Should+Schools+Be+Required+To+Offer+Online+Education-NO


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 * Introduction**

In 2007 nearly 6.2 million students between the age of 16 and 24 dropped out of high school. (High School Dropouts, 2009) To combat this epidemic many schools are opting to include virtual schooling as part of their curriculum. Although online education can benefit students, it should not be mandatory that all schools offer such service. Many studies have been completed about the student retention and completion rate in online learning environments. And although many of these studies are directed toward the adult college student, the statistics are staggering and significant.

In some institutions, the drop out rate is 70-80% for online learning, with other percentages ranging between 20%-50%. Meanwhile, in the last century, the average drop out rate for traditional classroom-based learning has only been 40-45% for undergraduate programs in the United States. (Tyler-Smith, 2006) The reasons for these drop out rates vary so significantly that even researchers have a hard time understanding why students drop out of online courses after they have begun. One study even noted a student's desire "to protect their self-esteem." Developmentally, students in middle and high school begin to rely more on peers, socialization and the opinions of their friends over that of their family. How compelling when some schools and states are considering mandating that all students at the high school level take at least one online course.

In an online course, a student cannot simply sit in the room quietly and take notes; they must interact in order to earn a grade. For this reason, some students may feel embarrassed to share their thoughts and opinions openly and may be fearful of what others may think. This fear could potentially be compounded when all the students actually know and interact with each other in other classes on a regular basis. (Tyler-Smith, 2006) As educators it is important to be aware of these statistics and work diligently in creating an online course environment where our students can succeed. This type of course development should include an option for students as to whether they would prefer to take or not to take any particular course online.


 * Online Education Implemented in Public Schools**

There are a number of different school districts around the country that have tried to implement online classes for their students to enroll in. The primary reason behind this has been to "catch up" students who have failed one or more of their classes. One such example of schools using this approach are a few of the public high schools in Chicago, IL. In August of 2010, the Chicago Tribune wrote an article about utilizing online learning for credit redemption in the Chicago area. Clinton Parker, a senior at Julian high school was one of the many students that had opted to redeem some of his graduation credits. "By the time summer school had ended, Parker was among the more than 4,000 city schools students who earned credits taking online courses. What would have taken another year of school — much of which Parker readily admits he would have skipped — took just a few months, and he received his diploma" (Ahmed, 2010) Most individuals would view this as a success but others in the educational system may be alarmed by the fact that a student was able to complete a course in under half the time that it would have taken in a regular classroom. Might something be lacking in the online course? Might online courses be a quick fix for schools more concerned about meeting AYP (annual yearly progress) than properly educating its students? The following collaborative essay lists just some issues to consider before lawmakers and school officials jump into the latest trend to go online for student education.

Arguments against requiring Online Education are:
 * Online Education is Costly
 * Lack of Social Development
 * Quality of On-Line Education


 * Online Education is Costly**

Supporters of Online Education will argue that providing virtual education is cheaper than traditional education, but studies have shown that this information is fabricated. Although virtual schools do not require transportation, teachers, or desks, the average amount to fund virtual charter schools in the U.S. is approximately $6,500 per pupil. (Ark, 2010) This amount usually does not include the cost of technical support, printers, postage and the on-going cost to keep the equipment updated. School budgets are already in the red, so requiring them to add cost for virtual schooling will only result in schools falling further into the negative which may result in the closing of some schools. So what if the State decides to foot the bill? Even if the state pays the bill for online ducation, it still affects the school system overall. Now instead of using local taxes to invest in local schools, the money is being paid to outside companies. As a tax payer, instead of helping private companies become richer, it is preferred that tax dollars are used to buy updated books, provide after school programs, and eliminate the termination of great teachers.


 * Limited Opportunity for Social Development**

Children need to have the ability to take part in clubs and other activities that make a well-rounded individual. Much like a college degree requires a variety of classes in order to make a better-rounded student, having a variety of social experiences makes a more better-rounded human being. With the invention of online social networking and gaming, society has seen a more anti-human interaction push than ever before. A Korean man married a pillow with his favorite video game character on it (Matyszczyk, 2010). Without personal interactions with their peers, students can be shy and uncomfortable in social situations. This will make it more difficult for these students to be able to interact with people in the job market. How can someone enter sales or customer service when they cannot warmly approach another human being with confidence?

Traditional schools contribute many different aspects of character building that helps to shape American youth into contributing members of society. Tolerance is one of these aspects. Students who attend online high school are isolated, to some degree, from students who come from different ethnic, religious, and social-economic backgrounds. Learning to exist and work with others that do not share the same cultural and/or religious beliefs as you is very important in this ever-shrinking world. Learning to respect authority figures and respectfully challenge authority is another behavior that is learned in a traditional school setting; a tool that is priceless when entering college and/or the workforce. It is very hard to learn this social skill if you are in a classroom that consists only of a computer, your family, and you.

