Beginning with the Education Week’s EdWeek Update.
TODAY’S TOP STORY
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‘Hybrid’ Home Schools Gaining Traction As home schooling grows in popularity, lines are blurring between private and public schooling. |
Also, the Education Week’s Digital Directions.
E-Learning
District in Dispute Over Aid for Virtual Students
A southwestern Michigan school system has had $480,000 deducted from state-aid payments because officials say it violated educational standards for online students. (Associated Press)
An irregular appearance for the THE Journal’s School Networks & Security.
Security Spotlight
- School for Blind Leads the Way in Distance Learning
Microsoft Lync proves invaluable when teachers and students can’t be together.
More
On to the ASCD SmartBrief.
Some Ohio schools introduce blended learning
Some Ohio schools and districts this year are turning to blended learning models to teach middle- and high-school students, following the state’s passage of an education reform bill that encourages such programs. In Westerville, students can take a teacher-created online health course, while newly redesigned classrooms at one Reynoldsburg middle school allow seventh-graders to move between online learning and face-to-face instruction. “This is a new delivery model that gives some students a chance to really examine their potential,” said Machelle Kline, Westerville’s director of assessment, accountability and alternative education. The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio) (8/12)
Who is participating in Connected Educator Month?
Tom Whitby, an adjunct professor of education at St. Joseph’s College in New York, in this blog post questions whether Connected Educator Month is registering only with educators who already are connected. Whitby writes that the very places where teachers can find information on Connected Educator Month are likely to be social media sites and other websites, where nonconnected educators are less likely to visit. SmartBrief/SmartBlog on Education (8/13)
Also, the SmartBrief for EdTech.
Mich. district loses state funding over virtual school
Michigan has eliminated $480,000 in aid to a school district after officials found that students at a virtual school there did not communicate via phone or e-mail with a “mentor” each week, as they are required to under state law. “The district lost a half-million dollars on a terrible technicality,” said Robert Dietzel, an attorney representing the district. “There’s no doubt that the children received an education.” MLive.com (Michigan) (free registration) (8/13)
Texas schools turn to online program to help meet progress goals
Following news that many of its schools fell short of Adequate Yearly Progress goals this year, a Texas district will begin using Datawise — an online program that interprets student data. The goal, officials say, is to identify students early on who may not meet proficiency goals on state tests and use that data to help teachers tailor their instruction. Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas) (8/13)
Technology enables distance learning for students with disabilities
A program in place at the Washington State School for the Blind in Vancouver allows students from across the state to access courses through a combination of communication and collaborative functions, including voice, video and instant-messaging. The program utilizes Lync — a Microsoft communications application typically used by large corporations that can be controlled completely by a keyboard, an important consideration for users who have visual impairments or who cannot see. T.H.E. Journal (8/15)
What online students should know before the school year begins
As students prepare for the school year to begin, online-learning veterans offer four tips to help students who learn in a virtual environment make the adjustment. Among the suggestions are to begin planning immediately after receiving the course schedule, make sure to have the appropriate software and hardware, take the opportunity to meet in-person with online instructors and become familiar with available resources. U.S. News & World Report (8/17)
Back to the regular Google News alert for virtual school.
