Secondary-school students taking courses online has exploded from 50,000 in 2000 to 2M in 2008, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported this week.
"It's going to drastically change over time what classroom education looks like," one US Dept. of Education official, Brian Lekander, was quoted as saying. Lekander is the Program Manager of Star Schools, a distance-learning initiative in the US Education Department's Office of Innovation and Improvement.
Some 70 percent of all school districts have virtual-education programs, reported the Chronicle, citing US Education Dept. data.
While Chris and I advocate virtual learning for a variety of reasons (children can spend more time with their parents and in their communities, less time in institutions and school buses; we can reduce taxes and pollution; etc.), online courses are not a panacea, and a blend with other kinds of learning (a theme we'll have to leave for another post) might well work best.
Regardless, this much is clear: The Internet appears to be doing to public education what it has already done in so many other parts of our lives -- creating change at a pace that leaves established processes (most particularly anything bureaucratic) in the dust.
For more on virtual K-12 education, see:
-- The International Association for K-12 Online Learning (Be sure to check out their extensive links to distance learning programs by state.)
-- MyFoxDC.com's "Online Learning Takes Off for Students"
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