The second route is the virtual academy route. In states that allow charter schools, these virtual academies are often the choice parents turn to for home schooling, because the virtual academies are staffed by licensed teachers. In this route, the parent becomes a learning coach, and the child does the majority of their work online. The virtual academies provide a low-end PC, monitor, and printer for the student’s use, and both parent and student get assignments and instructions through the academy’s Learning Management System. Parents are free to supplement the material provided by the virtual academy with books of their own, or from the library.

For the rest oft the article, go to Apple’s iBooks 2 Gives a Bright Future to Home Schooling

But just as obviously, online classes have advantages, such as offering courses many schools may not be able to afford. They can provide access to advanced classes, such as those in sciences and foreign languages, some schools simply could not offer otherwise. That alone makes the idea worth careful investigation and trial here in the Mountain State.

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Officials say admission will be open to students in the U.S. and abroad, but will be “highly selective.” Once in, students will have access to K12′s curriculum of over 100 high school courses, honors and AP classes, and a variety of electives.

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Come take a look!

For the rest of the article, go to Keeping Up With the Digital Learning Curve

Wise and Jeb Bush launched the Digital Learning Council this year to focus on new strategies for digital change in education. Wise is president of the Alliance for Excellent Education which he joined in 2005 after a single term as West Virginia governor. Bush is the former two-term Florida governor.

The Digital Learning Council’s goal is integrate online and virtual schools, blended learning, personalized learning, social networking and other new technologies into traditional public education as resources to expand current curriculum. Georgia has 452 high schools but, Wise said, the state has just 88 certified physics teachers. “It’s the same in West Virginia,” he said. “It’s the same everywhere.”

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The school has successfully used the CompuHigh system for summer school for the past two years and now hopes to integrate it into the regular school year.

The students take classes via the Web and submit homework to real teachers, many of whom are considered highly qualified by Virginia’s standards.

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Online courses will be offered this year through CompuHigh, which has provided summer school courses for the district the past two summers.

“I’ve been very impressed with CompuHigh,” said Sue Wright, director of instruction for the district. “They will not accept an assignment until it meets a certain standard.”

For the rest of the article, go to Online high school classes approved in W’boro

Twenty-six county school systems will pilot the GED Option this fall at 16 Career and Technical Education (CTE) Centers and at the state’s three Institutional Education Program sites. Students in the

GED Option program will be expected to attend GED preparation classes and the GED tests; complete a 21st Century Global Skills job preparation program; complete four required core courses in a skilled pathway concentration or any program of study resulting in a certification; meet standards on the WorkKeys job skills assessment, if applicable; reach or exceed the cut scores on the End-of-Concentration Performance Assessment, if applicable; and complete additional classes via West Virginia Virtual School.

For the rest of the article, go to THE CLIPBOARD: The GED option

For the rest of the article, go to Wayne County schools to debut new GED program