Bethany Finneran

Angelica Rivera
Timothy Ament
Virtual Schooling Approach
Description of the approach
The approach is to inform our classmates about how virtual schooling runs and functions.
Todays virtual schools are descendants of correspondence schools. The schools opened in areas
with very low population density, which made commuting to and from school difficult and
expensive. These correspondence schools used means such as the postal service, two-way radio
transmissions, and even pre-recorded television broadcasts for student-teacher interactions.
Teachers at virtual schools today still use means of electronic communication, but are also often
able to meet with their students. While there is no national certification required to teach in a
virtual school, teachers must have the proper credential for their state.
Virtual schooling is different from regular schools and even a different form of
homeschooling. Students attending virtual schools can be considered completely homeschooled
or can engage in any combination of public/private/homeschooling and online classes.
Interactive online lessons with teachers, combined with parental guidance at home allow students
the ability to create their customizable learning environment that best suits their own needs.
Students can take part in virtual school anywhere there is an internet connection. This schooling
approach can fit a wide range of students because of its convenient flexible hours and location.
Bibliography
Barbour, M. K. (2015). Real-Time Virtual Teaching: Lessons Learned from a Case Study in a
Rural School. Online Learning, 19(5), 54-68.
This journal looks at the progress and success of students enrolled in a virtual school in a
rural area where commuting to a traditional public school would be too difficult. Two

interesting themes were revealed through this study. This study showed that students
enrolled in virtual schools were performing as well as their peers in a traditional public
school. Second, students enrolled in this virtual school showed a strong sense of
community and even developed a support group between themselves.
Sturgeon, D. B. (2013, January 1). Virtual Schooling...A Closer Look from the inside of an
Indiana Charter Virtual School Examining the Teachers' Perceptions of the Characteristics of Its
Teachers and Students. ProQuest LLC,
This academic journal focuses on the online environment for teachers and the students
involved. It was actually a study that was done in Indiana by an online charter school.
This study focuses on how teachers should be communicative, responsive, and manage
their time well. Student characteristics considered important are access to computer and
Internet, strong support from their family or learning coach, and effective time
management skills.
Wang, Y., & Decker, J. R. (2014). Can Virtual Schools Thrive in the Real World?. Techtrends:
Linking Research And Practice To Improve Learning, 58(6), 57-62.
I chose this article because it gives a different perspective on the effectiveness of virtual
schools. While the previous article claimed that virtual schooling students are performing
just as well as their public school peers, this article does not agree. The study looked at
school performance from 2007-2011 at Ohio's virtual and traditional schools and found
that although virtual schools in Ohio are rapidly growing, their students have also been
underperforming compared to their public school peers.

Further Information
CAVA: California Virtual Academies http://cava.k12.com/
This is the website for the 11 virtual schools in California that follow the K12 curriculum.
Along with the mission statement and information on how CAVA schools are run,

curriculum content, community events, and information on enrollment can all be found
on this website.
DeNisco, A. (n.d.). Preparing for Online Teaching. Retrieved February 28, 2016, from
http://www.districtadministration.com/article/preparing-online-teaching
The first source is an article about what a teacher can do to prepare themselves for
becoming an online teacher. This includes teaching for grades K-12. The article also goes
into some details about how to be a good online teacher and what to look for in the
students and what to work on for their own teaching needs.
Khan Academy. https://www.khanacademy.org/
While not exactly a school, Khan Academy is a nonprofit educational organization
created by Salman Khan in 2006 with the aim of providing a free, world-class education
for anyone, anywhere. Practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized
learning dashboard are just a few of the features Khan Academy offers. Subjects such as
math, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics, and more are
offered here free of charge.
Layton, L., & Brown, E. (2011, November 26). Virtual schools are multiplying, but some
question their educational value. Retrieved February 29, 2016, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/virtual-schools-are-multiplying-but-somequestion-their-educational-value/2011/11/22/gIQANUzkzN_story.html
This article is interesting because it shows the opinions of parties who are both opposed
and in favor of virtual schooling. It was informative to see both sides of this argument.
This article also gives good insight into how finances from public tax dollars are divided
between traditional public schools and online virtual schools.
Thornberg, M. (2014). The Pros and Cons of Sending Your Child to Virtual School - Babble.
Retrieved February 28, 2016, from http://www.babble.com/tech/virtual-school-pros-cons/
This article discusses the pros and cons of virtual schooling and then goes into more
detail about those pros and cons. The person who wrote the article does also talk about

their decision making process on whether or not (with the pros and cons) to put their own
children into the virtual schooling system.