Federal Way's Internet Academy Connecting to students one at a time.

Virtual instruction, real learning

DEBBY ABE; The News Tribune

Published: December 12th, 2005 02:30 AM

It’s 9 a.m. and time for class in the Bogue household in University Place. Nine-year-old Tyler Bogue flips on the Dell computer in his family’s basement classroom and reads about Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution. Later, his 8-year-old sister, Amy, practices two-digit addition at the terminal. Across the ocean in Thailand, Gig Harbor High School exchange student Lia Stewart sits at her host family’s computer to tackle U.S. history – taught by a teacher in Gig Harbor. The students are part of a small but growing trend: online instruction offered through public schools in Washington state. The Bogue siblings go to school full time at home via the Steilacoom Historical School District’s Virtual Academy. Lia, who’s spending the year in Thailand, uses the Peninsula School District’s Cyber Classroom Program to study two classes required for graduation. Though they represent just 1 percent of the state’s 1 million K-12 enrollment, the number of students studying online and receiving course credit from public schools has more than tripled over the past five years: from 3,012 in 2000 to 10,161 last school year. Educators say that while online programs will never replace traditional schools, they are becoming a viable alternative for certain students. Online courses improve in quality

JANET JENSEN/THE NEWS TRIBUNE Amy Bogue, 8, asks her mom for help spelling “emperor.” Rikki Bogue, not pictured, guides her through sounding out the word while Tyler, her 9-year-old son, studies art history in the basement-turned-classroom of their University Place home. The Bogues are among 10,161 students in the state who take classes online. JANET JENSEN/THE NEWS TRIBUNE Rikki Bogue helps her 9-year-old son, Tyler, with a history lesson. He and his sister are enrolled in Steilacoom’s Virtual Academy. Tyler likes the program’s challenging books, but says, “I’d rather be at school with kids my age, sometimes.”

Dennis Small, with the state Superintendent of Public Instruction, cites several reasons for the heightened interest. School counselors, parents and students are increasingly aware of virtual learning options.

Online courses, which initially focused on high school advanced placement, foreign language and enrichment courses, have expanded to include elementary and middle grades, more subjects and more basic courses.

“The quality of those courses has improved dramatically,” said Small, the superintendent’s educational technology program manager. “They really grab the student as opposed to electronifying the textbook.”

“I look at it to be a continually growing part of education,” added Lile Holland, director of the Washington Association for Learning Alternatives, which includes many of the public school on-line programs. But, he added, “It’s still experimental. We’re still working the bumps out.”

Online instruction is so new that data on its effectiveness is mostly anecdotal, Small said. Early evidence suggests that motivated students who adapt to the online learning style and take high quality courses learn as much or more than students in face-to-face classes.

But what suits one student may not suit others.

“It’s just like any classroom situation,” Peninsula’s Cyber Classroom teacher Jennifer Buys said. “You have kids who really love to learn, and go places you could never imagine. You also have those kids who don’t care and just do the minimum.”

More districts look to the Internet

The state doesn’t track the statistic, but Small and other educators say they see more school districts launching Internet instruction programs.

At least a half-dozen districts in the South Sound offer virtual education programs. Most purchase curriculum from commercial providers. But a few districts, including Federal Way and Bethel, offer staff-written courses.

Students typically communicate and send assignments via e-mail to a district instructor, who monitors attendance and academic progress, and occasionally meets with them. Many programs have electronic billboards or forums that allow students to post and read comments for class discussions.

Districts receive the same per-student funding for online students that the state provides for regular classroom students, allowing programs to cover the online teacher’s salary, the cost of online curriculum, textbooks and other instructional materials.

Though many assume distance education is less expensive, several districts said it costs about the same as traditional instruction.

Recent changes by the state finally acknowledged the existence of virtual programs and made it easier for districts to offer online instruction while increasing their accountability.

The biggest change: The state previously required students and teachers to physically meet in alternative programs, including online classes.

