In Wisconsin, online teachers must complete thirty hours of professional development designed to prepare a teacher for online teaching. K-12 schools more and more are starting to incorporate online classes into their class options. It is now offered in 48 states and is growing rapidly. Some people believe that online learning is not as substantial as learning in a classroom.

The great part about online classes is that is teaches students to be independent. Students working on classwork and participation in virtual lessons can “go to school” on their own time and learn to manage their time effectively and get assignments done by a certain time. They are able to relax in their own environment, be able to have lunch while doing schoolwork, wear a warm blanket and listen to music if that helps them concentrate. They are able to tailor their learning environment to something that exactly suits them. This will lead to more success in school and the want to learn more.

Some kids might miss school because they are sick or because they just don’t want to go because they are shy of presenting a report in front of the class and because of this they miss out on important classwork. When students miss just one day of class they get behind and don’t understand fully what the lesson is about because of the key information they missed while they were out “sick.”

The benefit of online courses is that students are more apt to want to do they’re school work if its on their own time. They are able to sleep in and learn at their own pace. There isn’t a time crunch where they have to get schoolwork done within the hour. They have much longer to complete assignments which makes it much more helpful for those that need the extra time. Another great advantage on taking online courses is that there are no excuses to miss class or not do homework and classwork. If you are sick at home, you can easily complete your work from your online class since that is work you do from home. So by taking online courses, students are more likely to finish the class and pass them with good grades because of the extra time they are allotted to do school and home work and because all excuses of not going to school are eliminated!

Students that are shy and reserved in school benefit greatly from taking online courses. In a traditional classroom students may be too shy to raise their hands and ask questions if they don’t understand and they don’t engage in the group classwork or effectively ask questions to stretch their learning capacity. Because they are shy and reserved it hinders their learning potential. By taking the online courses they are able to communicate through email, discussion boards and virtual chats without fearing embarrassment or peer pressure. Since they can directly talk with the teacher and express their concerns, questions and comments freely without feeling judged by peers, these shy students can heighten their learning potential and get better grades.

Author Bio: Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Wisconsin School Ratings and Public School Rankings

Category: Education
Keywords: Michigan Schools, Michigan School Ratings, Michigan School Rankings