here's a link to a news article on Yahoo news this morning... I wonder about online schools. Anyone done it, and what did yo think? I heard a mother say she was going to do traditional homeschooling, since she had tried the online school, and it was "exhausting"...and others agreed. What do you guys think? http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18101734?source=rss
I think it makes sense as an option for some to use online schools. I also know that here the new SuperHighschool will be using online classes for some courses. So even mainstream PS is going online. I think its a sign of the future. Does that mean homeschooling isn't effective? Not at all but some families do need the extra income. And some parents aren't cut out for teaching their kids which is fine too. Like they said homeschooling costs and isn't a lark. So if people have more options to the PS system whoo hoo. We all know it wasn't designed to handle the class sizes they have now or to ride through the political issues it is dealing with. PS's have only been around for a short period of human history. And as society learns new ways we need to explore them. However I was concerned by the line that the Mother explored homeschooling and what she found scared her. It almost implied homeschooling is scary. Which it may well be for some but it isn't a scary option on the whole for everyone. Sometimes people don't watch wording close enough and it sheds homeschooling in a less then positive light. So I will continue to homeschool for now and will wait to see how the online schooling goes for others. In the future as the kids get to highschool age I may look into it more but right now sitting them in front a computer isn't my first option. Too much screen time has been linked to higher instances of depression in teenagers and children. So I try to limit it as much as possible.
It doesn't have to be a case of either/or. Homeschooling parents can create and run online courses. It doesn't take that long. Think of it as entering 'class notes' into a computer. Without involving others, this would be a self-paced study, maybe with the parent's help. Plus, parents can create their own informal networks to run classes. Let's say you'd like to run a history class for middle-schoolers represented at these forums. Someone could create the course (using templates, it doesn't take long), and a couple of parents could teach it. Maybe there would be 10 students in the class. Parents would have complete control; no 'school' (online or otherwise) would be involved. Other parents in the group might teach biology or English or Latin or whatever. Our children would then participate in the course, using discussions like this, taking quizzes and assessments, working on experiments and team projects, and so on - all alongside other homeschooled children and involving parents you know and trust. They'd receive grades and could print out a grade summary at the end to prove administratively what they achieved. This is part of the vision I have with my online learning environment. We've been focusing of late on small Christian schools, but maybe now is the time to reach out to homeschooling families. I hate to see 'online' being linked only with 'school'. Online can be 'homeschool' as much as the more traditional approach. Let me start another thread to see whether anyone would like to experiment for free for the next school semester. I already have courses for Apologia's Physical Science and for one of the History of US books. Also, I built a course around 'Evolution Exposed' from AiG. We could agree what other courses would be useful and I'll coordinate during the summer the work needed to build them. We could then run those courses for the fall semester and see how it goes. The key would be that you choose the courses, you build any new courses, and you teach the courses. You retain complete control. If I start such a thread, would anyone be interested?
I feel that on-line should be an option. If someone wants to do that, fine. There are some good cyber-schools, and some that aren't. BUT it also needs to be SEPERATE from homeschooling. There is a difference, and unfortunately, the average person doesn't see or understand that difference.
Only in so far as, today, 'online' means someone else's 'online school'. Why couldn't homeschooling parents use the medium for their own courses - taught either to their own child or to a network of children they control? It would formalize the process a little by associating all the student's work, automating quizzes to get a good measure of their progress, allowing students to upload their project work, centralizing grades so they can be printed at the end, and so on. If anyone ever wanted to 'verify' what your child did, you'd have a complete activity log that proves everything the student worked on, and how long they spent on it each day.
I know several homeschooling parents who started out using online schools only to find out they were missing many of the advantages of homeschooling. They said they had to log on at certain times so they lost the flexibility or they had lots of homework or accountability to the schools. Others didn't like that they still had to use textbooks that they felt were inferior. I think it should be an option for parents who want that, but I'm not sure if I really think of it as homeschooling. Yes, they're home to do their schooling, but they are still often public school students and it's very different than what many of us do. My dad was a public school teacher for 40 years and he feels that the current style of schooling is obsolete. He thinks that at some point all or almost all public school will be online. If that is true, it might be good to differentiate online school and homeschool now.
I agree with others that there should be a divide between online and homeschooling. When we first started considering the idea of homeschooling, DH brought up the k12 academy...but then we decided that the whole point was to be able to teach them at their own pace, at their own level, and K12 doesnt quite cut it. The meeting I went to, the principle asked why each of us was homeschooling, and one lady said she had been doing the online thing with her two little kiddos, and she said it was too much, she was soo tired, the kids were tired....everyone nodded sympathetically... I do like Cornish Steve's idea, though, abt having a kind of unofficial online education thread going, or sth to that effect, where some subjects could be taught as a group, only not in person, but on a screen. I'm not sure I understand the whole concept though...how would you combine different age groups? Also, there would be templates and a couple of parents would teach it...how?? Conference call? It has potential, this idea, but I dont understand it completely....
The question come down to who is in control of the education? If the parent, then it is homeschooling. If the school (whether that be private or public, on-line or brick-and-mortar), then it isn't homeschooling, regardless of WHERE it is being done. Here's an interesting article a teacher friend posted on FB: http://www.clevescene.com/cleveland/education-at-its-worst/Content?oid=1502257 Steve's idea would work for some people. But with Faythe and math, we took a year and a half to get through the pre-Algebra book, and it might take that long to go through Algebra 1. I don't want her to feels he has to "keep up" with everyone else. I want her to go at her own pace and UNDERSTAND what she's doing. She CAN do it, if only I don't rush her.
