According to a new report from Blackboard Inc. and Project Tomorrow, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preparing students to become tomorrow’s leaders, “Learning in the 21st Century: 2010 Trends Update,” 27 percent of high school students and 21 percent of middle school students took at least one online class in 2009, nearly doubling the 2008 numbers of 14 percent and 16 percent, respectively. But the report documents that this still falls far short of meeting student demand, since the majority of high school and middle school students see the availability of online courses as part of an ideal education experience.

“Fifty-one percent of high school students told us that the greatest benefit to online learning was the ability to work at their own pace,” explains Julie Evans, CEO of Project Tomorrow.

For the rest of the article, go to Getting in Line for Online Education

Two innovative Florida-based educational organizations—Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE), a private adult online high school district, and Compass Rose Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization—have joined forces to provide educational opportunities to students across the nation and beyond.

Founded in 2009 and located in Pensacola, Florida, Smart Horizons Career Online Education has quickly established itself as a leader in delivering affordable, career-based online education to adult students throughout the world. The online education company’s first classes went online in April of this year, offering complete 18-credit high school diplomas, coupled with coursework needed to earn a career-credentialed certificate. This is great news for the roughly 45 million individuals in the U.S. who are either unemployed or are in entry-level positions for lack of a high school diploma or GED.

For the rest of the article, go to Smart Horizons Career Online Education Joins Forces With Compass Rose Foundation To Provide Education Opportunities

St. Petersburg, FL– Poynter’s News University recently announced that more than 75 percent of educators surveyed are integrating e-learning into their classroom curriculum. And of those who responded affirmatively, more than 60 percent ranked it as extremely important to classroom teaching.

More than 625 educators participated in the online survey, which examined how teachers are combining classroom teaching with online learning, such as self-directed courses, Webinars, tutorials and instructional videos.

For the rest of the article, go to NewsU Survey Finds Educators Are Integrating E-Learning Into Curriculum

Peterson said a new “virtual learning” system would become more prevalent in the U.S. in the future as the costs associated with higher education continue to increase.

“Education is a very labor-intensive industry,” he said. “It has become an increasingly significant economic burden on the taxpayer to provide a system of education where we depend so heavily on paid labor.”

Peterson said online courses and new technologies could help alleviate that burden. He pointed to institutions such as the Florida Virtual School, which is projected to have had more than 200,000 course enrollments this year, as an example of the U.S. school system’s transition toward virtual learning. While he praised the ability to customize education, he said online education is still evolving.

“There are tremendous opportunities with online learning,” he said. “The courses that are online today come nowhere near the Hollywood movie level of technology that is conceivable if you put tremendous resources into the process.”

For the rest of the article, go to Harvard professor talks education reform in Steamboat

The virtual school also offers instruction to students up to grade 12 from state-certified teachers and follows the normal public school calendar, but day to day learning periods are flexible as long as students reach expected outcomes by nine weeks or semester breaks.

New offerings from Calvert for the upcoming school year include hands-on science kits, language arts proficiency placement, interactive multimedia activities, and instructional videos, plus a writing skills workshop and online math textbook with added glossary, annotation, and calculator functionality.

For the rest of the article, go to Florida Online Elementary School Expands Educational Resources

Lake Weir principal Cynthia Saunders said the program had a huge impact. She was worried about students since other programs, such as GED Exit Option, were changed by the state in 2009-10.

“We offered (credit recovery labs) all day and after school all year,” said Saunders, stating that many of her students did not have Internet access that was fast enough to take courses at home through virtual school.

She said the credit recovery at school helped students get those last few credits. They even walked with their class at graduation.

And officials say if that alone is not reason enough to continue the programs, hundreds of middle school students also participated in unit recovery and elementary school children attended summer school to get prepared for FCAT.

For the rest of the article, go to Special school tax would fund after-school and summer programs

Beginning Monday, Aug. 2, roughly 25 teachers will begin training to learn how to educate students sitting in front of a computer rather than in front of them in a classroom.

Funding for the teachers in part will depend on how many students succeed in completing and passing the online courses.

Debbie Harris, eSchool and STAR Education Center principal, said it’s a big change for teachers to learn the ins and outs of reaching students in addition to knowing how to navigate online through Florida Virtual School.

She said area educators have expressed interest in expanding their instructional skills to the Internet. Those who teach full-time can also teach online and receive additional pay. Harris said the amount of extra income is still being negotiated.

“The program still gives leeway for teachers to add their personal touch to the curriculum,” Harris said. “What’s great about this is these are local teachers working with local students, so along with communicating through the Internet and telephone, if needed students could meet with teachers face to face for tutoring.”

For the rest of the article, go to Virtual school to open soon

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL, FOX 35) – On the agenda at the Orange County school board meeting today will be strategies to meet the new class size amendment such as dual enrollment, virtual classrooms and even seven period days.

As you may remember smaller class sizes was voted in– in 2002 and this year is the deadline to meet the guideline, but some school districts are fighting back.

What are the new rules of the class size amendment?

For the rest of the article, go to School boards scramble to meet class sizes

Schools and state governments have begun to take notice of the potential savings that virtual education can provide, with Florida, Arizona, and Alabama even establishing state-sponsored virtual school programs that offer courses to thousands of students a year.

The Florida Virtual School runs all year long, does not have a specific academic calendar, and has a staff of 1,000 full-time teachers that is on call seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., a significant shift for teachers used to working during typical schools hours from September to June. The school plans to enroll close to 240,000 students from 45 states and 30 countries this year, most of whom will only take a course or two with the school.

“We’re growing every year by 30 to 40%,” says Andy Ross, who is the chief sales and marketing officer at the Florida Virtual School. Ross claims that Florida Virtual School has saved Florida $22 million last year by offering its virtual courses to students.

For the rest of the article, go to Summer school goes online

The Miami-Dade school district intends to fully comply with the constitutional amendment limiting class size, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho told the School Board this week.

To trim class sizes, the school system will:

• Expand virtual classes offered at high schools.

• Require academic coaches who typically instruct teachers to also teach students.

• Provide financial incentives for teachers to teach additional classes.

• Move some central office administrators into classrooms.

“This is our best shot to get there,” Carvalho said.

The plan does not require any teacher layoffs, Carvalho said.

Florida voters passed the Class Size Amendment in 2002 — an action meant to ensure that core classes would be limited to 18 students in grades pre-K through third, 22 in fourth through eighth grades and 25 students in high school.

For the rest of the article, go to Miami-Dade schools chief: We’ll meet class size limits