Are You Ready for Distance Education?

Pros:

1. Students get their own laptop to use.

2. Students are able to do class work on their own time.

3. Students that are depended upon to provide for their families can work and get an education at the same time.

4. There are many courses to choose from.

5. All materials such as textbooks and software come with enrollment in courses.

Cons:

1. Students don’t get the face-to-face contact with teachers.

2. Students don’t get different teaching strategies like a normal classroom.

3. Students don’t get the interaction and differing opinions of classmates.

4. Students need to have the self-motivation and responsibility to be successful in these programs.

5. Students don’t get the everyday social life of a normal high school student.

It would be hard to determine whether students are ready and motivated to participate in the class. One way might be to hold an online collaboration discussion or set up a time to meet online and find out a little about each student enrolled in the class.

To teach in a virtual school you would obviously have to have access to a computer and the internet. Also you would need to have the ability to set up the software and use it. You would need to find some creative ways to teach information and give assignments in order for the students to get as much as possible out of the class.