I spoke with my virtual school host yesterday and we discussed the types of students in her course and why the students were taking the course. One of my questions for my host was how effective is online learning for at-risk students who were unsuccessful in the traditional classroom? While all students are different she said that it really the student's success depended on how the student managed their time and how involved the parents were. She stated that she had at-risk students who were very successful in their completion of the course and others who dropped the course or were unsuccessful. Those at-risk students who were unsuccessful were more often than not those who's parents were seemingly uninvolved.
The eSchool News article "Webcast: Virtual school helps at-risk students succeed" discusses the Illinois Virtual High School (IVHS) that initially created The Graduation Recovery and Aptitude Development (eGRAD) program which helped at-risk students complete their high school education. The students involved in this program were parenting or pregnant teens, students who worked during the school day, those who were in jail, or others who failed courses and needed credit to graduate. While the eGRAD program was canceled due to a lack of funding another program was added to the IVHS to help at-risk students.
At-risk students in programs like the one at IVHS and other virtual schools are able to meet graduation requirements due to the support system that the virtual school system offers. The effort (even if it is a required effort) made by teachers to contact students directly and to be in consistent contact with parents throughout the course provides more support than the traditional classroom teacher often can offer to an at-risk student.
The ability to work at one's own pace is definitely another benefit that the virtual school offers to the at-risk student. Perhaps another aspect of the success of at-risk students is the ability to have a voice in the class after having the opportunity to think about what is being asked whereas the traditional classroom is often rushed by short time limits.
While the virtual school may not work for all students, it definitely sounds like it is worth a try for those students who have not found success in the traditional classroom.
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The topic of educating our at-risk students is a vital one. My host teacher said she had a few of these students herself, and even had one student who was incarcerated during their enrollment in the virtual school. In the past, if a student dropped out of school, their only option was to complete their GED physically. I have one friend whose son dropped out of school, got in trouble with the law, and had his drivers license revoked. He later decided to finish his high school career by obtaining his GED. His problem was that he had to use public transportation to get to and from class. He was often tempted to not attend class, and as a result, took much longer in finishing the GED. Had he been able to go online from home (and he did have a good computer set up), attend a virtual school, he could have probably finished in a much timelier fashion.
I see the amazement also in today's technology being able to provide the convenience for students at-risk of dropping out due to their socio-economic status. I can think of a student similar to the one described by the virtual science classroom (VSC). He lives with his mom and told me that he was going to have to quit school (he's starting his senior year in August) so he can work full-time and help pay bills.
The problem I see though is the cost. Students in these type of situations do not have the money to pay for a year's worth of online classes (which is the reason for quitting school to begin with). I only hope that these students find a way to finish their high school education and one day be able to go to college if they so choose.
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