Online Learning Grows, but Research Finds Mixed Results

Online Learning Grows, but Research Finds Mixed Results
Full-time virtual schools can now be found in 18 American states. Transcript of radio broadcast:
25 June 2008

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Forty-two of the fifty American states offered some kind of public online learning this past school year. One state, Michigan, now requires all students to have an online learning experience before they finish high school.

Even the idea of a school has changed since the rise of the Internet in the nineteen nineties.

A new report from the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy at Indiana University says eighteen states have full-time virtual schools. There are no buildings. All classes are online.

Online learners might work at different times. But there might be set times for class discussions -- by text, voice or video -- and virtual office hours for teachers.

Florida started the first statewide public virtual school in the United States in nineteen ninety-seven.

Today, the Florida Virtual School offers more than ninety courses. Fifty-six thousand students were enrolled as of December. Almost sixty percent were female. The school’s Web site says each student was enrolled in an average of two classes.

Two-thirds were also enrolled in public or charter schools. Charter schools are privately operated with public money. Other students are home-schooled or in private school.

Florida Virtual School has now opened the Florida Virtual Global School. Students in other countries pay for classes. Janet Heiking teaches an English class. She lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her students live as far away as Africa and Japan.

She says they are taking her Advanced Placement class to prepare for attending an American college. They can earn college credits by passing the A.P. test.

So how good are virtual schools? Studies have shown mixed results, as that new report from Indiana University notes.

For example, students at Florida Virtual School earned higher grades than those taking the same courses the traditional way. And they scored higher on a statewide test.

But virtual school students in Kansas and Colorado had lower test scores or performed at a lower level than traditional learners.

Studies also find that virtual schools may not save much in operating costs.

Education experts say the mixed results suggest the need for more research to find the best ways to teach in virtual schools. Also, they say schools of education need to train more teachers to work in both physical and virtual classrooms.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. To learn more about computer-based learning, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Bob Doughty.



----------------------------Google Translate
网上学习成长，但研究发现，结果好坏参半
全时间的虚拟学校，现在可以发现，在18个美洲国家。全文电台广播：
2008年6月25日

这是美国之音特别英语教育的报告。

42对50 ，美洲国家提供了一些种市民网上学习，这在过去学年。一个国家，密歇根州，现在要求所有学生有一个在线学习的经验之前，他们完成高中。

甚至构思了一所学校发生了变化，因为互联网的兴起，在19 90年代。

一份新的报告，由该中心进行评价和教育政策，在印第安纳大学说， 18国已全时间的虚拟学校。有没有建筑物。所有课程均在线。

在线学习者可能工作在不同的时间。但有可能成立的时代工人阶级的讨论-文字，语音或视频-和虚拟办公时间为教师。

佛罗里达州开始的第一州公共虚拟学校在美国的97年。

今天，佛罗里达州虚拟学校提供超过90课程。 5.6万学生参加了截至12月。几乎60 ％为女性。学校的网站上说，每名学生是就读于平均两班。

其中三分之二的人还就读于公众或特许学校。特许学校是私人经营的公帑。其他学生是家庭教育的，或在私人学校。

佛罗里达州虚拟学校现在已开设了佛罗里达州的虚拟全球学校。学生在其他国家支付的班。珍妮特heiking教英语课。她住在印第安纳波利斯，印第安纳。她的学生生活远非洲和日本。

她说，他们正在她的先进的阶级位置，准备出席一个美国大学。他们可以挣到学分，学院通过了鸭的考验。

因此，如何好，都是虚拟学校？研究表明，好坏参半的结果，因为这新的报告从印第安纳大学笔记。

例如，学生在佛罗里达州虚拟学校所赚取的高年级比那些采取同样的课程，以传统方式。和他们取得了较高的州的考验。

但虚拟学校的学生在堪萨斯州和科罗拉多州有较低的考试成绩或表现在一个较低的水平比传统的学习者。

研究还发现，虚拟学校未必节省大量的营运成本。

教育专家说，好坏参半的结果表明，需要进行更多的研究，以找到最好的方式教导，在虚拟学校。此外，他们说，学校教育要培养更多教师的工作在这两个实体和虚拟教室。

这是该美国之音特别英语教育的报告，写的南希斯坦巴克。若要了解更多关于以计算机为基础的学习，去voaspecialenglish.com 。我鲍勃doughty 。