This year Leon County Schools introduced Leon County Virtual School for local middle and high school students. Although online classes have been available through Florida Virtual School, the localization makes online classes more specific and practical for users. According to the Tallahassee Democrat (Wednesday August 31), there are already more than 1,000 students registered. This is a step in the right direction for Leon County schools.

More colleges and universities are increasing their number of online courses to accommodate student schedules and to encourage distance learning. I think allowing middle and high school students a jump start on this trend will give them the opportunity to boost their work ethic.

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So far this year, the agency has hired another 250 online teachers and opened 25 additional learning labs on middle and high school campuses statewide to help districts comply with the class size amendment requirements.

“They may still be cutting electives or AP courses due to lack of resources, then we’re really plugging and filling the gap academically,” said Julie Young, Florida Virtual School.

“I love technology and I wanted to be able to incorporate more of the technology with my teaching,” said Regina Calhoun, Florida Virtual School teacher.

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“We may use that if, for instance, we had a math class with a few students over (the class-size limit),” Thomas said. “If I could open one section to solve the problem, I could use an existing teacher if they volunteer, which would be cheaper than hiring a full-time teacher.”

Other strategies in Escambia include hiring part-time teachers, monitoring low-enrollment courses and using Escambia Virtual School, a franchise of Florida Virtual School.

“If we have a student who is capable of taking a class virtually, we could put them in the computer lab,” said Thomas. “Where we have low enrollment, we may have to cancel the course.”

For the rest of the article, go to Cuts target class limits

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

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.”

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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.

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In a virtual classroom, class sizes don’t matter.

Eau Gallie High is taking advantage of that by offering a unique pilot program this fall. It will offer one core class — a foreign language class — through Florida Virtual School.

That means the 35 students sitting in Eau Gallie’s computer lab practicing their language skills will technically be enrolled at the virtual school so Eau Gallie won’t have to comply with class size rules for that period. If they did, the school would have to limit the class to 25 students.

Eau Gallie will just assign the students to the class as they do with any other class.

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More than 150 rural education and technology experts responded to an invitation from the Obama Administration to participate in a National Rural Education Technology Summit on Wednesday, July 21 at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian to learn from one another and provide feedback to federal officials.

A student from a remote rural school in Florida described how virtual learning helped her overcome learning challenges and provided additional opportunities to complement her traditional school. Senior Obama Administration officials engaged the audience in conversations about using the latest technology innovations to provide educational opportunities at any time, any location, and in different ways.

Discussions included the National Education Technology Plan, reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act., STEM, and the “future of learning” – a panel with Julie Young, President & CEO of Florida Virtual School; Rob Lippincott, Senior Vice President of Education at PBS; and Ramona Pierson, Founder & Chief Science Officer for SynapticMash, a Seattle-based education technology start-up. These industry experts described opportunities to use technology to engage students with targeted and appropriate interventions based on better use of data and digital content, including simulations, video, interactive environments, and embedded assessments.

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The program does have some eligibility requirements to meet before a student can begin work on the criteria for summer completion of their expulsion.

First, an eighth-grader must have been expelled and recommended for alternative placement during the first six weeks of the last nine-week marking period of the school year.

“If they are expelled any later in the last quarter than that, there is not time for them to be placed in an alternative program and to complete the summer program’s expulsion criteria,” Wyrosdick said.

Then students must complete one online Florida Virtual School course that applies to their graduation plan. They must also complete an online substance abuse or non-smoking program.

“They cannot just go ahead and do that without contacting us since we have to enroll them into those programs,” Wyrosdick said.

They must also write a letter of apology to the school where they attended last year, and then sign a behavioral pledge at the high school they will be attending this fall.

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Gege Lawson is spending her summer vacation earning high school credits online.

Gege, 18, didn’t fare too well in a geometry class last year at Milton High School.

To perform better and boost her grade point average, the upcoming senior is taking an accelerated geometry class through Florida Virtual School at the Magnolia Education Recreation Center in East Milton.

“I didn’t get it the way the teacher taught it,” she said. “When it comes to learning, I don’t think there is a right way or a wrong way.”

The class has been beneficial because the lessons have more information than a textbook, and her concentration is better than in the classroom, Gege said.

“With virtual school, there are no excuses,” she said. “You have to get it on your own, and you have to really want it.”

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