The Limited Capabilities of Virtual Classrooms

 Photo from NYT/Carolina Hidalgo

In 2002, Florida voters passed a ballot amendment limiting class sizes.  This does not include virtual schools and online classes, which are becoming increasingly common across the country.  In Miami-Dade County Public Schools, over 7,000 students are enrolled in a program where core academic subjects are taken in a computer lab.  There is no teacher, but a facilitator making sure you are doing your work and "making progress".  All coursework is done by logging onto a website.  This is fine and all but there is a problem. 

In order to meet state classroom requirements in Florida (no more than 18 in lower elementary school classes, 22 students in 4th-8th grade school classes, and 25 in high school classes), many students in the Miami-Dade area have been put into these virtual classes without a choice.  And surprise, not every student is taking their online educational experience very well.  Take Alix Braun:

Alix Braun, 15, a sophomore at Miami Beach High, takes Advanced Placement macroeconomics in an e-learning lab with 35 to 40 other students. There are 445 students enrolled in the online courses at her school, and while Alix chose to be placed in the lab, she said most of her lab mates did not.

“None of them want to be there,” Alix said, “and for virtual education you have to be really self-motivated. This was not something they chose to do, and it’s a really bad situation to be put in because it is not your choice.”

I don't want to diminish the unique opportunities virtual education can provide for students who do not do well inside a traditional classroom.  For example, the article mentions how Chicago High Schools use virtual classrooms for credit recovery.  The high school I work does the same thing, and number of students benefit from it.  But just shoving students into a computer lab to take a class is not an acceptable solution to lowering class sizes.  Virtual schools are only great programs to be in, provided a) you can read at grade level, and use a computer; b) you are a self-motivated learner.  This sounds simple enough, but those who work in education know that such criteria are only applicable to a certain segment of the student population.