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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday June 17 2015, @12:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the telecommuting-isn't-just-for-adults-anymore dept.

For several years, public school students in Virginia who do not have particular courses (e.g. Advanced Placement or Honors courses) offered in their brick-and-mortar classrooms have had online courses available to them.

The Virginia Department of Education announces

The [...] Virtual Virginia program will pilot a full-time, online high school for the 2015-2016 school year. The pilot--available to as many as 100 students on a first-come, first-served basis--will offer all required core academic courses and electives necessary to earn a Standard or Advanced Studies diploma.

"We are excited to offer this opportunity to high school students, especially those with the potential for thriving in a non-traditional instructional setting", Superintendent of Public Instruction Steven R. Staples said. "This expansion of the nationally recognized Virtual Virginia program provides more choice and flexibility to students seeking a high school diploma."

Students in the full-time pilot will be enrolled in their local public school but will receive instruction through Virtual Virginia. As with all Virtual Virginia courses, instruction will be provided by teachers with Virginia certification. Local schools will ensure that students in the pilot have access to technology, textbooks, special services and other necessary materials at no cost.

[...] Courses are delivered through Virtual Virginia's secure, web-based environment, and, like traditional classroom instruction, will include readings, discussion forums, written assignments, media, student presentations and projects, case studies, simulations, lab assignments, models, and opportunities for student collaboration.

The coverage by the Center for American Progress notes

Twenty-six states offer virtual or distance schooling on some level but few--Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming--have full-time programs statewide, according to a 2014 report(PDF) from the Evergreen Education Group.


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  • (Score: 2) by bart9h on Wednesday June 17 2015, @01:09PM

    by bart9h (767) on Wednesday June 17 2015, @01:09PM (#197230)

    a virtual diploma.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday June 17 2015, @01:11PM

    by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Wednesday June 17 2015, @01:11PM (#197231)

    Normal diplomas aren't worth a damn thing anyway. You can be a rote memorization monkey; so what?

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by VLM on Wednesday June 17 2015, @02:00PM

      by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 17 2015, @02:00PM (#197258)

      Prepare you for an institutional life driven by bells on timers like an assembly line at an old time industrial plant, strictly class based and hyper hierarchical, armed guards patrolling hallways lined with locked doors, all that isn't mandatory is illegal and all that isn't illegal is mandatory, conformity is the second highest virtue after blind obedience to authority, sometimes even require uniforms kinda like prison...

      What public schools prepare you for, is probably not something you want.

      Arguably doing something superficially stupid is sometimes worthwhile if it toughens you up ("I can outlast this bullshit!"), but even that analysis is pretty weak.

      • (Score: 2) by Zz9zZ on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:00PM

        by Zz9zZ (1348) on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:00PM (#197402)

        While I have many issues with the education sector, you are painting with a very broad brush. Conditions vary drastically from school to school, and while some may fall into the extreme conditions you list that is not the norm. The bells and timers are the only way to organize hundreds of individuals with varying levels of maturity, in college students are trusted to have time awareness. Armed guards and locked doors are definitely NOT the norm and are the result of gang violence, a legitimate worry for students and teachers. The only conformity that is enforced on a large scale are the federal education standards like STAR testing, which is definitely detrimental to education overall by promoting rote learning. We tend to forget how bad things used to be, it's been less than an average human lifespan since schools were desegregated in the US.

        All that said, there is definitely a large streak of nanny-state mentality that goes into education which brings about the prison themes you refer to. Being able to get a diploma online is a great step towards giving kids freedom and allowing them to develop their own time management skills. Time will tell if it works well. Personally I have hope that the future will bring humanity more freedom to pursue life on our own terms, though we are in a time where it is hard to hold on to that hope.

        --
        ~Tilting at windmills~
        • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:31PM

          by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:31PM (#197421)

          Armed guards and locked doors are definitely NOT the norm and are the result of gang violence, a legitimate worry for students and teachers.

          A legitimate worry where? There are armed guards and locked doors in schools that exist in areas where it is highly improbable that any such bad events will take place. It's just that people are irrational and desire the illusion of safety, even if it the methods don't work and the threat is almost nonexistent.

          There are locations where it is a legitimate worry, but then the question becomes whether these things are effective or worth it.

