A Virtual School

I have the chance to participate in the Virtual School Observations for an education graduate class along with seven of my classmates. This course is taught by one of the university professors and is an online course. Our task will be to observe a virtual school for the next six weeks, and blog about what we see and learn, as well as write a scholarly paper about our experiences.

Last night, we had our kick-off session on hosted on Elluminate! We learned about a virtual school from the director of the school. We also heard from some of the associates and teachers of the school, and our professors from our university. Also in attendance were five undergraduate students from the university.

Many issues regarding the virtual school were discussed. First were the underlying principles and beliefs of the school. The school believes that the student is the driving force behind every decision made by the school. Student confidentiality was discussed; after we receive clearance by school, we will be given access to student information.

Last year, the virtual school had over 700,000 students state-wide. The school is in its tenth year, and serves the sixth through twelfth grades. It is a public institution. The school has about 425 full-time instructors, and over 100 adjunct teachers.

Each student from our class was introduced to one of the virtual school's teachers to serve as our host. I will be working with Ms. Science, a sixth grade science teacher. I teach sixth grade science, as well as third, fourth, and fifth grade science.

Each time I post in the blog, I will add more information I have gathered from the virtual school, from the research on virtual schools, and questions to consider.