Distance Education

Distance Education: Washington Virtual School http://www.go2ischool.net
Five Pros-
1. The ability to join between 9th-12th grade and to choose a specific track you want to follow. You can declare your track when you first enter, or you can change it later once you know exactly what you want.
2. The program is flexible, has a variety of content, and a professor that will work with them to build their personal strengths.
3. The website offers all types of tracks, including AP, Honors, College Prep, Career Prep, Foundation, and ESL.
4. They provide you with a school-issued laptop that comes with help in all the technological areas. The website gives you insight tech. approaches, requirements, support, and security.
5. Since it is online, the student is able to "absorb" more of the information given because it is "controlled by the student."

Five Cons-
It was hard to find cons for virtual schools but I found a couple.
1. There are a lot of requirements that need to be fulfilled in order to graduate.
2. There will not be any type of student-teacher interaction that some kids require.
3. There is not a chance to have students interact socially with their peers.
4. Virtual schooling does not benefit all learning styles.
5. Some students may not feel motivated to finish their school work on time.

I would determine the readiness of my students to participate in distance delivery if they are able to work at their own pace independently, and if they do not need group work or teacher interaction. They will need to be motivated to do their work on time and to follow each guideline to complete their course work to graduate.

In order to teach in a virtual school, I would have to be certified in Washington, have at least 15 years of experience in the classroom, and need to have office hours that allow the students and parents to come in and talk to me.