Distance Education Reflection

Pros –
1. It allows an alternative for students who are not well served in a traditional setting.
2. Students get to work one on one with a teacher through these online learning sites, which allows for more time directed at one student.
3. Teachers are all said to be trained and certified professional s that are masters in their field.
4. Seems to be more support for learning considering these programs are more individualized.
5. Many students who partake in these programs are advanced and need an accelerated approach to learning, which these seem to provide.

Cons –
1. Does not allow for students to interact socially among their peers.
2. On-line teachers can never actually tell if a student did the work themselves, as they may have someone else do it for them.
3. There is never any face to face interaction among the students and teachers, which I feel is very important in building a base for accountability and motivation.
4. Teachers may not realize what learning style works best for the student.
5. Many of the sites do not require Physical Education, which can lead to huge problems such as obesity later in life.

If the student displays that they are especially advanced at the secondary level and need a more rigorous learning track, then I feel that they should have the option. However, the student must be accountable and greatly self-motivated. Another way to determine the readiness would be if the student was struggling at the secondary level, and could not function around their peers. In this case, they would fit the criteria for starting out in these specially designed programs to fit their needs. Although these students must be provided the proper technological equipment to ensure that they can participate in the program.

To teach in a virtual school I would obviously have to be a certified public teacher, and know my subject very well. I would also need over 3 years of experience teaching as a basic requirement. Must have a flexible schedule and be able to travel throughout the state. I would also need to have a lot of experience working with all the Microsoft programs and the internet.