Choosing online education: good policies will lead to better decisions about virtual learning options

School Administrator, April, 2004 by Liz Pape

The VHS site coordinator role was developed as a means of offering on-site support to online course students. VHS recognizes the critical role site coordinators play in the successful participation of students in online courses. They provide technical assistance, administrative support in online course registration, delivery of course grades to school administrators, and are also available to parents of online students as a resource for questions about student performance in online courses in which the teacher is not part of the school district.

* Communications. What is the process for students, parents and school administrators to communicate questions or concerns to the online course deliverer? Is there a review process for online course design and revisions based on student communications about course quality?

A New Believer

Online courses create opportunities for school districts to offer students courses that would otherwise not be available, to gain 21st century skills through online collaboration, online team activities and group projects, and to participate in learning communities with students beyond their bricks-and-mortar communities of learning.

Adding online education to a student's face-to-face experience can enable students to become a part of a global community of learners. In rural or small school districts with limited course offerings, this becomes especially important.

Teachers participating in online professional development have opportunities for online collaboration, becoming members of online communities of learning and support as teachers learn and implement new teaching skills, and opportunities to join with a virtual community of their peers.

Administrators considering online instruction within their districts face many decisions. Ultimately, much of the decision to provide online courses will come down to resource availability.

Starting an online initiative from scratch comes with many responsibilities and is much more resource intensive than collaborating with an existing online education provider. However, when selecting an online provider, districts must ensure that the provider's philosophy coincides with that of the district. Properly designed and delivered online courses can provide students and teachers with substantial benefits.

Jim Nolan, former superintendent in Wareham, Mass., has become a believer in the power of online courses after taking the VHS professional development course, "Teachers Learning Conference," and then developing and delivering several four-week online courses for administrators.

"All along I had questions whether or not an online course would be something of quality. From what I have read and done, I can honestly say if a course is designed correctly it can match or in many instances be better than a quality course face to face.

Resources

Liz Pape of Virtual High School and Jim Hirsch of the Piano Independent School District recommend these resources for school leaders who want to learn more about online courses: