Connecticut Begins Offering Online High School Classes

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

Conn. Begins Offering Online High School Classes (http://wcbstv.com/local/online.high.school.2.619184.html)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) ― Connecticut high school students can now enroll in online courses taught by state teachers.

The pilot program offers courses in basic subjects for students who need credits to graduate.


This is an idea whose time is far overdue. "School" has to start changing with the times or it will continue to be, and fully become, an indoctrination program instead of an academic education program.

Florida has had high school online for a while now.

Florida Virtual School (http://www.flvs.net/)

[Longhorn_Platinum]

:unsmile: The key words are "students who need credits to graduate". It's about getting credits, not learning. I smell a diploma mill in the making.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

I can't speak for Connecticut's program, but the Florida Virtual School is 110% better than the public schools here. I know several homeschoolers who have taken core classes -- Maths (Algebra I & II, English, etc.) and its a much more comprehensive and complete program than even the schools get.

I agree with you that we shouldn't be flocking to increase the number of diploma-mills, but I do believe it is time for the education system to start changing with the times.

[Longhorn_Platinum]

:unsmile: My comments were based on some of the "extended day" programs I've seen in public schools where students were permitted to show up to a class, turn in a couple of easy papers, & receive full credit for a course that the students had previously slept through. And in some cases, there is an unspoken rule that if a money-starved teacher wants to continue to receive overtime pay for monitoring such courses, then (s)he'd better ascertain that all students enrolled in the extended day had better come away with passing grades. Naturally, I was suspicious when I saw those buzzwords about students getting credits.

[PrezLeefun]

Frankly I think its lousy. I have never been a fan of "online eduation"

Yes the internet is an amazing source for information, but nothing can replace the experience of a proper class, whether at home or in a classroom of some sort.

I will flat out admit I am biased against the idea.

[DesertFox]

I agree completely with the Prez.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

I've seen firsthand how the online classes work, so I support this addition. It may not ALWAYS work, for everyone, and it may have to be modified, or whatever, but I DO think the education system must begin to change. The old excuse "we've always done it that way" or "it was good enough for me" just isn't going to cut it anymore.

My daughter will probably be either enrolling in the Virtual School or dual enrolling at our local community college (like my son did). It will just depend upon which classes are offered, and which will be most appropriate for my daughter.

I will probably pursue an online degree for animation (if I can find a way to afford it) once I'm through homeschooling her. If it comes to fruition, I'll let y'all know how it goes, :smirky:.

[DesertFox]

The old excuse "we've always done it that way" or "it was good enough for me" just isn't going to cut it anymore. I wasn't aware that anyone was giving those as excuses.

With online classes it's too easy to cheat, and too much gets missed that, at least potentially, can be picked up in the classroom.

[PrezLeefun]

Homes, I am talking about highschool students. In the real world you have to deal with people. Normally those folks will be in your face whether you like them or not.

Highschool students are self indulgent enough as it is. Are we to send them into the world with no professional social skills as well?

Not to mention there is little to no way they can prove they know information on the drop of a hat. Its far too easy to cheat.

There are probably more issues for why this is not at all appropriate for kids. I just cant think of them at the moment.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

I'm talking about both. As I said, Florida has had online high school for quite some time now, and it works. I've SEEN it work. Not saying that it's perfect ... neither is public school (by a longshot).

I'm not going to fight the socialization battle, certainly not in this thread. Schools aren't locations for socialization, more like indoctrination. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Ultimately, if the kid doesn't want to learn, it doesn't matter what environment they are placed in. Ditto and double that if they don't have parental involvement. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink.

[PrezLeefun]

Fair enough Homes.....





still think its not good though.

[4Hydroxytryptamine]

I'm not a big fan of these "online high schools"

But CT does have the best schools in the country

[PrezLeefun]

Jersey has the highest graduation rate.

[Longhorn_Platinum]

:unsmile: "Graduation rate" is a meaningless criterion, if the students graduated with low standards.

[DesertFox]

When I's in high school one of the inmates opined, "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink until he gets thirsty."

[PrezLeefun]

:unsmile: "Graduation rate" is a meaningless criterion, if the students graduated with low standards.

I think thats better than kids dropping out... and alot of Jeresy kids also go onto college.

[Longhorn_Platinum]

PrezLeefun:
I think thats better than kids dropping out...

:unsmile: So what's the difference between dropping out, & graduating with a diploma that you can't read? Oh, yeah... when students graduate with low standards, it lowers the value of all diplomas. So how's that "better"?

...and alot of Jeresy kids also go onto college.

:unsmile: If you say so.

[principled]

Watch out...Wisconsin is having trouble with this. A court just ruled last month that funding virtual private schools was against WI law:

Siding with a Wisconsin teacher’s union, the appeals court ruled the school was violating Wisconsin’s open enrollment, charter school and teacher licensing laws.

