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Distance learning at the fingertips [Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.](Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, MA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 20--EASTHAM -- On a recent Monday in the online learning classroom at Nauset Regional High School, Parker Lang, 14, of Brewster designed a video game while 16-year-old sophomore Abby Bausch prepared for an MCAS science test. As a teacher's voice filled her ear phones with information about parasitism, Bausch watched a circle highlight crucial information on her computer screen. There was a place for her to type e-notes that the school's online coordinator, Chris Grozier, can print out for her. "It's really helpful for MCAS," Bausch said. "It helps with my science class, too." The Brewster teen is one of hundreds of Cape and Islands high school students taking online courses to prepare for tests, recover credits, squeeze in extra AP courses or take an interesting class not offered by their high school. At Nauset Regional High School, 84 students -- including 16 night-school students -- are taking at least one course in the school's virtual classroom program, which debuted in September. Students have taken courses in gaming design, 3D art and an introduction to programming apps, said Chris Grozier, coordinator of Edgenuity, the online program the school is using. "It's a very 'go at your own pace' kind of program," special education teacher Teal Tobler said. Tobler said she likes the way she can customize credit recovery and test preparation courses for students by removing sections they already mastered to concentrate on new material or areas where students have struggled. Students like the way they can go at their own pace and take classes not offered in their high school. Nauset Regional High School junior Kirby Nichols, 16, wants to study business in college but couldn't find a marketing class at his school. He's taken two marketing classes online, finishing a year's worth of work in one semester. Power point presentations and videos helped Nichols grasp key concepts, and Grozier graded the portfolio he created for a make-believe business. "It's a tremendous opportunity for the students," Nantucket High School Principal John Buckey said. The island school has offered online courses for years, and currently has slots for 50 online courses per year in subjects that include criminology, animal behavior, philosophy and astronomy. "It provides them exposure to a diverse array of courses that students might not otherwise access," Buckey said. Nantucket High School is one of several Cape and Islands high schools that belong to the Virtual High School Collaborative, which also offers core academic courses and foreign languages. "We had a student take AP Spanish in the past with great success; she received a 5 on the exam," Buckey wrote in an e-mail. BEATING THE COMPETITION Several school officials on the Cape have said they may beef up their online programming to combat a wave of virtual school districts scheduled to open within the next few years. The Commonwealth Virtual Schools Act, signed into law Jan. 2, allows as many as 10 new online-only school districts to enroll up to 19,000 students in the next seven years. Brick-and-mortar schools stand to lose $5,000 in state money for each student who leaves the district to attend a virtual school, Jeffrey Elliott, CEO of the Virtual High School Collaborative, said at a meeting in Hyannis in February. The Massachusetts Virtual Academy -- a spinoff of the Greenfield public schools -- has applied to the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to become the first virtual school approved under the new law. The academy plans to educate 750 students in grades K-12 starting this fall, adding an additional 500 by 2015-2016. "It's kind of the wave of the future," said Karen Butler, virtual learning coordinator at Barnstable High School. "We're going virtual." About 150 Barnstable High School students take online courses, including AP and honors courses not offered at the high school or credit recovery and core curriculum classes, Butler said. In addition, 40 students in a certified nursing program take the medical terminology course work online, she said. "We have different learning styles," Butler said. "Not every student does well sitting in front of a teacher listening to a lecture." less interaction Cape students typically take the online classes in computer labs and school libraries, though some receive instruction at home for medical reasons or because a for-credit job conflicts with school hours. In the Edgenuity programs, a teacher talks in a small top corner while information and graphics flash across the screen. "Some students miss the face-to-face" interaction, said Butler at Barnstable High School, which offers Edgenuity and Virtual High School courses. "They never meet the teacher. They probably never meet the kids in the class." Students taking online courses still need the guidance of on-site high school teachers, Nauset Regional High School guidance counselor Richard Durgin said. Grozier and Tobler answer questions, encourage students having trouble, remind them of assignments and help them track their progress, he said. For some students online is the best way to learn but others need additional help, Durgin said. Jake Howarth, 17, a Nauset junior from Brewster, used online courses to prepare for SATs and MCAS after moving to the United States from England this summer. "It really did reinforce what I needed to know," he said. ___ (c)2013 Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) Visit the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) at www.capecodonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |