Changing education one computer at a time

Hate to admit this, but some of us can still remember when getting a computer in our classrooms was a really big deal. Today, so many kids expect computers in their bedrooms.

At least their parents are having them put the technology to some good use.

The expansion of online classes -- and families' growing ability to access it -- has become a blessing for homeschoolers who, in the words of the Naples Daily News, "don't like to be pushed around."

In fact, the Daily News reports, more parents are actually using their public school system without stepping into the school buildings.

"Students are using it for a variety of reasons, so it's there as another vehicle to help them successfully complete high school," Marsha VanHook, assistant principal for curriculum at Estero High School, told the paper. "It just provides a lot of flexibility for kids.

As that trend toward online education extends into elementary and middle school next year, Florida could have even more kids taking classes in their bedrooms and home offices, the Orlando Sentinel reports. The state will pay for the education, but it won't necessarily have to pay for bricks and mortar to put them in a chair, or for buses to get them there.

The question remains exactly how many parents will have the time to essentially become homeschoolers, especially for the youngest kids, who can't exactly stay at home alone. Stay tuned.

(Above, Kayla Hernandez, 17, studies chemistry in her Tampa kitchen through Florida Virtual School earlier this year. Kathleen Flynn, Times photo)

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Comments

[linda]

it wont work. thats all i have to say, alot of kids can't take in info off of a screen, they learn better with a book or a pen and paper or hearing it aloud by a real person. i gues it just depends on what kind of learner the kid is.

[emilieboudrow]

this is cool i think this could work as long as kids have a certain schedule they have to abide by, there should be rewards as an incentive and punishments for not doing the work when there suppsed to.

[hogwart768]

i wish i had this when i was in elementary school.

[sal]

online education for elementary kids wnt work. thers no motivation.

[stark]

i agree with hanna... it wont work because kids will get distracted wayy too easily. theres no sense in letting kids learn this way because they wont. they always need someone there to keep them on track, and parents need to do other things so they wont have time. school is a much better option, thers more benefits with school like social life, a place for the kids to go like a daycare. sortof, and there will be an actual human being there to guide them.

[christopher]

hannah.
you dont know it could be easier than getting up at 6-7 every morning and go to school for abt 7 hours and come home and do more work. this way, children could do more things around the house while doing school work on their free time. it could be a revolutionary change.

[hanna]

this is weird. nobody can learn like this.