In the article, My Teacher is an App, they talk about virtual schools. The pros and cons of kids taking online classes for high school. Stephanie Banchero and Stephanie Simon, the authors of the article, bring up really good points that I have not thought of about online schools. Having kids taking high school classes online will save the state money, but money is not everything. The education for the students is much more important. The state and school system should have the kids in mind first and do what is best for them.
I like the idea of online schools. I think it is great for students who are fast learners or slow learners. Each student can complete each assignment at their own pace. The students can make school fit into their schedule. Having classes online will save the school system money. Some states are running out of their budget money for schools, so turning to an online school will save money. According to the article, a teacher will be able to over look 250 students at one time, rather than a traditional teacher in a classroom only being able to teach 150.
After reading the article, I also disagree with the online schools. Having kids actually go to school will help them with their social skills. They will be in an environment with countless of other kids. This way they will be able to interact with other kids their own age. In an traditional school, the kids have sports, clubs, and handfuls of activites to participate in. Our country already has a high obese rate, and having kids take classes online will increase that rate. Cyber-school will not push physical activity, which children need. Another con of school online, is the test scores. It is proven that the students who attend online schools test much lower than students who actually go to a school.
Kacie
ReplyDeleteI agree that an online school is good for different pace learning as it allows the students to work at their own pace but that is about it. The online schools aren't aimed at making students smarter, the schools just want to make money and that is just what they are doing. If the online schools had students’ education at the forefront of their mission, test scores would be much higher and the online school would be taking off. Online learning is good for some but as I said in my post, it should be left for college students that are paying for their education and appreciate it a little more.
It seems like everyone chose the "My Teacher is an App" article. You, and almost all of the other classmates that chose this article, talk about how students wouldn't have that chance to have any social skills as they would in a normal school setting. I think you are right that students need to be able to comunicate with other people. I think that they hybrid classes would work well with students because it gives them a taste of both.
ReplyDeleteGood job,
Stephen Akins