move, Patti Joubert — the mother of two full-time students at Florida Virtual School (FLVS) — always homeschooled her daughters. Now that they’re in high school, Joubert wanted to find a more resource-enriched alternative.

“[Online schools] offer extra classes that aren’t necessarily in a regular school,” says Joubert, citing supplemental foreign language courses as an example. “The technology they’re getting access to, the course content, the teachers. It’s nice to just sit back and be the parent again.”

Contrary to the assumption that online learning means replacing teachers with computers — or simply saving money by increasing class sizes — Joubert argues that virtual school allows students and teachers to work more closely together. “Students still talk with their teachers; you might even say they talk more. When I was in school, you didn’t have many one-on-one conversations with your teachers. Your teachers spoke to you, they didn’t speak with you. Here, they do oral exams, they talk with the kids, they really get to know each student.”

Q: Do you think your children are receiving a different education at a virtual school than when they were homeschooled?

A: I do, because of the way the courses are presented. Of course, I’m not a teacher; homeschooling parents rarely are, unless they have a bachelor’s or a master’s degree in education. The way they present the lessons at FLVS and the technology and resources they provide are better than I could have offered. Both of my daughters are exceeding my expectations; they’re taking honors courses. I can offer a course, but it certainly wouldn’t be an honors course.

Q: What are the benefits of online learning for your family? Are there any drawbacks?

A: I haven’t found any challenges, really. I’ve just found a lot of great things about it. My husband was in the military, and even after we came to live permanently in Florida, he worked weekends. He only had days off at different times during the week. By having this type of learning, we are able to still have a family life. We have the ability to travel when we want to and choose our time. You can’t do that in traditional schools. Our kids have had the opportunity to go places and see things that other students don’t get to.

Also, for kids that have any type of medical problem, if they lose time out of traditional school because they get sick, they don’t have the opportunity to excel. One of my daughters has juvenile diabetes, but she’s two grades ahead already. With online learning, when you get it, you can move on. When you don’t get it, you can get extra tutoring help and teachers will walk you through it. If you’re sick for a couple of days, you can do your work over the weekend when you feel better. You’re not missing anything.

Of course, it depends on how dedicated a child is to his or her work. My kids are very self-paced because they’ve always been homeschooled, but I think if a child was not so motivated, it would be a bit of a challenge to keep up.

Q: Are your children able to work or socialize with other students at all? Do they feel isolated?

A: In all the courses they’ve taken so far, they’ve had assignments where they pair up with another student and do a project together.  It’s a good experience — they’re learning how to overcome the challenges of working with someone else and to interact with other kids. Just because you don’t “see” someone doesn’t mean you’re not interacting.

There are also plenty of online clubs at FLVS, such as the newspaper club or the science club. And online learning allows my girls more free time to interact outside of school as well, so they’re always volunteering and participating in community activities. Although it’s hard for FLVS teachers and students to get together in person because we’re located all across the state and we’re such a big state, at least once a year, we do a Barnes & Noble Book Fair where students can go to whatever Barnes & Noble is closest to where they live and meet at least some of their teachers.

Q: Could online learning be valuable for other students and families?

A: I have nieces and nephews who go to college and they are offering online courses in college. This is technology that kids will have to learn. Plus, businesses are doing it too: I recently worked for HP as a sales rep, and we were located all across the country, we didn’t have an office. I would go into businesses and train their workers and so forth and the way we had meetings and trainings was online. It’s important to learn how to self-pace and do these kinds of courses; I think it’s as much of a learning experience just taking the course as it is learning what the course teaches.

Flickr: allnightavenue

Florida Virtual School (FLVS) students Christianne and Carylanne Joubert are pretty advanced for their age. Christianne, at 13, is already a published novelist; Carylanne, 14, is about to start 11th grade. The Jouberts would probably succeed at any school they attended, but they attribute a large part of their progress to online learning. (And for Carlyanne, who has diabetes, the convenience of doing school work at home is a big advantage.)

The Jouberts, whose father is in the military, requiring the family to travel a great deal, were homeschooled by their mother until recently.

“Online classes are easy to understand. You can move onto the next thing much faster,” Christianne says. “I have a friend in regular public school who says that they like FLVS courses better because they don’t have to wait around for the other students to get it — or get frustrated when they don’t get it themselves. But it’s not easier because it’s of a lower quality. The better quality makes it easier.”

