Online Schools: the Changing Face of K12 Student Learning

With each decade the face of education has changedreal-life education community and the technology
to reflect the current trends in education. The policycommunity. In many instances this partnership is a
initiatives of each president, governor, communitythorn in the side of traditional education and
leader and parent have been aimed at transformingeducators who see only standard classrooms as the
children's learning environments into the ideal situation.answer to the ills of the American k-12 system
While these initiatives may never succeed to meetOnline schools have revolutionized the workplace for
every child's needs the combined result of their workskilled teachers and administrators. The result of this
has created an environment where education canunion is the ability to create a tailored classroom for
now be tailored to meet the needs of every childgifted, struggling and needs-based students that, until
through online schools.the advent of online learning, were often segregated
Much like the advent of the search engine andto specialty teaching groups to meet their potential.
booking our own airline travel, the Internet hasThe education landscape has changed and for many
introduced the nation to online education. To many,brick and mortar school districts this is a hard fact to
the commercial products available from higherface. The local school boards and education
education degree granting giants like the University ofdepartments in America have begun to realize that
Phoenix define online learning. However, to a growingbusiness as usual isn't he solution to a rapidly
population of Americans, online schools have come toadvancing world and have begun to embrace the
define the middle ground between home schoolingassets of online education.
and personalized public education.Unlike the as-we-know-it classroom the online
While charter schools continue to spring up acrossenvironment can be adjusted to meet the needs of
the country, there are a select few that have beenevery child and instill the state standards required of
created in the charter school mold simply becausestudents since the advent of the No Child Left
the education establishment can not keep pace withBehind Act without stagnating the classroom
today's innovations. In Ohio for example, theexperience. From thousands of courses to graduation
Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) wastest practice sessions and immediate intervention
created in 2000 not to revolutionize charter schools,opportunities, online schools offers to the students
but to bring to Ohio's children and families leadingand families of 2006 what the computer
education content in a format designed to enablebreakthroughs of the past several decades offered
every child to succeed. ECOT provides every childto the business community. Simply put, online schools
with an education option that delivers to eachhave the ability to provide every individual with the
student exactly what they need while providing theright information in the right format at the right time
comprehensive state standards based education thatfor optimal success.
is the hallmark of successful public and privateOnline schools were once considered the wave of
schools.the future. That future is now and the online
Other online schools and content companies such asrevolution continues to shape the world of real life
the Florida Virtual Academy and K12 Education areeducation without the boundaries of classroom walls.
part of a growing trend that brings together the