Anne works as Committee Counsel and Policy Advisor to Senator Brownsberger.
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2 replies on “Commonwealth Virtual Schools”
I have deep concerns about this approach to learning, for children especially. I saw that another participant posted a link about how this approach is not performing well in Massachusetts (http://necir-bu.org/investigations/ma-virtual-academy-lags/)
And this is for people who actually were both (a) adults, and (b) motivated enough to put their own money forward to pay for the coursework. I do not see how virtual learning for children could in any way be successful as a core part of a student’s education. I can see it only as a supplement for some students who may be having trouble in a particular area and want some additional help, but not as a replacement for the classroom, even in part.
Thanks, Alex.
Generally, I agree that a full time virtual school is for a minority of students. And some early models are better than others. There are a lot of factors that go into the educational experience.
I have deep concerns about this approach to learning, for children especially. I saw that another participant posted a link about how this approach is not performing well in Massachusetts (http://necir-bu.org/investigations/ma-virtual-academy-lags/)
The New York Times today has another article that notes many studies have shown that college students enrolled in virtual learning have extremely high withdrawal and failure rates (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/opinion/the-trouble-with-online-college.html?hp&_r=0).
And this is for people who actually were both (a) adults, and (b) motivated enough to put their own money forward to pay for the coursework. I do not see how virtual learning for children could in any way be successful as a core part of a student’s education. I can see it only as a supplement for some students who may be having trouble in a particular area and want some additional help, but not as a replacement for the classroom, even in part.
Thanks, Alex.
Generally, I agree that a full time virtual school is for a minority of students. And some early models are better than others. There are a lot of factors that go into the educational experience.
But hybrid models are showing broader promise.