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Virtual school options increase from states and private companies.

Electronic Education Report - September 3, 2004

Public and private providers are regularly creating new virtual schools as students seek different and advanced learning opportunities, but electronic education technology companies have not found many openings into the growing market.

National University (La Jolla, Calif.), a nonprofit adult education school, launched a virtual high school in July that will offer summer school classes, advanced placement or dual college credit courses and supplemental programs.

Helen Eckmann, general manager of National University Virtual High School, told EER the program aims to attract students who wish to accelerate; students who don't succeed in traditional classrooms; students whose choices are limited by being in small school districts; and home schooled, international and military children.

The new virtual high school will offer those students a 24/7 learning environment; opportunity to build community around the world; and research capabilities, including access to the 60,000 volume e-library of National University, she said.

Vendors lined up to offer curriculum, according to Eckmann, but after looking at what they offered National University decided to develop its own.

"It was mostly correspondence courses, not set up for teacher interaction," she said. Deciding the offerings were also too expensive, National University hired curriculum developers. The goal for classes was three to four minutes of reading interspersed with video clips, white board interaction and group activities.

Fee per class is $300 for students with family income under $60,000 a year and $600 per class for students with family income over $60,000.

National University plans to offer 45 classes in the fall. Planning for 20 is complete, the others are on track, Eckmann said. Seven students have started in the three-course summer startup program. National University hopes to enroll 100 students in the fall and 500 by the end of the first year.

A similar nonprofit program, Virtual High School (Maynard, Mass.), has increased enrollment from 710 students in 11 states in 1997 to more than 5,000 students in 26 states and 10 countries this year.

Michigan Expanded Summer Offerings Online

Michigan Virtual Summer School, a program developed by Michigan Virtual High School gave students a more flexible option for participating in summer school courses and provided schools with a way to expand their offerings this summer.

The program was developed after a survey of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals found nearly half of districts could not offer summer school because of costs and the difficulty in finding staff. Cost and staffing considerations limited other districts to offering a few basic remedial courses.

Virginia Goes Virtual To Expand AP

The new Virginia Virtual AP School will begin offering 13 AP courses via satellite and the Internet this fall.

"The governor (Mark Warner) wants to provide high school students the opportunity to take five college courses to give them a head start on college," Greg Weisiger, coordinator of Virginia Virtual AP School, told EER. "Small rural schools are typically unable to provide that."

The majority of the courses will be local offerings. Apex Learning (Seattle) will provide the psychology, physics and economics courses.

Virginia's general assembly appropriated $300,000 for the program.

Tuition for students who participate in Virginia's Early College Scholars program will be reimbursed to the students' districts if the students sign an agreement to maintain a B average, pursue an advanced studies diploma and complete college-level course work.

Virginia has provided distance learning for 21 years, through the Virginia Satellite Educational Network, but Weisiger said the state is moving towards more Internet offerings because of the ability of students to call up any lesson at any time.

Looking to Florida

Almost anyone starting a virtual school, public or private, looks at the Florida Virtual School, the largest and most-established state-funded online education program in the U.S. Offering more than 80 courses, ranging from GED to Advanced Placement, Florida Virtual School has grown from 77 course enrollments in 1997 to a projected 13,000 to 14,000 students in 2004. National University: 858 642-8000; www.nu.edu

Virtual Schools At A Glance

* 40,000-50,000 students in online courses

* 2,400 publicly funded cyber-based charter schools and virtual schools in 37 states

Source: U.S. Dept. of Education, March 2004

Public and private providers are regularly creating new virtual schools as students seek different and advanced learning opportunities, but electronic education technology companies have not found many openings into the growing market.

National University (La Jolla, Calif.), a nonprofit adult education school, launched a virtual high school in July that will offer summer school classes, advanced placement or dual college credit courses and supplemental programs.

Helen Eckmann, general manager of National University Virtual High School, told EER the program aims to attract students who wish to accelerate; students who don't succeed in traditional classrooms; students whose choices are limited by being in small school districts; and home schooled, international and military children.

The new virtual high school will offer those students a 24/7 learning environment; opportunity to build community around the world; and research capabilities, including access to the 60,000 volume e-library of National University, she said.

Vendors lined up to offer curriculum, according to Eckmann, but after looking at what they offered National University decided to develop its own.

"It was mostly correspondence courses, not set up for teacher interaction," she said. Deciding the offerings were also too expensive, National University hired curriculum developers. The goal for classes was three to four minutes of reading interspersed with video clips, white board interaction and group activities.

Fee per class is $300 for students with family income under $60,000 a year and $600 per class for students with family income over $60,000.

National University plans to offer 45 classes in the fall. Planning for 20 is complete, the others are on track, Eckmann said. Seven students have started in the three-course summer startup program. National University hopes to enroll 100 students in the fall and 500 by the end of the first year.

A similar nonprofit program, Virtual High School (Maynard, Mass.), has increased enrollment from 710 students in 11 states in 1997 to more than 5,000 students in 26 states and 10 countries this year.

Michigan Expanded Summer Offerings Online

Michigan Virtual Summer School, a program developed by Michigan Virtual High School gave students a more flexible option for participating in summer school courses and provided schools with a way to expand their offerings this summer.

The program was developed after a survey of the Michigan Association of Secondary School Principals found nearly half of districts could not offer summer school because of costs and the difficulty in finding staff. Cost and staffing considerations limited other districts to offering a few basic remedial courses.

Virginia Goes Virtual To Expand AP

The new Virginia Virtual AP School will begin offering 13 AP courses via satellite and the Internet this fall.

"The governor (Mark Warner) wants to provide high school students the opportunity to take five college courses to give them a head start on college," Greg Weisiger, coordinator of Virginia Virtual AP School, told EER. "Small rural schools are typically unable to provide that."

The majority of the courses will be local offerings. Apex Learning (Seattle) will provide the psychology, physics and economics courses.

Virginia's general assembly appropriated $300,000 for the program.

Tuition for students who participate in Virginia's Early College Scholars program will be reimbursed to the students' districts if the students sign an agreement to maintain a B average, pursue an advanced studies diploma and complete college-level course work.

Virginia has provided distance learning for 21 years, through the Virginia Satellite Educational Network, but Weisiger said the state is moving towards more Internet offerings because of the ability of students to call up any lesson at any time.

Looking to Florida

Almost anyone starting a virtual school, public or private, looks at the Florida Virtual School, the largest and most-established state-funded online education program in the U.S. Offering more than 80 courses, ranging from GED to Advanced Placement, Florida Virtual School has grown from 77 course enrollments in 1997 to a projected 13,000 to 14,000 students in 2004. National University: 858 642-8000; www.nu.edu

Virtual Schools At A Glance

* 40,000-50,000 students in online courses

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