Enrollment in online classes expected to increase

By AP and Journal staff | Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Previous Page

Share

• del.icio.us
• Digg
• NewsVine
• Fark

Print

Email

RAPID CITY — State Education Secretary Rick Melmer predicts that up to 40 percent of South Dakota high school students will enroll in at least some online classes in the future.

The state’s new Virtual High School will begin offering classes over the Internet in the fall.

Rapid City School District’s “The Virtual Campus” is one of four approved online providers students and schools will find advertised through the South Dakota Virtual High School. The other providers are Apex, which offers advanced placement courses, Dakota Interactive Academic Link, which provides distance learning opportunities to school classrooms and the E-Learning Center at Northern State University that provides school districts with interactive classes.

Melmer said a combination of online and classroom courses will provide a “menu” for students to choose from, and they may spend larger amounts of time away from school campuses. He acknowledged that some people may fear the change, but he is embracing it.

“I still think we’re going to have these communities of schools, but they’re going to look a little different, that’s all,” Melmer said. “They’re not going to be the old 8 to 3:30.”

Students will need approval from their schools to take Virtual High School courses. Once enrolled, students will be able to do their course work anywhere there’s an Internet connection.

The state’s endorsement of online education will help school boards recognize the validity of virtual education, according to Deb Steele, principal of Rapid City’s academy system. Steele supervises The Virtual Campus the school district launched in 2003.

The Virtual Campus advertises that it offers an “anytime, anywhere, anybody” educational opportunity. Students work at their own pace on their courses. Students contact teachers electronically and participate in online discussions with classmates.

“We’re totally different from any of the other providers,” said Kimball Kenner, The Virtual Campus, project manager.

More than 200 high school students used The Virtual Campus to earn high school credit this year, Kenner said.

Six students from Herreid High School took a computer course last semester that they needed for graduation through The Virtual Campus, he said.

School districts will pay for the online courses, which Melmer said typically range in price from $300 to $350. Each district will have to decide for itself how much total money it wants to commit to online offerings.

Since the state’s Web site was unveiled about a month ago, Kenner has received inquiries from three students from other school districts interested in taking courses next fall.

“Hopefully, this (the Web site) will be a big push for us,” Kenner said.

About 60 courses are available now, and Melmer predicts as many as 10 percent of the state’s high school students — perhaps a few thousand — may use the service in its inaugural year.

The Virtual Campus offers language arts, social studies, sciences, computer studies and math courses. By next fall, high school science offerings will be expanded. Middle school language arts and math courses should also be available.

In the coming years, Melmer thinks the percentage of students enrolled in the Virtual High School may increase to 20, 30 or 40.

Melmer thinks school campuses will retain their importance, in part because of their roles as gathering places for extracurricular activities.

“It’s going to be, ‘I’m here in the morning and then I’m gone part of the afternoon, because I’m taking a class online,’” Melmer said. “There’s still going to be a sense of community, but it’s going to be a looser connection than it has been up to this point.”

Besides affecting schedules, Melmer thinks the Virtual High School also may change the way South Dakota provides funding to school districts. Currently, whether a high school student completes the minimum 22 credits or puts in extra effort to complete 30, the amount of per-student state aid is the same. With more course options, individual credit loads could be more varied.

“In the long term,” Melmer said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if funding in South Dakota boils down to being by credits.”

The Mitchell Daily Republic contributed to this story.