Education choices Some parents seek alternatives to public schools
The News Herald
About 4000 students use alternate education choices such as charter schools, private schools, home schooling or virtual school programs, and the popularity of choosing alternatives to traditional public schools is growing, said Carra Summers …
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My Word: Virtual U. offers students real options
Orlando Sentinel
My daughters have been involved with Florida Virtual School (FLVS) since 2004. In her years of FLVS education, not once has my younger daughter encountered a videotaped lecture. There is video footage, to be sure, just not dry lectures. Lessons are …
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As school year starts Monday, Seminole expands choices
Orlando Sentinel
Beware of ePathways & Florida Virtual School. This is just their way of shortchanging YOUR child’s education. My children have taken a couple of virtual classes and they are NOT comparable to a regular class. My nephew’s middle school is offering a …
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Virtual School program helping more students
Daily Mail – Charleston
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State education officials say West Virginia Virtual School is helping more at-risk students complete their educations and earn a diploma. The program provides high school students the opportunity to recover lost credit through …
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Gull Lake schools out more than $480000 in dispute with state over student count
Kalamazoo Gazette – MLive.com
RICHLAND, MI — Gull Lake Community Schools has had $480000 deducted from its state-aid payments for 2011-12 because the district violated educational standards for its newly established Gull Lake Virtual School. The district failed to meet a …
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Virtual School An Excellent Initiative
Wheeling Intelligencer
A variety of types of children fall into the “at-risk students” description used by educators for youngsters who may not remain in school long enough to earn their diplomas. Students with behavior problems, those with learning disabilities and children …
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Students log on to virtual school
WWL First News
On Monday, students logged into the district’s new virtual school program that begins this year as a way to help students graduate on time or in some cases ahead of schedule. The program, housed at the Breaux Bridge Junior High campus, enables students …
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Communication problems at a virtual school cost one public school district money
Michigan Radio
Officials at a southwest Michigan school district are asking the state’s superintendent to return close to half a million dollars. The state deducted the money from the Gull Lake Community Schools district last school year over mistakes the state says …
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No Summer School Means Some Students Repeat a Grade This Fall
StateImpact Florida
The 17-year-old failed Algebra II at Terra Environmental Research Institute in Miami, so she’s re-taking the class online through Florida Virtual School. Virtual school teachers are not required to be online at the same time their students are. If …
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OE debuts virtual school
Argus Press
O-E debuts virtual school. Story · Comments. Print: Create a hardcopy of this page; Font Size: Default font size: Larger font size. virtual learning. Argus-Press Photo by Jessica Robison. virtual learning. Ovid-Elsie Area Schools curriculum coordinator …
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From classrooms to computers: Examining forms of education in Niobrara County
Lusk Herald
More specifically, education has diversified itself through the alternative mediums of virtual school and homeschooling. The instructional model of virtual school involves the instillation of knowledge completely or chiefly through an online modus …
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County Schools Open Virtual School, STEM School
The Chattanoogan
He said 75 students began the year armed with IPads. “It will be a very, very different way of delivery of instruction,” he said. The virtual school will be attached to the Middle High School. Mr. Smith said consultant Debbie Crabtree is helping launch …
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Strides in online education pave way for virtual charter schools in NJ
NJ.com
virtual1.JPG Ed Murray/The Star-LedgerRebecca Onderdonk of Ocean Township works on her math at the Ocean Township High School where they are taking classes on the New Jersey Virtual School to recover school credits. NEWARK — In just over a …
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Virtual Reality
Martinsburg Journal
It is the West Virginia Virtual School. High school students who need a few classes to stay on track for graduation, but for one reason or another cannot obtain them in traditional classroom settings, are candidates for the Virtual School. It is just …
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Sunrise hands out 700 backpacks at School Round-Up event
Sun-Sentinel
Officials from 12 Sunrise schools, both public and private, answered questions about the upcoming school year. Representatives from Florida Virtual School, Florida Kid Care and the Broward Council of PTAs were also available to answer questions.
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Finally, the Google News alert for cyber school.
WPIAL rules against Rogers
Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Rogers was home-schooled at Keystone Oaks and is enrolled at Gateway’s cyber school. The WPIAL also denied eligibility to two other athletes, ruling their …
College Notes, August 12, 2012
Republican & Herald
The following local students were among the 300 graduating seniors for PA Leadership Charter Cyber School at Lancaster Mennonite High School.
Parkland Cyber Summer School A Success
Patch.com
Cyber summer school in the Parkland School District had an 86 percent success rate, according to L. Randy Claroni, the district’s director of curriculum, …
Boyertown ready to debut cyberschool
Reading Eagle
Instead, it will open to the tune of mice clicking and the silence of students logging into the new Boyertown School District Cyber School.
