by David Marcus

Created on: March 23, 2007   Last Updated: March 17, 2011

For a year and a half of my High School education, I never set foot inside a school building. I completed assignments from the comfort of my bedroom, working at my own pace (a relatively fast pace) and pursuing hobbies and interests the rest of the time. Following is a testimonial regarding the ups and downs of virtual High School.

I may not be a common case: I wanted to drop out of school because I was bored. Classes dragged on while a teacher spent hours on the same topic, hammering it into kids' heads until they got it. I, having understood the concept the first time through, spent my hours doodling and napping. My grades were excellent - my spirits were poor. In January of my first year, I begged my mother to help me find an alternative.

We considered homeschooling - she didn't have the time. We looked at tutoring - too expensive. We searched for a while, growing less hopeful at each letdown. One day we happened upon a website for the Christa McAuliffe Academy, based out of Yakima, Washington. It didn't take long for me to jump on the idea of an online-based High School.

It seemed like the perfect solution. It allowed me to learn what I would learn in high school anyway, except I could learn it as fast as I wanted to - I could get to the information at the rate I could absorb it. Most of the lessons were simple programs with diagrams and text written by teachers. Performance was rated by mini-tests given after each lesson. I was hooked.

I worked about two hours a day on my school work. I kept a schedule of my own, taking jobs at local eateries to make pocket money. I felt as though I had a life of my own, and that I had been able to make my education into what I had always felt it to be: an obligation. A requirement set before me by the system at large. I still felt like I was fulfilling an obligation, but at least I could do it at my own pace.

Our progress was checked each week in a "Virtual Classroom," a program that is similar to some conferencing software on the market today - we had audio and chat capabilities, as well as a "blackboard" that the teacher controlled. There were approximately 6 or 7 kids to each V-Class. Beyond that, there was almost constant email contact between students and the teacher they had been assigned. In this way, we were free to work as we wished, but we still were watched over by teachers who had our best interests in mind.

After a year and a half of controlling my own time, working on schoolwork as I saw fit, I began to

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>