[November 22, 2009] ESchool isn't the only online program Tweet DADE CITY, Nov 22, 2009 (Tampa Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Pasco County school district launched its new Pasco eSchool this year with great fanfare, but an online adult-education program has been quietly educating students via the Internet for about a decade. The program, run out of Moore-Mickens Education Center, helps adults work toward their GED or a high school diploma. High school students behind on the credits they need to graduate also are enrolled. In addition, special education students have found success with the online classes. "They can do this at the time of day that's best for them," said Carolyn Allen, a district supervisor of adult and community education. "They can shut out distractions. They can continue to repeat the lessons until they master (the information)." Steve Cox, principal of Moore-Mickens, said his school's online program started with just GED and adult basic education classes, but about five or six years ago expanded to include current high school students trying to make up credits. Cox said the program had about 800 enrollments over the summer and about 550 were completed. "As cuts occur (in the school district) we just did the biggest summer program that Pasco had anywhere," Cox said. More students study via Internet Online education has been expanding in Pasco and throughout the state. In addition to the adult online program, for many years some high school students in Pasco were taking courses through Florida Virtual School, an online education provider. Then this year, because of new state requirements, the district started Pasco eSchool, which provides an online option for traditional K-12 students. JoAnne Glenn, an assistant principal who oversees Pasco eSchool, said there's not much duplication of services between her program and the adult online program because they have different missions. "We like to think of (the Moore-Mickens program) as complementing what we do with Pasco eSchool," Glenn said. When Moore-Mickens began its online adult-education program, Pasco formed a consortium with five other counties, which allowed the school districts to pool their resources and buying power to partner with Florida Virtual School. "Florida Virtual School didn't have an adult arm, so this was an opportunity to work with them," Allen said. The school district developed the curriculum for GED studies and Florida Virtual provided the technical know-how. Today there are 30 counties in the consortium, which is called the Florida Adult and Technical Distance Education Consortium. The districts pay an annual fee to the consortium, and in return can make use of the consortium's resources and services. "That's really how we are able to do this," Allen said. Unusual situations All students in the adult online program are Pasco residents, though occasionally there are unusual situations, said Nancy Marsh, an online instructor. One woman who was a military spouse finished her class work from Germany after her husband was stationed there, Marsh said. Truck drivers also are among the students, doing their work while on the road, Marsh said. They tap into the classes at truck stops via wireless networks. The program also has created courses for Marchman Technical Education Center in New Port Richey so students there can earn economics and government credits online at night, allowing them to focus more of their school time on vocational classes. One of Moore-Mickens' newest online offerings is a course in English for speakers of other languages. Owning a home computer with Internet access helps, but students with no computer at home still participate by going to a public library, using a computer at the school or visiting a friend's house, Marsh said. For information about the Moore-Mickens Education Center's adult online-education program, contact the school at (352) 524-9000 or visit mmec.pasco.k12.fl.us. Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 259-7065. To see more of the Tampa Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.tampatrib.com. Copyright (c) 2009, Tampa Tribune, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]