Florida Virtual School: The Future of Learning?

A Forum — October 18, 2002

Virtual instruction is an increasingly common phenomenon: twelve states have established on-line high schools and five others are developing them; 25 states have cyber charter schools, and 32 states have e-learning initiatives underway. This forum examined the development of one virtual school in Florida, data from recent research on online learning and the opportunities and challenges associated with virtual schooling.

The Florida Virtual School (FLVS) is a state-funded school established in 1997 that serves students in grades 8 through 12. The school offers courses delivered over the Internet to students from Florida public schools, home-schoolers and students from other states and countries. FLVS is not intended to replace public schools; public school students taking courses through FLVS receive diplomas through their local school district and participate in FLVS on a course-by-course basis. Courses are free to Florida students.

According to Julie Young, Executive Director of FLVS, the purpose of the school is to provide students with additional opportunities that may not be available otherwise, rather than to replicate or replace traditional schools and face-to-face instruction. Their motto, “Any time, any place, any path, any pace” helps describe the school’s philosophy. She emphasized that virtual and face-to-face instruction each have advantages. FLVS and other virtual schools offer flexible schedules, enhanced course selection, the opportunity to earn needed graduation credits, and individualized instruction. Access to online instruction has proven to be particularly valuable to home-schooled students and students from rural or low-performing schools who may have limited access to a broad selection of high-quality courses.

Since the school was started six years ago, FLVS has seen enrollment grow from 77 to 8200 students. This growth at FLVS and the increasing national interest in online instruction signify that virtual education is not just a fad; it is a growing movement. Colleges of education therefore need to prepare teachers who are competent in both face-to-face and virtual instruction. Julie stressed that FLVS continues to evolve as the faculty and administration learn how to respond to the challenges in online instruction and meet the unique needs of each learner. It is not sufficient, she said, to merely place a face-to-face lesson on the Internet; courses must be reformulated. Another challenge, given that students from multiple states may enroll in a particular virtual school, is aligning curriculum with content standards, which vary from state to state. It is also likely that the Florida legislature will eventually modify the current grant-based funding mechanism of the school, posing the challenge of how to fund the school in coming years. In summary, FLVS has come a long way since its founding; however, additional challenges remain and the school must continue to evolve if it is to meet them.

Debbie Adams, an American Government teacher for FLVS who has taught in both face-to-face and virtual schools, explained that FLVS has several characteristics as a virtual school that make it unique. Contrary to expectations, there is a high level of interaction between students and teachers in virtual courses and teachers are able to develop relationships with individual students. Teachers, students and parents communicate regularly through e-mail, course chat rooms, and telephone. As a virtual school, one of the school’s strengths is its capacity for individualization of instruction; students can move through course material at an accelerated, traditional or extended pace. Teachers are also able to teach to multiple intelligences, use multiple forms of assessment and take advantage of the interactive features of the Internet to emphasize real world applications of academic content. These characteristics may contribute to the school’s high course-completion rate and high student-satisfaction ratings.

Adams stated that virtual instruction presents both challenges and opportunities to teachers. It takes time for teachers to make the adjustment from face-to-face to virtual instruction; however, virtual instruction is professionally satisfying and offers teachers increased flexibility in work location and scheduling.

Ron Skinner, Project Director of Education Week’s annual report Technology Counts, presented data from the May, 2002 Technology Counts and the 2002 Market Data Retrieval school survey on the status of virtual learning in the fifty states; these data show that virtual learning is becoming an increasingly common feature in the educational landscape.

Skinner identified a number of policy-related issues raised by the existence of virtual schools and courses: Are online courses aligned with state standards? Who is responsible for students’ technological needs when they are taking online courses? Are online teachers trained effectively to teach via the Internet? Who should pay for online instruction? Will students receive the same amount of credit for an online course as they would for a face-to-face course? How will states ensure the quality of online courses especially when students are taking courses from teachers in other states?

Skinner then discussed how Hudson High School, public high school in Hudson, MA addresses some of these issues. Hudson High School supplements its face-to-face instruction with 128 online courses through its partnership with Virtual High School Inc., a non-profit foundation. Teachers who teach online through VHS must complete an online professional development course, and the courses teachers develop must be evaluated by VHS and must meet VHS standards.

Ron identified some of the advantages associated with online courses: students have more opportunities to study subjects of interest in greater depth, they have opportunities to interact with students from other states and countries, there is greater flexibility in scheduling around extra-curricular activities, and some students have less apprehension about class participation in online courses. Ron also identified potential problems associated with online courses: some students do not take courses seriously, there may be insufficient student-to-student interaction, teachers may not be as able to assess student understanding when they cannot see students, and efforts to build community may take away from instructional time. Ron concluded that while e-learning isn’t for everyone, it has continued to expand and adapt to meet the challenges of tight education budgets, an increasing emphasis on state standards and testing, and concerns about teacher and course quality.

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