What is K-12 Online Learning?

            K-12 online learning is just that elementary through high school presented online students can be anywhere and still be in school. The students can be in the comfort of their own homes and log into a learning forum like Blackboard, Edmodo, or Google Classroom or they can go to a student center where the teacher is broadcasting from a different location to multiple location. It could also look like many teachers at different building with in district collaborating in their subject area and grade level taking turns presenting lessons through an online forum.

            There are two forms online learning can take asynchronous which means students can follow their own pace at any time in any place. Student that like these types of classes are highly motivated, organized and independent. These students want to be able to move through a lesson at their own pace being able to take more time on things they don’t know and less time on things they already have mastered. In asynchronous online classes the class is laid out in modules and students work through the modules on their own with the teacher to add support and guidance. Where in a synchronous online classroom students show up at the same time as the teacher it does not have to be in the same place although that can happen too. Meaning the student goes to a student center at the same time every day to see the instructor and interact with fellow students but the instructor does not have to be at the students center they can be in any were in the world teaching the class. The typical student that would take a class like this would be one that need more structure and organization, someone that is distracted easily, and need the social interaction with peers. Some synchronous online looks like a typical classroom except the teacher is being view on a monitor and camera are set up throughout the classroom. There might be an aide in the room to help with behavior and getting supplies but the teacher is not physically there. Another way a synchronous online class could look is it could be totally online but students would have to login to class at the same time every day to receive instruction. The instruction and pace of the class is teacher driven.

            Online classes allow schools to offer much more instructional options then they would in a traditional school where they are limited by physical space. Giving students the opportunities to explore their passions. It also provides the schools to utilize instruction from other schools and resources improving instructional quality.