Starting this fall, the law allowed the contact to be via computer, video hookup or telephone, accommodating programs such as Federal Way’s Internet Academy that instruct students statewide, Holland said.

Not for everyone

Schools that have started Internet instruction programs see an opportunity to serve kids whose needs aren’t always met through traditional schools.

Students who are sinking or soaring ahead in a class of 30 kids, for instance, can proceed at their own pace in an Internet program and can’t hide in the background; they must communicate regularly with the online teacher.

Students whose schools are too small to offer specialty courses can take them virtually. Many teens take courses that they failed or couldn’t fit into their regular school-day schedules. Some want to arrive at school a period late or leave early because of work or sports.

Other circumstances abound.

Internet teacher Jim Lovejoy’s students include a youth recovering from a car accident and a home-schooled teen whose religious parents don’t want her exposed to a public high school environment.

“I have some gay-lesbian students who were terribly harassed at regular school and now are doing well,” said Lovejoy, the ischool@fp teacher in the Franklin Pierce School District. “Every kid is a different story.”

Rikki Bogue liked her kids’ primary school in University Place, but she wanted a more rigorous education for them. She started home-schooling Tyler and Amy last year through K12.com, paying the $1,200-per-child fee.

Then the family learned about Steilacoom’s Virtual Academy, which uses the same curriculum. The family secured an attendance release from University Place and enrolled the kids in Steilacoom’s academy for free.

The virtual kindergarten-through-eighth-grade program differs from high school versions by requiring parents to teach youngsters. Parents check in weekly with teacher Anna Shaw, who monitors student progress and organizes monthly field trips so youngsters can meet other academy students.

The curriculum provides explicit instructions for each lesson, be it helping second-grader Amy sort words according to the spelling of their “long a” sound or overseeing Tyler’s art assignment to create his version of the famous “Washington Crossing the Delaware.”

“I can compare what Amy’s doing to what Tyler did in second grade (in his previous school),” their mother said. “I think they’re definitely learning more this way.”

Amy finds the academy fun and interesting. Tyler likes the program’s challenging books and the online lessons that are rich with animation, educational games and colorful graphics.

But he also has mixed feelings.

Though he and his sister meet other children through their YMCA PE class and team sports, Tyler said, “I’d rather be at school with kids my age sometimes. I like most of the stuff about this except my sister’s my only classmate.”

Junior Lia Stewart, the Gig Harbor exchange student in Thailand, enjoys the flexibility to work on her two Internet classes whenever she wants and finds teacher Jennifer Buys’ e-mail feedback effective. Yet the nearly straight-A student prefers traditional classes.

“Everything just seems to make more sense when a real person is explaining it to you, rather then when you’re reading it online,” Lia said.

Online instructors stress that virtual programs aren’t for everyone. Distance-learners need to be self-motivated and good readers. While Steilacoom’s K12.com program provides “superb and rigorous” content, Superintendent Art Himmler said virtual programs will never replace traditional schools.

“In a brick-and-mortar school you have the social environment – testing ideas you learn with other students, going to parties, the social interaction – which is a pretty important part of most students’ lives,” he said. “It’s a pretty unique student that would benefit most from an online school.”

Who benefits most?

Going to school on the Internet is a great option for some students but the wrong choice for others. Internet educators say those with chronic academic and attendance problems generally don’t do well in online programs. Instead, teachers and OnlineHS.net recommend online programs for students who:

•  Are self-motivated and willing to work when nobody is making them
•  Are organized so they can finish courses on time
•  Can meet deadlines for assignments
•  Can efficiently communicate via e-mail with the instructor
•  Are comfortable and competent using a computer
•  Know how to navigate the Web
•  Are willing to work without other students
•  Have a home computer and color monitor
•  Have strong reading skills
•  Have an Internet connection – the faster the better
•  Have parents willing to support the student’s participation.