I chatted with both girls and got a good glimpse into their academic life is like — flexible, varied, and personalized. It’s not the best fit for every kid, of course, but for these students, it works.

Q: Is going to school at FLVS different from being homeschooled?

A: Carylanne: The assignments are different. The courses I took when my mom was teaching me were mostly reading the lessons, getting the information, doing worksheets and exams and that kind of stuff. At FLVS, I write essays, I do PowerPoint presentations and brochures. In my Latin course, I had to pretend I lived in 100 B.C. and write up an invitation and a menu. There are different assignments for those who are more creative. The lessons also show the information in different ways; sometimes there’s a visual representation, like a diagram or a video, to help remember it.

Q: What is your typical day like at virtual school?

A: Carylanne: Most days, I’ll get up and do my chores around the house and then once I get onto the computer I can just start my lessons, read through the lesson and do the assignment. For me, it’s easy. I read through the information and then I can move on to the next assignment. I don’t have to wait. I can go ahead and do more, so I get done with the course faster. I get to learn more instead of being bored.

Christianne: I can start at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. and have an entire week’s worth of work done. Since I can move faster through school, I have time to explore my passion for writing.

Q: Do you interact much with your teachers?

A: Carylanne: I can call my teacher, or text her, or go into a special chatroom. I talk with my teachers at least twice a month because I do oral exams and monthly calls. I don’t usually have to call them because I haven’t needed much help, but they are always there when I need them. They’ve always responded to me within 24 hours.

Christianne: I email my teachers every day. They’re very personable. I just finished my English course and my teacher said, ‘If you need anything, you can call me,’ even though I’m not her student anymore. If you have an issue, if you’re not quite getting something, you can email or text your teacher; there are also help buttons on every page if you need extra help on assignments. I get a call from one of my teachers at least once a week asking if I’m doing okay, if I need help. I think you get a better way to talk to teachers [in virtual school]. You get that one-on-one.

Q: What’s the best part about virtual school for you?

A: Carylanne: First, of course, I get to travel at whatever pace I want to. If I’m having a bad week, or a bad day with my diabetes, it doesn’t matter. I have Monday through Sunday to do my work. The flexibility makes it a lot easier. I just signed up for my first eleventh-grade courses. When I started with the virtual school, it was the summer I turned twelve. I had had a computer for gaming purposes, but I had never really been going on the Internet. [Through FLVS], I learned all different kinds of programs like PowerPoint and Microsoft Publisher and Glogster, a software that helps you create special posters. It gave me a way to learn how to use the different tools so that someday I can use all these things in the workplace.

Q: Do you interact much with other students?

A: Carylanne: There are at least one or two collaboration assignments per course. I found my chemistry course was the easiest one because I was able to find a partner who was willing to work. We use a special chatroom through FLVS. Once, I had a partner who was supposed to meet me in the chatroom at a certain time and they didn’t show up, so it was a little bit harder to work with them. Something we’re asked a lot is about the lack of socialization being homeschooled or going to virtual school. But I’ve found that many public school kids seem like they’re more shy and have a harder time talking to adults! And with more time on our hands, it’s easier to do other activities like volunteering or Girl Scouts or other clubs.

Christianne: I’m in the newspaper club at FLVS. I’m able to have my voice heard and get across what I think is important. We have online meetings every Tuesday through Eluminate Live. We log on and we’re in a virtual classroom. We can put things up on a whiteboard like slide shows, presentations, and PowerPoints, and then we have these breakout sessions where we can all work together on things. We send all the articles to each other using Google Docs. It’s just like every other school newspaper, we’re just online.

Q: Would you recommend virtual school to other students?

A: Carylanne: I’ve always been homeschooled, so I don’t know how public school is, but I like to work at my own pace, just sit in my bedroom and do my homework with no distractions. I’ve also read statistics that students do better when they are in virtual school — the grade percentages are higher. Sure, the classrooms are bigger online, but that’s helpful when you have to do a collaborative assignment because students could be anywhere in the course. If it does save money [for schools to have online course options], that’s good, so you could put more money into the education system. Teachers are still employed, just in a different way.