Let me paint a scenario: A group of parents have children who are between 12 and 14 years old and plan to use one of the 'History of US' books next year. In this case, I've already built a course, but imagine that I hadn't. One of the parents would create a course by fleshing out a template. Each week, for example: - Sudents must participate in a class discussion about the material, just like we're discussing here - very similar technology. - Students must take a quiz on the material to test their knowledge. It could be set up as multiple choice and automatically graded - with lots of questions to allow unlimited practice attempts - or it could be more essay-style questions to be graded by a parent. In parallel, students may spend 4 weeks working in teams to write a report on one subject. Maybe they each go on a field trip related to the material, share notes in their own private discussion area, and summarize what they've learned. At the end of the course, there could be a final exam. You could then let other parents run the course for their children. Someone would then schedule the course - to begin on a certain date, with appropriate deadlines to meet for its duration (although parents could change the dates as needed if the class agrees). Throughout the process, one or two parents would guide the discussions, grade written answers and reports, and so on. They could monitor how much time each student spends on activities, to encourage some students and their parent. At the end, everyone could print out their grade summary and put it in their progress file. In this case, students must work together. Alternatively, it could be set up so that students work alone (with the parent as instructor and grading work) and at their own pace. In this case, there's no class discussion and no team projects, but students can spend more time, if they wish, on some lessons. The terminology I use for this is a 'study', and opposed to a 'course' in which students work together. Now, none of this is 'live'. For that, it's possible to get cheap access to online meeting rooms, so everyone can link to a video conference at specific times. For free, it's possible to get conference lines (or even use Skype chat) to coordinate team work. What other things would be needed for it to work for informal networks of homeschooling families?
OK, I'm cleare about it now. As you mentioned, this does not include younger children, since they need to be able to actively discuss with their peers. But I really do like the idea of having the kids come together in a forum like this where they can discuss certain subjects, guided by some parents. I am not a big fan of multiple choice, I prefer open questions, but either way, this would be a good way of keeping records for older children. The fild trip thing might be difficult for online forums such as this one, but would provide a nice respite for families living closer together. Teamwork on writing a report together is always a good practice as well. I think the hardest part of all this would be agreeing on the same book/course/subject. I really like the idea of my kids being able to discuss the same subject with peers, class discussions really do teach a lot sometimes. I just have to wait until mine are old enough, though... Jackie, that website you posted was very illuminating, but also hilariously written!!
I'm NOT saying all cyber-schools are like that, but some are. Just like you'll find good and bad public and private schools.
Our experience with online schools has been terrible. One of our boys took a course with the state school and another with the county school. Each one cost $500, which was an outrageous price, but we needed it at the time. 1) There was zero interaction among students. 2) There was next to no interaction with the instructor. 3) The technology caused all kinds of problems (e.g., could not click on the Next button when taking a quiz). 4) The teacher had no clue how to run an online course. For example, in one class, during a timed test, she asked students to draw a graph and upload it. How can you upload a graph drawn manually? My son raced upstairs to find a webcam and a way to save the file. It ate up most of the time allotted to the quiz. 5) There was no permanent record of how the student really did and little feedback. Once something was complete, you lost all record of it. 6) The only way to reach the teacher was to call her phone number during one particular hour of the day - and she was rarely there. This is what gives online learning such a bad reputation. Just a little training and a technology that keeps things simple would solve many problems. Also, I'm a big believer in interaction, allowing students to discover new ideas in conversation with others (parent or other children). IMO, interaction and teamwork should be built into every course where it makes sense.
My kids go to an "on-line" school. Even though I'm the "teacher" and have to pick my own curriculum, it is still an online school. It is state and federal funded. They pay for 90% of my curriculum. There is a teacher in charge of the kids they talk to once a week. I get learning plans that are very much like the ones in PS. But the kids do get to work at their own pace. My son didn't "finish" all the points on his Learning plan in Math, History and Science. (He was only HS since December.) But I was told not to worry. We could either add what he didn't finish to next year's LP or we could "just not worry about it". Plus when I ran into trouble with my son not understanding something and I had tried everything I could think of, the "teacher" came up with new ideas and curriculum to help me out. (Otherwise I might have quit HS.) So I think it has many of the advantages of HS but wouldn't be considered HS.
My SIL tried it one year. ONE year! She was frustrated because I'd invite her to go apple picking and such, and she couldn't because one of the kids needed to be on-line for a quiz, or there was a "mandatory" meeting or some such. And then, her one boy was having trouble understanding something and then got sick. So he "missed" school while he was sick. They told my sil to just "double up" on the lessons until he caught up. So where he needed to go slower until he really "got it", they were telling her to double up and just get through it.
As far as online schools, I don't have a problem with it. In fact, sometime in the distant future, if there is a subject that I feel wholly unable to teach (like an advanced math or science course) then I would certainly consider an online class. I don't think I would like putting my children fully in an online environment, but for a class or two, I think it could be a good resource for homeschoolers. I have the advantage (in something, finally!) in that I have done almost all of my college classes online, so I have a level of familiarity with that. Of course, I would not like the classes that make you be there at designated times, but it doesn't have to be that way. All of my classes had deadlines and requirements (like having to log on and post X number of times per week) but as far as having to be on at 9:00 a.m., there was never anything like that. (Thank goodness!)
