Article 8 - Unit 8

Greenway, Randall, Gregg Vanourek. (2006). The Virtual Revolution. Education Next, Spring.

Summary: In The Virtual Revolution, the authors of the article describe the history of distance education in America, as well as the development and implementation of online education in public schools. The article also delves into some current examples of online education, and how it is shaping education across the nation. Examples of this include virtual schools in multiple states that offer online curriculum either full time or as a supplement to normal education, and which cater to a variety of students, from hospitalized children and home schooled students to special education and gifted children. Many of the virtual schools are run in different ways, though the overall goal is mostly the same; to offer a distance education program that is as similar to actual school as possible, but with the ability to be flexible and more personal than actual schools can offer. The authors also go on to describe the positives and negatives of virtual education, and how these should be taken into account when thinking about offering it to students, as it is not for everyone.

Response: Having fallen into the category of believing that it could not match face-to-face education with a teacher, I had always been a bit weary of online education at the college level, and had never given much thought to virtual education at the grade school level. The article, however, did give me some information on how it could actually be effective for some students, and a great alternative to regular (building-based, face-to-face) education. I never knew how some of these virtual education schools worked, and found the fact that some of the schools actually send their students materials interesting, as I had always figured that all of the work would be online based. I still remain a bit skeptical about it, as it doesn’t allow for social interactions, which I feel students get a lot of out at the middle and high school levels, though I can see how some parents and students would prefer virtual education for that reason alone.