Christianne: Whenever I meet another kid my age, I always recommend it as another way to do school. Especially for kids who don’t have an easy time with homework or with school. I know one kid in my class from England who said it was easier for him than his public school. Plus, I have more time to write; I was able to write a novel because I had enough time. We went through a self publishing company called Xlibris. It’s very exciting. I’m working on my second book now. It’s already a planned series of four. And after that, I plan on writing another one based on Celtic mythology. I love writing… it’s a way to express myself.

Flickr:Ethan Hickerson

For Rian Meadows, an economics instructor at Florida Virtual School (FLVS) — the nation’s first-ever statewide virtual public high school — the newly passed legislation requiring every K-12 student to take an online course prior to graduation makes sense.

“I think it’ll bring students into the 21st century,” she says.

Requiring a virtual course will give students additional skills and a taste of what’s to come: Florida State University, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and the University of Central Florida all offer many of their undergraduate and graduate courses online. “It gives our students a leg up to require them to see what it’s like,” says Meadows. “Plus, giving students the choice of which course they take online empowers them.”

It might sound counter-intuitive, but Meadows, who spent eight years in a traditional classroom and at the Florida Department of Education before coming to FLVS, loves her job largely because of the school’s culture. She appreciates the one-on-one connection with students and administrators and the team-oriented, non-hierarchical approach. “This is a philosophy that I agree with and a culture that I feel passionately about,” she says.

In a traditional classroom, she believes, it’s hard for teachers to help every student. “Sure, it’s not like I can help every single student in a virtual classroom, either — I don’t have a Pollyanna view of that — but I can help way more at a virtual school,” she says. “Some students learn well with me just being their cheerleader; some need me to hold their hand through every lesson. It’s great — I can do that.”

Here’s more from our conversation.

Q: Why did you opt to teach at a virtual school?

A: I was at a crossroads in terms of my professional life as an educator. My contract at the school district where I worked was ending and they had to close my school because of budget cuts. I wanted to make sure I had a job. I’d gotten in touch with the Florida Virtual School when I worked for the Florida Department of Education; I started researching and thought, wow, this is at the cutting edge of everything that’s out there!

Q: What do you see as the main advantages of virtual education for students?

A: The one-on-one interaction with students is key. My students, who are mostly seniors desperately trying to get everything done on time, will say, ‘You’re there to help me when I need it!’ It takes down a lot of barriers that kids have to asking questions in class. We have great phone conversations and discussion-based assessments. The students connect with one another, too. We have discussion groups where students post something and other students will post back; plus, they do a lot of collaborative projects and group work. We use Elluminate, a kind of chat room where students can present PowerPoints and go into breakout rooms and discuss in smaller groups. What I love about FLVS is that students are always creating things: blogs, videos, podcasts, PowerPoints, advertisements.

And it’s accessible for a lot of kids. I hear that constantly. Parents of children with learning disabilities will say, ‘How will my child be able to fit in?’ But often, if a child has an Individualized Education Program (IEP), most of what it might say we already do here, such as allowing unlimited time on tests or letting kids redo assignments.  If they want to retake a test, they get to! I love that.

Q: When does virtual education not work as well?

A: I do think it works for any type of kid. People always say, ‘It has to be for the highly motivated.’ No. That is our job as teachers. I don’t care if you’re a virtual or a brick-and-mortar teacher. We all have to help motivate our students across the board to be an effective instructor. The hardest thing is when a student doesn’t have access to a working computer at all times. We do have a loaner laptop program, but unfortunately we can’t reach every kid. When a student doesn’t have the tool to do the course, that can be very difficult; I personally think this is one of our biggest hurdles.

Then, of course, we do have some students who we work with and they just decide they don’t want to do it. Most of my students are 17 or 18; they can make those decisions, but it’s heartbreaking. I do feel like we retain a lot more kids virtually, though, because they can work when they want. In the summer, I have a lot of kids who get their high school diplomas because of FLVS.

Q: Do you think virtual education will continue to grow?

A: Absolutely, yes. I like what they’re calling ‘blended’ education — a combination of virtual and traditional. For instance, I’m such a softy when it comes to prom. I always planned prom when I was in a brick-and-mortar world. It’s such an important rite of passage for students. So yes, there’s room for both of them. Though I think there needs to be some change and growth in the traditional model, it’s not just one or the other. You have to have both.