Experiences of Virtual Schooling

[Derek Wenmoth]

Let's get this group started by describing our experiences of Virtual Schooling, including:
- who participates?
- what technology is used?
- how long has your project been going?
- how many learners/schools involved?
- who pays?

[Derek Wenmoth]

Hi Tammy
home schoolers appear to be big users of the virtual schooling environment. Here in New Zealand the number of home schooled students in growing (as I believe it is in the US). Here, however, it is difficult for them to access programmes available through conventional and state funded systems as the view is that they have opted out of this system and are thus responsible for accessing their own resources etc.

Aside from this group is the group of students who are enrolled with NZ's Correspondence School (where I worked for a few years). This school was set up over eighty years ago to cater to students who lived in remote and isolated parts of NZ and who were unable to get to a local school. As such they remain officially catered for by the state education system.

One of my tasks when I worked at the Correspondence School was to set up the video conferencing facility that allowed students in many of the rural secondary schools to interact with their teacher and other students in a synchronous online environment. This led to the establishment of an online brokerage system called the Virtual Learning Network which is a place where staff and students can discover what courses are available from the various providers within the video conference network that has developed.

[Derek Wenmoth]

This is most interesting, Tammy - the 'blended' situation you describe here is something that I've been endeavouring to promote here in NZ for the past few years - I like the idea of a local school taking responsibility for the monitoring of the student progress, but the student able to study where and with whom they want, and with resourcing and instruction coming from somewhere else as required.
We are some way towards this with our Virtual Learning Network - but are now at the point where we need a legistlative change to enable changes in the way funding is allocated etc.

[Derek Wenmoth]

Hi Tammy - your request is granted, if you look now I've added a blog block
Cheers