Editorial: Learning in the virtual world

Virtual Academy: Expanding learning options through virtual classrooms is a good concept, but shouldn't hurt public education.

The virtual classroom is an innovative tool that has the potential to expand educational opportunities and increase students' exposure to all kinds of knowledge.

We can't help but raise an eyebrow, though, about a new Tennessee law passed last spring that created the Tennessee Virtual Academy.

On its face, the bill gives students and their parents another choice in their pursuit of academic achievement. Look closer, however, and it's not difficult to be concerned that the new venture may have the potential to undermine support for public schools.

In a story Sunday, reporter Jane Roberts detailed how some parents of Memphis City Schools students have enrolled or are thinking about enrolling their children in the Tennessee Virtual Academy.

K12 Inc., the largest for-profit purveyor of online education in the nation, will run the academy under contract with Union County Public Schools, 414 miles away in East Tennessee. K12 has been recruiting potential students in Memphis.

The state education funding for students enrolled in the Tennessee Virtual Academy, who can live anywhere in the state, will flow to the Union County schools district. That could increase the financial pressure on school districts like Memphis City Schools, which are struggling to balance their budgets.

Universities and some public schools have successfully used virtual classrooms to connect students with learning opportunities not available locally.

Supt. Kriner Cash said every Memphis City Schools student is already required to take one online class, and adds that he wants the system to eventually open its own virtual school.

Beyond the school funding issue, virtual classrooms need attentive parents and students to be successful. State officials must be vigilant in making sure K12 is held to the same standards in meeting student achievement goals as the state's other publicly funded schools. And parents who choose to enroll their children in the Tennessee Virtual Academy should do so for the right reasons, not to be home-schooled at the state's expense.

The right reasons include seeking a better public education for their children, similar to parents who enroll their children in charter schools.

The concept of using virtual classrooms to expand educational opportunities for the state's public school students is a good one. But the state must be cautious that such programs are operated in a way that does not undermine public schools.


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Comments » 3


In my humble opinion this is where public education is headed. Why? It is less expensive, children are allowed to go at their own pace, and the standards/ quality of instruction is more tightly controlled. For me, it is a no-brainer.

Will virtual classrooms replace the traditional teacher? No, but such classrooms will require fewer teachers and administrators. What these means is that only teachers with a robust understanding of content knowledge in their subject area to supplement the content of the virtual classroom need apply.

lifespalette54_1 writes:

Mr. Editor, the public school system is perfectly capable of undermining itself without any outside help..........just look at the MCSS. They're the poster child for every logical reason to give K12 an opportunity.

We could only hope that every parent who actually gives a damn about their kid's education would pull them from the MCSS and enroll them in K12.......maybe then we actually get them dissolved.

neondragon (Inactive) writes:

In the same deceptive labelling game as the 'Patriot Act', and 'NCLB', virtual learning has nothing to do with learning.
The term used by educators for actual online instruction is 'distance learning'.

Virtual classrooms means that sooner or later they will be staffed by $10 an hour 'instructional technologists' using content sold by special interest groups.
They are a predatory scam exactly like payday loan stores.

The feds and AGs across the country are investigating their sleazy practices, and in return, the industry is spending millions to lobby politicians for access.

Do a little digging into the stakeholders for K-12 and Academic Partnerships, and see if you can spell 'kickback' boys and girls.
The CA certainly won't.


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