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Is Distance Learning
Feasible For K-12 Schools?
Is
It Effective?
More people fear the existence of virtual K-12 schools now more than
ever. It's not really a matter of whether an effective, scaleable model
will ever come about. It's just a matter of when. So will this be the
downfall of traditional K-12 education programs? The real question is:
"Are virtual schools better than what we have now?" Our answer is: "No!"
The traditional classroom, while not perfect be any means, provides preparation
for what was recently stated by CEOs of the top fortune 500 companies.
When they were asked, "What is the single most important quality of an
employee that you can not teach them?" By a landslide the two most prevalent
answers were loyalty and interpersonal communication skills (Money Magazine,
2000). In addition, a great deal of the literature in the field of psychology
has condemned the anonymity of the Internet and the affect that it has
on childrens' social skills. This raises critical questions regarding
the effectiveness of teaching and learning via the Internet and the long
tern effects on interpersonal communication skills.
However, the Internet is here to stay and as with any method for delivering
instruction, we encourage the use of distance learning in moderation.
Distance education can provide students with certain opportunities that
the traditional classroom could only dream; we do believe that it should
be used as a supplement at the K-12 level. Traditional classroom settings
offer a social aspect to learning that is benign in most distance learning
situations.
As for the cognitive aspect, research comparing distance learning to
traditional instruction clearly indicates that teaching at a distance
can be as effective as traditional instruction, "When the method and technologies
used are appropriate to the instructional tasks, peer interactions, and
mechanism for assessment." (Moore & Thompson 1990; Verduin & Clark 1991)
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