Online Learning Day: 8 Trends Improving Student Options

We’re celebrating Online Learning Day today. It’s been two decades since the first online schools and degree programs emerged. Almost a third of HigherEd students now take at least one course online. Most HigherEd students engage in blended learning, a mixture of online and face-to-face learning.

Informal and professional learning online, often in chunks shorter than courses, is nearly ubiquitous with online learning marketplaces like Udemy and Coursera and tons of open resources like Khan Academy and CK-12.

Online learning has grown more slowly in K-12 but most school districts now offer online classes (directly or through a partner). Statewide schools, operated by districts and charter schools play an important role in providing equitable access to a variety of quality learning pathways. (See the chart developed by EducationNext.)

More here.

Five Types of Online Learning for You and Your Student

Our students are fortunate to be living in a time when information is more quickly and easily accessible than ever before. Within a few seconds, anyone can know just about anything thanks to the Internet. Business Insider reports that there are 2.3 million Google searches per minute on an average day. That is a whole lot of people learning a whole lot of things every single minute.

With this type of instantaneous knowledge and learning, students today will never understand what it was like to have to wait to go to the library, look up several books on the topic, and search through the pages before finding answers to their questions.

The Internet, along with today’s technology, has brought with it many ways to learn online. Whether it be a quick search from a phone or enrolling in an online course, students can now learn anything from anywhere. This is a tremendous advancement when it comes to student education, not to mention the benefits to adult learners, as well.

Here are five types of online learning that offer benefits to both you and your student.

Click here.

Four reasons why families love flexible learning

Online learning has become increasingly popular in recent years, and it’s not hard to see why.

Many students have successfully completed college online and have embarked on the career path of their choice because of it.

Whether it’s for flexibility or to avoid the hassle of commuting, there are endless advantages to the digital classroom, according to Brad Hutchinson, principal of Abbotsford Virtual School (AVS).

His public school is unique in that it offers blended learning, a mix of onsite and at-home courses, is available from Kindergarten to Grade 12 and is growing in popularity.

Read more here.

Destinations Career Academy Of Wisconsin Opens For Inaugural School Year

Destinations Career Academy of Wisconsin, a career and technical education-focused online high school, welcomes students for the new school year, which begins September 1, 2016. Destinations Career Academy uses a curriculum that offers a comprehensive end-to-end approach designed to prepare students to enter the workforce or pursue other post-secondary options. The tuition-free online public charter school is open to students statewide in grades 9-12 and serves full-time students in addition to offering a part-time option through the Department of Public Instruction’s Course Options, whichallows students to remain enrolled in their current school district while taking 1-2 online courses with Destinations Career Academy.

You can read more here.

91% Of Wisconsin Virtual Academy Students Benefitted Academically From Curriculum In 2015-2016

Students at Wisconsin Virtual Academy (WIVA), a full-time online public charter school authorized by the McFarland School District, will return for their 2016-2017 school year on September 1 as the program marks its 8th year of operation in the state. According to a spring 2016 survey conducted by Edge Research, 91% of the families with students enrolled in the school during the 2015-2016 school year felt that their child had benefitted academically from the curriculum.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160826005451/en/

‘We Deserve to Have a Choice’: Families Intervene in New Washington Lawsuit Over Charter Schools

Charter schools are once again facing a legal challenge in Washington State, but this time, the families with children attending them will be part of the defense strategy.

Twelve families, the Washington State Charter Schools Association and other charter supporters filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit filed by 15 plaintiffs against Washington State’s charter law.

Read more about this case here. 

Dyslexic students deserve dignity

"Only three states, Florida, Mississippi and Missouri, grant scholarships to provide dyslexic students with school choice; nine states require special teacher training; and three states have done dyslexia task force reports. New York is one of the 14 states without legislation, but they do have a Dyslexia Awareness Day. Kind of ironic, isn’t it?"

Check out the rest of this article posted in The Crimson White. 

As Wisconsin Children Return To School, MacIver Examines The State of Education In Wisconsin

Sharpen your pencils, kids. Parents and taxpayers, too. With Labor Day weekend just behind us and schools back in session, summer vacation is over. It is the time of year where Wisconsinites are forced to pay too much for school supplies - thanks a lot, minimum markup! - and we take stock of the state of education in Wisconsin. While the professional educrats and your friendly local school superintendent will tell you everything in Wisconsin is perfect and all of our children are brilliant National Merit Scholarship winners, your humble public servants here at MacIver would like to present an honest examination of our schools and our education system in Wisconsin.

You can find the rest of the article here.