Schools'+Technology+is+Building

= Virtual Schools: Schools' technology is Building =

Virtual schools have become the tsunami for the twenty-first century in education.This big wave movement was bound to happen due to much advancement that technology has made and is still making in this millennium. The educational climate is causing millions of students,politicians, and other leaders across the country to consider other alternatives to traditional schools.

For more than two decades, virtual schools have evolved from such names as distance education, distance learning, web-based instruction, e-learning, and now virtual schooling, just to name a few. Along with the many leaps and bounds that virtual schools have made, researchers have been investigating their rapid growth, and tracking how they are affecting millions of students and the traditional educational system. Due to virtual schools, the educational system in the country is a divided system. Students now have a choice.

// Let's compare //
When students compare traditional schools to virtual schools to see what they have to offer, these students are amazed at what the two school systems have in common and how they different. What both schools have in common is that students have access to highly qualified, state-certified teachers; depending on the virtual school model a student has to report daily. How both schools are different is v irtual schools classes do not take place in a building, traditional schools do. Rather, virtual schools take place at home, on the road, or wherever an Internet connection can be found. Students take courses online in a virtual school. Traditional students receives instruction from a teacher. Students take courses online with support from their highly qualified state- certified teacher via phone, online web meetings, and sometimes even face to face ( www.[|k12.com/schools-programs/online-public-schools]). Whereas, all classes for traditional schools are conducted face to face with a highly qualified state-certified teacher in the classes with the students.You will find in most traditional school systems that students are provided scheduled time to visit the computer labs.

// Definitions //
For the purpose of conducting this investigation and having a better understanding of virtual schools, let’s examine several definitions.
 * Barbour, M.K. (2006) defined these schools as an educational organization that offers K-12 courses through Internet-or-Web based methods.
 * Archambault & Crippen (2009) viewed virtual schools as “part of the online distance education movement in which the Internet is used to provide an education to students.
 * Another source, Revenaugh (2005) kept it simple by defining virtual schools as “education in which a student and a teacher work together from a distance.” These schools are growing rapidly in popularity, and are attracting millions of students from

// Why virtual schools? //
According to Archambault & Crippen (2009), one reason noted is virtual schools offer students several design models to choose from to accommodate the different learning styles for each student. And because these students have access to state-certified teachers in virtual schools, the students are reassured of receiving support if they experience any difficulty.

// Conclusion //
By conducting this investigation, it will give many educators, students, parents, and other stakeholders in the community a better understanding of why virtual schools are growing so rapidly among students and what, if any, negative effects students can have when attending virtual schools. The facts and fictions about virtual schools will be exposed so that others can decide for themselves, if internet-web-based model of schooling is the “big wave” of the future. According to research, in the next two years (2015), there will be approximately 17 million students enrolled in someone virtual school ([|www.oregonlive.com/argus/index.ssf/2011/08/virtual_schooling_separting_f.html]).

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//Defining "TREND" and "ISSUE"//
To determine if virtual schools can be classified as an issue, a trend, or both, each term must be clearly defined.
 * A trend is the general direction in which something is moving.
 * An issue is a subject of concern or something for discussion.

Based on both definitions, virtual schools can be considered as both a trend and an issue.

// The argument for being a TREND //
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Virtual schools, according to the definition for trend, can be considered as a movement that is headed in one direction (towards technology) because education for grade levels K-12 has made rapid growth in offering online classes to students for the pass twenty years. A national survey was conducted of 2305 public school districts in in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Between the 2002-2003 school years, about 1/3 of the public school districts (36%) had students in online distance education courses. From the total enrollments in online distance education courses, 68% were high school students, 29% attended ungraded schools, 2% attended middle schools, and 1% attended an elementary school. These classes could be conducted face-to-face, face-to-face and online, or strictly 100% online. Other virtual school classes could be done by video-conferencing or live chat. Millions of students across the country and around the world are finding virtual schools beneficial because they offer different learning models for students to choose from. Virtual schools also offer classes to students that they may not have available in the traditional setting. The students have their own personal curriculum plans designed to fit their learning preference. This new trend gives students the autonomy to decide where they want to learn and what they want to learn. Students have available to them a state certified, highly qualified teacher to assist them (this includes the parent),in developing their personal curriculum and answer any questions when they experience difficulty The parent is the learning coach for the student.

// The argument for an ISSUE //
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Virtual schools can also be considered as an issue because many educators and stakeholders do not have enough data to see how virtual school students measure up to traditional school students. Because of the lack of data, researchers are still investigating the schools, interviewing students and parents, gathering test scores, and other materials, to make some determinations about virtual schools.

__ The drawbacks of virtual schools __
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Educators believe that virtual schools can be detrimental to the students’ socialization skills. Since these students are isolated during the learning process, many educators are concern about these students developing the necessary skills such as communicating with others, developing friendships, learning how to cope with situations and others. These skills are needed forstudents to become a productive citizen Rice, (2006). = = <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">There are other issues of concern that research has noted concerning the drawbacks of virtual schools that included some technological difficulties such as sever failure, overloaded circuits, and dead links. Another issue is that the faculty could be limited to their knowledge, training, and support (technological rather than content focus). The quality of the courses that are offered in virtual schools has also become another issue Rice, (2006).

__ Conclusion __
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The reasons for considering virtual schools both a trend and an issue have been identified. Education is moving toward including more technology into the classroom and teachers serving as facilitators. Not having enough data on this upcoming trend and the constant change is causing many in the education field to discuss and investigate why is it growing so rapidly. While educators continue to research this issue, they need to survey their audience to discover their preferred ways of learning and implement some of the qualities that are found in a virtual school into the traditional school setting.

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 * Download a proposal focused on this trend/issue in education here:** [[file:Carlos_Sylvia_EDCI6158_proposal.docx]]

=Annotated Bibliography=

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Archambault, L., & Crippen, K. (2009). K-12 Distance educators at work: Who’s <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">teaching online across the United States. //Journal of Research on Technology in Education,// //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">41.4. // This education journal is peer reviewed and cac be located in the ProQuest data base.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Barbour, M. K. (2006). Virtual schools: Planning for success. //Quarter Review of Distance Education, 7.2, 215-217.// The Quarterly Review of Distance Education is a peer review education journal.This is the summer 2006 edition.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">Revenaugh, M. (2005). Virtual schooling: Legislative update. //Technology & Learning, 25. 9// //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">20, 22, 25. //This writer reviews current issues and battles surrounding state adoptions of Web-based <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">instruction. This article can be found in Education full text database (Galileo).

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Rice, K. L. (2006). A comprehensive look at distance education in the k-12 context. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">//Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 38.4, 425-448.// This journal is peer <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">reviewed and was published in the summer of 2006. This journal can be located in the ProQuest data base.

[|www.oregonlive.com/argus/index.ssf/2011/08/virtual_schooling_separating_f.html] T<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">he Hillsboro Argus. (2011). Virtual schooling: Separating fact from fiction. //The Hillsb// //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">oro Argus News. //The Hillsboro is a local newspaper in Oregon that featured this article on virtual schools..

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt;">[] This website provide students and other who are nterested in learning more about virtual schooling, the neccessay information to clarify any misconceptions that is published.You can find a phone to chat with a consultant or to request a call back.