Although not attending your high school prom, homecoming, or graduation commencement will not damage you for life or make you any less attractive to future employers, these social activities create once-in-a-lifetime experiences and memories that you will never have the opportunity to create once you graduate from high school.


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 * Quality of On-Line Education**

There are several concerns regarding the quality of the education received online. Assessment of student work is one of these concerns. How does a virtual teacher know when a student is not doing her own work? The fact of the matter is he doesn't. Cheating can take many different forms such as plagiarism, having another person take the test or do the assignment, or looking up answers online while taking a test. The goal of the public school system is not just to increase graduation rates but also to ensure that every child learns. Another concern for quality is the pedagogy that is being used for online courses. While some online courses may provide supplies to the student to conduct home experiments or require students to perform activities away from the computer, many courses just require students to read and take multiple choice quizzes and tests.

Students are the primary resource for the (in)effectiveness of online courses. For example, in a small high school in Flint, Michigan an informal poll was administered. Out of the 28 students polled, 24 had taken an online class this school year, last school year, or both. Eighty-three percent of these students havehad to retake two or more of the online classes. These students were asked a variety of questions to measure the effectiveness of online learning. When asked if students actually felt like they learned the material, only 12.5% believed that they did. Naturally, that means 87.5% of the students felt that they did not learn the material, yet still passed. This is an alarming statistic.

One would think that teenagers would appreciate getting a passing grade without much work. However, only 16.7% said that they enjoyed their online class. One student said that she enjoyed the fact that she had time to work on the class whenever and wherever she pleased, but disliked how online courses only present one way of finding a solution, as opposed to multiple ways with multiple examples. When asked if students would have rather had their online course like a traditional class, face to face with the instructor, half of the students believed they would have learned more with a physical teacher. Reasons students cited for preferring a traditional class are as follows: 1.) Failure of teachers keeping up with grade 2.) Limited approaches to learning new material 3.) Limited numbers of examples 4.) Technological difficulties interfere with achievement 5.) If students can get test and quiz answers right if they just look it up online, why do they need this class? 6.) Open book/internet assessments reduce drive to learn the material (Slosser, 2010).

The bottom line is, if students don't feel like they are learning the material and can apply it to more advanced work, what is the point of their online class?


 * Conclusion**

Educators must realize that there is not a one-shoe-fits-all fix. Therefore, to mandate that schools offer online classes is not the best solution to any of our educational system's problems. Online classes in high school are simply a quick fix to a multitude of problems. When supporters of online classes argue that this is the best way to eliminate our increasing drop out rate, another could argue that if the money used to buy the rights for a particular online class was used correctly in the physical classrooms themselves more students would not be failing out in the first place. Also, when a proponent of online learning says that social development is not the important curriculum taught in school one could argue that without a physical classroom environment when would a person ever be forced to confront and learn to behave appropriately with other individuals in a "professional setting? Finally, those that support online classrooms and believe that "online classes meet the same curriculum standards that physical classroom do" one should not take this statement as exact. In a physical classroom a "professional" instructor is monitoring the learning and evaluation process of each learner. In an online setting the only monitoring of this process is done by a parent or potentially no one at all. How could the curriculum be the same if the student does not have the same expectations in the two "similar" classes? It is true that online learning does have some advantages and disadvantages for its users. However, without more development and regulations there is no way it should be required in our educational system at this time...


 * References:**

1. Ahmed, Azam. (Aug 29th 2010) "Online learning attempts to make the grade in Chicago schools: Supporters say online learning is inexpensive and flexible critics call it untested". __Chicago__ __Tribune__. retrieved Nov. 6th 2010 from - [] 2. Ark, Tom Vander. "What Does a Virtual Education Cost?" Published October 19, 2010. Retrieved November 1, 2010 from [] 3. Gartner, John. "Virtual-school cost under wire." Published April 1, 2004. Retrieved November 1, 2010 from [] 4. "High school dropout crisis' continues in U.S." Published May 5, 2009. Retrieved October 31, 2010 from [] 5. Matyszczyk, Christopher. "Man marries animated pillow." Published March 11, 2010 by CNET.com. Retrieved November 4, 2010. [] 6. Research Development and Engineering Command (2009, October 5). Viva technology comes to Garfield High School [Opening Photograph]. Retrieved November 1, 2010 from []. 7. Schools as agents of socialization ( 2009, June 14). [Video Podcast]. Retrieved November 4, 2010 from [] 8. Slosser - Focus Grade 11. Informal Poll. 5 Nov. 2010. 9. Tyler-Smith, Keith (2006). "Early attrition among first time eLearners: a review of factors that contribute to drop-out, withdrawal and non-completion rates of adult learners undertaking eLearning programmes". __Journal of Online Learning and Teaching.__ Vol. 2, (2). Retrieved November 5,2010 from @http://jolt.merlot.org/Vol2_No2_TylerSmith.htm 10. Yiftach, Boaz. "Flipping through a big pile of 100 dollar bills." [Second Photograph]. Retrieved November 6, 2010 from @http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/photos/Hand-holding-dollars.jpg