Virtual Schooling Questions

Back in July, I posted a series of questions for those involved with virtual schooling that I got from the DAOS website (see Questions for those Involved in Virtual High Schools). Those questions included:

The questions that require attention (QAR's) for policy makers start with these:

1. How do appointed officials best communicate their understanding of e-learning?
2. What expectations should appointed officials have of e-learning?
3. How do elected officials discuss e-learning with their constituents who have experienced education in an entirely different context?
4. What should be the expectations for e learning in the context of a standards based reform movement?
5. What assurances exist that e-learning experiences will conform appropriately to teaching and learning standards at the state and federal levels?
6. Can e-learning assist students in making progress toward the goals of No Child Left Behind?

Among the questions that require attention by educators are:

1. How will these new schools alter the types of preparation needed by teachers?
2. In what ways will the communication between teachers and students change and what can teachers do about it?
3. How can the fact that a teacher is not in a building effect ongoing professional development?
4. Should there be certification issues associated with being a teacher in an e-learning environment?
5. What impact should virtual schooling have on colleges of education?
6. What guidance can content selection standards provide?
7. What different expectations should administrators have in shifting to an e-learning environment?
8. How will e-learning effect financial planning for administrators?
9. How will students in e-learning perform on standard tests—both formative and summative and what should administrators anticipate?
10. What avenues for job growth are there for administrators in e-learning?
11. How necessary is it that professionals in e-learning be trained online?
12. What drives the professional development train—using content or using technology, and in what combination?

About two months ago, Darren (over at Teaching and Developing Online) posted an entry entitled Basic Online High School Questions. This entry, I assume was based on his experiences with the The Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School. Now, unlike the Charter schools supported by the folks at DAOS, Catholic education in the province of Saskatchewan (like many other Canadian provinces) is part of the publicly funded education system.

Go over and take a look at the list prepared by Darren and the crowd at the SCCS, then compare that to the list prepared by the people at DAOS and see if you can find the different themes and views about virtual schooling.

Tags: virtual school, cyber school, high school, education