Online Schools

by: Vanessa Morin '15

According to Virtual Learning Connections, 51% of families have a child who does not learn well in a traditional school setting due to distractions and loud environments. It has been proven that a great number of children work and receive better grades with parental involvement. Therefore, many families have turned to online schooling as a solution to this problem. There are many factors that attract families and young adults to choose online schooling to receive their educational career.

Beth Werrell, a previous toy designer and enthusiastic crafter, has been currently researching and writing volumes on topics dealing with healthcare, family life, and education. From one of her surveys, she has gathered statistics such as: 43% of families want a change in the learning environment from their current school situation, 42% desire a more flexible schedule, 32% want a more controlled educational system, 16% reported that the child was bullied in his or her previous school, and 7% of students are pursuing arts or athletic careers.

Families want a change in educational environments for health and safety reasons, as well as to ensure their children are properly disciplined. Parents believe their children are less likely to catch germs and illnesses if they are schooled at home. Parents are extremely concerned with the well being of their child; therefore, discipline and safety is also a factor. A number of parents would rather enforce correct moral behavior and discipline to their child rather than a teacher’s influence.

Another big reason students choose online schooling is they may have medical needs, which consist of taking certain medicines or the requirement of specific exercises at odd times during the day.

Online schooling is a terrific option for students who do not work at the same pace as other students. In some instances, a student may find a specific topic more challenging than other students do. Therefore, in a personalized setting, they have the ability to work at their own pace. They can move quicker when learning things they find easy and spend more time on topics they find challenging.

Beth Werrell also supports the fact that many students want a “more flexible schedule.” With home-schooling, this flexible schedule is possible; students can socialize or run errands during the day and take classes at night.

Students dealing with bullying in schools is an unfortunate reality. In order to avoid the harsh cruelty of bullies, families turn to online schooling for their children. Here, these children, are able to regain the social skills and confidence they have once previously lost.

According to Franklin University, online schooling, specifically online college courses, require less money and offer more options in degrees. Online college courses can aid a student by saving them valuable money on their tuition. Some people may fear that an online college degree will not get them a “good enough job.” However, virtual degrees are just as honorable and valuable as university degrees.

If a person’s desired degree program is in another city, county, or state, that is not a problem when considering online schooling. Geography plays a major role in a student’s decision as to where they want to enroll. With online schooling, there is no need to worry about finding a perfect roommate or commuting to a school on a daily basis. Everything is available to a student right at their fingertips (Online Colleges Blog).

As Tom Snyder claims, commuting takes time out of a day for a young student or working parent. It eliminates the quality time that could be spent with family and friends at home.

Greg Botelho, a CNN blogger, has reported, “the movement has taken hold particularly in higher education, where 90 percent of four-year public schools and more than half of four-year private schools offer some form of online education, according to the United States Distance Learning Association.” The Peak Group, which is an education technology research group, also predicts that about one million students will take advantage of "virtual schools" in the upcoming years.

These are a few of the many reasons why online schooling has been a great success.