The court found parents were the primary educators — a violation of a state law requiring public school teachers to be licensed. And districts who operate schools cannot receive taxpayer money for students who do not attend school within their boundaries under current law, the court said.

Of course, it is the teacher's unions against it. This definitely shows their attitude:

“The issue is whether a program where you don’t have licensed educators and where you don’t have students working directly with other students should be getting fully funded as though it were a quality educational experience,” she said.

http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/13802847.html

[2thePoint]

From This Link (http://www.eagleforum.org/educate/2001/sept01/socialism.shtml):
John Dewey, known as "the father of modern education," was an avowed socialist and the co-author of the "Humanist Manifesto." The U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities discovered that he belonged to 15 Marxist front organizations. Dewey taught the professors who trained America's teachers. Obsessed with "the group," he said, "You can't make socialists out of individualists. Children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society, which is coming, where everyone is interdependent."

Author Rosalie Gordon, writing about Dewey's progressive (socialist) education in her book What's Happened To Our Schools, said: "The progressive system has reached all the way down to the lowest grades to prepare the children of America for their role as the collectivists of the future. The group - not the individual child - is the quintessence of progressivism. The child must always be made to feel part of the group. He must indulge in group thinking and group activity."

NEA specialist Paul Haubner, tells us, "The schools cannot allow parents to influence the kind of values-education their children receive in school; . that is what is wrong with those who say there is a universal system of values. Our goals are incompatible with theirs. We must change their values."
"Public" (really Government or State) schools were designed from the ground up to be a system where students could be indoctrinated independently of their parents. The hours, the homework, the extra-curricular activities, were all geared toward the goal of keeping kids too busy for parental influence and maximum drilling in "groupthink".

Such institutions are great-- if you fit in, if the more aggressive "students" don't beat you up, if you dress like your peers, if you do as they say. This is not socialization but homogenization. Bullies don't learn to be nice, and weaklings either just take the verbal and physical beatings or snap and bring weapons to school.

It's a miracle the damage has not been greater, but it only, barely, works at all because barely enough parents still manage to influence their children. Personally, I believe a child's social skills are formed in the first 4 years. If you want your kids to socialize, model proper social behavior at home in those early years. As you would with anything else, gradually ease them into various situations as they grow, instead of throwing them into the vat of icewater called "school" that will make them either sink or swim.

I homeschooled my oldest through 2nd grade. When a good charter school opened up nearby, with emphasis on both academics and healthy social instruction, I enrolled him and his little brother. He had no trouble adjusting whatsoever. His little brother, the one who was never homeschooled, has been the more quiet one and I had to work to get him to open up.

So socialization is the last reason I'd send a kid to state schools. The second last is academics, since American kids keep falling behind the rest of the world. And they still keep the "faith" of the collective, making sure the kids are indoctrinated to hate America, western civ., Christianity, and patriotism, all of which have been called "mental illnesses" by NAE psychologists:

Chester M. Pierce, M.D., Professor of Education and Psychiatry at Harvard, had this to say: "Every child in America entering school at the age of five is mentally ill because he comes to school with certain allegiances to our Founding Fathers, toward our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, and toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. It's up to you as teachers to make all these sick children well - by creating the international child of the future."

[girlnextdormouse]

My son is homeschooled and he takes a 2 core classes through Ohio’s online schooling program.

It is a far cry better than the public school system here as long as the parent stays involved. I wouldn’t dream of just plopping him down in front of the computer for those classes and assuming that he would learn the information he needs to know.

The teachers are readily available at even unusual hours via email, webcams, microphones, virtual chalkboards, phonecalls, and in-person visits if one cares to make the drive.

It’s been good for us because there’s no wasted time on study halls, class changes, pep rallies, bus rides, etc.. Just straight forward academics.

Cheating hasn’t been an issue with us because the courses are offered in a more collegiate fashion than a public school fashion. The students are taught how to access information, rather than just being fed data for rote memory to spit back out on a test. They are taught to research information from various sources, cite their sources, and how to determine if a source is credible or not. Similar to how we obtain information in the real world as adults.

The socialization issue with online schooling is completely no different than a homeschooled kid, although I will add that here in Ohio, the online schools offer field trips several times per year.

We view it as a supplement to our homeschooling rather than a replacement. And as I said, I think it’s only effective if the parent stays involved.

~ Toni

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

ABSOLUTELY Toni! Thanks for adding that! :thumb:
From a Mom with only 2years of homeschooling left (I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and feel the breeze! :biggrin:)

[DeclinetoState]

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and feel the breeze!
Get out of the way. That's an oncoming train!

[MaximumSam]

I don't see anything wrong with it. People learn in different ways and different environments, and if they want their education from a computer, more power to them.