          • (Score: 2) by Zz9zZ on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:50PM

            by Zz9zZ (1348) on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:50PM (#197437)

            I agree, I should have qualified my statement better. Hopefully we move past the cultural wars in the coming decades and can solve real problems, not the stupid problems of people just hating / fearing other people. It would be good if the media would stop being an echo chamber for violence just to achieve ratings... We are safer than ever yet more afraid.

            --
            ~Tilting at windmills~
      • (Score: 2) by The Archon V2.0 on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:15PM

        by The Archon V2.0 (3887) on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:15PM (#197413)

        > Prepare you for an institutional life driven by bells on timers like an assembly line at an old time industrial plant, strictly class based and hyper hierarchical

        So, a call center?

        > armed guards patrolling hallways lined with locked doors, all that isn't mandatory is illegal and all that isn't illegal is mandatory,

        A call center.

        > conformity is the second highest virtue after blind obedience to authority, sometimes even require uniforms kinda like prison...

        I'm still guessing call center.

        • (Score: 2) by VLM on Wednesday June 17 2015, @07:01PM

          by VLM (445) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday June 17 2015, @07:01PM (#197451)

          There are call centers in prisons, you know. They fit right in.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2015, @03:02PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2015, @03:02PM (#197290)

      I got a lot more out of my education than that.

      • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:28PM

        by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Wednesday June 17 2015, @06:28PM (#197419)

        Then you very likely took your education into your own hands, like I did; don't credit the horrendous schools for that.

        That or you don't know what rote memorization is. I frequently encounter people who insist that their school is good and the homework isn't rote memorization, then when I ask them for an example, they usually present something like a math problem that would require only rote memorization to solve.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2015, @07:35PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 17 2015, @07:35PM (#197470)

          STEM is all rote memorization if you count processes too. Writing, speech, and other liberal arts fields require other skills. What does it matter if you can accomplish a task? Write an award winning essay, improve the thermal efficiency of an ICE on the fly, debug assembly code. If you could not do it before class and could do it after, what sort of skill it is does not matter at all: you became educated.

          • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Wednesday June 17 2015, @08:05PM

            by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Wednesday June 17 2015, @08:05PM (#197491)

            STEM is all rote memorization if you count processes too.

            But you can have deep understanding of how and why it works, which is what is missing. Instead, it's taught as, "Do this, this, and this, and then you'll have the right answer." Not to obviously, but that's what it essentially is.

            Please don't defend rote memorization, or you're part of the problem.

            What does it matter if you can accomplish a task?

            Because without coming to an understanding of how and why all of these things work, you'll remain a mere user and will likely never be able to innovate in important ways. And doing something other than just mindlessly memorizing information will probably help your critical thinking skills develop. Why we're so obsessed with creating people with a factory worker mentality I don't know.

            If you could not do it before class and could do it after, what sort of skill it is does not matter at all: you became educated.

            Then we define education differently. I am not after mere skills or the ability to make money, but an academic understanding of the world and universe around me. That's important, and exactly what is discouraged.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 18 2015, @01:05AM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 18 2015, @01:05AM (#197630)

              Understanding is a skill. Deep understanding is found through repetition of analysis, or "rote memorization" as you amusingly repeat over and over while using it to describe different things. You are defending your position with a paradox. Perhaps your education did fail your desire for critical thought.

              • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Thursday June 18 2015, @02:13AM

                by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Thursday June 18 2015, @02:13AM (#197644)

                Understanding is a skill.

                For a certain definition of "skill".

                Deep understanding is found through repetition of analysis

                Understanding is not gained merely by repeating a very specific process over and over ("Do this, this, and this, and you'll get the right answer."). It's possible that when repeating a process, you ask yourself why it works, but that is a separate issue. You are essentially comparing a very broad activity (trying to discover why and how something works) with merely memorizing information through repetition. The sort of rote memorization in schools is a mindless activity and does not encourage understanding; it actively discourages it.

                In public schools, you get problems asking people to find the missing side of a triangle 10 times over, for example. That is rote memorization and does not facilitate any sort of understanding.

                You are defending your position with a paradox.

                There is no paradox here; that's nonsensical.

                I'm not sure why anyone would question the idea that our school system is a horrendous abomination at this point. Are you willfully ignorant?