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

Flickr:UTC Library

Online learning is not easy, says Maureen Cottrell, a science teacher at iHigh Virtual Academy, a fully-accredited virtual public high school in San Diego, California. “Many students fully expect it to be easy and then bomb out.”

Cottrell, who’s been teaching for a decade, has spent the last two years at iHigh, the first completely online, diploma-granting school in the San Diego Unified School District.

“Sure, everyone wants to cut costs,” she says. “Virtual learning is seen as a tool for that. But I don’t think any educator just wants to cut costs” at the expense of quality. “One of the things we address from the ground up is keeping rigor in place.” Getting WASC accreditation and recognition from the University of California Doorways system was a rigorous process. “We fought a hard battle. We don’t want to lose that! We want to keep the rigor high.”

I spoke with Cottrell about her experience as a virtual high school teacher and the advantages and drawbacks of online learning. She talks honestly about concerns of social isolation, of what’s the best age for virtual learning, and of the type of teacher’s personality best suited for this environment.

“I don’t think online learning will ever take over completely. Many teachers talk about being replaced, but I don’t think that will ever happen,” she says.

Q: Would you say the level of curriculum at iHigh Virtual Academy is pretty rigorous?

A: Yes. The problem with that is that many students get into our system and find that they didn’t know how difficult it was going to be. We see that too frequently. Slowly, we’re building our reputation within San Diego schools. It spreads through students’ word of mouth: “Those iHigh courses are hard!”  We have systems in place to catch cheating and plagiarism and to maintain rigor; with any virtual course you have to keep that in mind. People in their 20s who’ve taken an online course through a university are aware that it’s not easy. The younger generation has a better perception of what online learning’s all about.

Q: How does your job differ now that you’re teaching at a virtual school?

A: In the traditional classroom, I’d often have to slow down my teaching to the pace of the majority. I’d get to the end of the unit and realize I hadn’t even started on nuclear chemistry. So I’d start cutting units. That’s not in place with an online system. Nothing gets cut out. We cover all the topics in a chemistry setting. The pace is rigorous; it’s a lot of work, a lot of written work, a lot of helping and tutoring. It also levels the playing field when there’s one system teachers are using. It’s not like one high school is going to offer an easier chemistry class than another school [if it's an online curriculum].

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. As an online teacher, how do you check for understanding? Sometimes we use Skype or Adobe Connect for virtual classroom tutoring sessions, so we’re face-to-face on computer. It’s just different — we have to develop different methods of teaching and evaluating.

It’s also about preference. 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. 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.

Q: What kinds of students choose iHigh Virtual Academy?

A: We have two kinds of students at iHigh: One is full-time, one is dual enrollment. Dual enrollment students stay at their neighborhood school and take a few classes through us. They can do it outside the school day if that works for them, or often they’ve scheduled a lab period when they go into the computer lab. You have multiple kids in the room doing different online courses. They don’t have to have one classroom teacher that teaches one subject; the teacher [for each course] is a virtual teacher.

Students can contact their teachers and ask specific questions through the Message Center, such as, “I’m stuck, I can’t figure out differential equations.” Other times, it’s just minor: “My computer has frozen.” They will always have a mentor in the room with them who help them over the little bumps, someone who’s well versed in Apex Learning and getting around the system. Any curriculum questions the student can ask their virtual teacher.

Q: How is online learning helpful for some students?

A: There are students who want to accelerate and so they come to us. There are students who cannot stop being the class clown, so in the traditional classroom setting they don’t do well. There are student athletes who are constantly going around the country. There are medical reasons why a student wouldn’t attend to a full time school. Many students are more successful in a virtual environment, more successful than they would be in classroom. It’s kind of individualized. Each student is a separate case.

Also, we have a hybrid model: Students can come in and meet with a teacher face-to-face if they need more attention. As with any classroom you have some geniuses; they’ll probably need less intervention. But our teachers don’t get to work from home. We have a classroom set aside here. About 20 to 30 kids come in at any given day, voluntarily — there is no mandatory attendance. It puts the ownership in the students’ hands. At iHigh, how you’re going to succeed is up to you.

Another feature of online learning that’s a plus is the reports and evaluation. If someone’s getting behind, the teacher can contact them immediately. She can click on a student’s name and see exactly how they’re doing. You can have reports sent out to parents every single Sunday, with assignments, grades, and so on — it’s all automated. Parents can easily stay on top of their kids’ progress.

Q: What are some challenges or drawbacks of online learning?

A: It definitely works, but online learning is not for everybody. The high school experience in which you’re socializing with your peers or doing sports after school is important. Virtual high school definitely fills a niche.

We are a charter school, so if students don’t succeed here, they’re sent back to their neighborhood school. We’ll have interventions for students for whom this was really not the right choice, who picked it for the wrong reasons. We have eighteen-year-old seniors who need a few courses more and they won’t go back to regular school, so this is a last ditch effort, the only thing they’re willing to do. We try get them through. While some students thrive in this environment, some students don’t realize how much they’re going to miss the socialization. We do Habitat for Humanity and other activities in the community, hold ice cream socials, or we’ll get together and play Wii rock band. If students don’t participate in those activities they can feel a sense of isolation. That’s why we encourage them to participate. Teenagers love to be social with each other. They miss it more than they realize.

Q: Does online learning work better for older students?

A: Yes, I would think high school students would be more successful than younger students. They need to have a certain maturity level to be self-sufficient. There’s not someone looking over their shoulder, so they have to be more motivated. Whether a younger student would have that, I don’t know. But homeschooling would work if there’s a lot of parental involvement to keep them on track — a younger person would need that. In terms of the ability to learn online, though, I don’t think there is a specific age bracket.