District offers online classes
North Central High School freshman Darby Day wanted to take percussion this year, but her schedule was already full with required classes.
The 14-year-old found another option on the Internet. She’ll take an online course in health and fitness through Spokane Virtual Learning, the online school hosted by Spokane Public Schools.
“We’ll try this and see if it works,” said Day’s mother, Linda. “I’m really bummed out this type of thing wasn’t here 20 years ago. It’s pretty amazing.”
The Days were among a handful of students and parents who attended an open house this week to learn more about the online courses offered by the district.
Joining a trend sweeping the nation, Spokane expanded its online course offerings this year to accommodate students looking for alternatives to the regular classroom.
“Students today are the connected generation. They need to have options to learn with the same way they are living socially, and economically,” said Sharon Johnston, coordinator of Spokane Virtual Learning. “That’s what is happening across the nation.”
Spokane’s virtual school is a first for Eastern Washington, though several online schools have been operating west of the Cascades. Representatives from the Washington Virtual Academy, an online school hosted by the Steilacoom Historical School District, came through Spokane in June hoping to attract students to its online courses. The small district reported in July that the number of students enrolled was more than 600 and growing.
Last year more than 9,000 high school students in Washington were enrolled in some kind of online course, state officials said.
“Our kids today are so versatile,” said Spokane Superintendent Brian Benzel said. “They are just learning differently than we did.”
Spokane’s virtual school is free for local students, but is also available for students living outside the district. Out-of-district students can pay $350 per semester per course, or make arrangements with their home district to acknowledge the online course and have state funding paid to Spokane. State funds are allocated based on a school district’s number of full-time students.
“We’ve been watching what is going on elsewhere, and we started seeing students from Spokane enrolling in online courses in other parts of the country,” Benzel said. “We wanted to create another way to attract and keep students in Spokane Public Schools.”
This year the district will offer 19 courses, including Advanced Placement courses in statistics, English and music theory. New courses include color and design and math classes for middle school students.
Teachers with the school acknowledge virtual classes are not for everybody. The courses are rigorous and require several hours of study. Students have to be self-motivated and keep up with assignments.
“It’s a lot of real world skills a lot of 16-year-olds don’t’ have,” said Jeff Norton, a Lewis and Clark teacher who teaches AP English online. “It requires a bit of moxie.”
All the courses are taught by Spokane teachers, most of whom teach regular classes.
Students in the online courses communicate regularly, sometimes daily with teachers through e-mail and discussion forums online.
Assignments and the class syllabus are posted online. “Office hours” are set in chat rooms, where the teacher is online during a set period of time and students can ask questions and discuss assignments.
“I’ve heard teachers say it’s more personalized,” Benzel said. “It’s a powerful way for us to utilize the skills of our teachers and technology in new ways.”