Online classes are gaining popularity at area schools as students and officials realize that time at a home computer offers flexibility without costing upward of $4 per gallon.
In Fairfax County, rumblings of all-online summer school have spread as officials consider the potential savings in coming years. A wholesale switch from the conventional setup would allow buildings to close for the summer, said Mike Kowalski, the district’s Online Campus administrator, saving the district hundreds of thousands of dollars in busing and energy costs.
The district currently offers courses from health to Advanced Placement French, with the goal of allowing students flexibility to take more classes and participate in opportunities outside school, Kowalski said.
“There’s been a cultural shift in the attitude toward online learning,” said Wendy Gilbert, director of the MarylandOnline college consortium. “Before it was this pariah. … But now there’s been time for research to show that in some ways, online courses are even more interactive than face-to-face classes.”
MarylandOnline’s 16 member schools have seen consistent double-digit growth in online enrollment since its start five years ago, up to 206,500 students in 2007.
“And in the short, short term, there are these gas prices, too,” Gilbert said, adding that anecdotal evidence points to significant enrollment gains.
In Montgomery County, recent revisions to the district’s strategic plan encourage 18 online Advanced Placement classes offered through the Maryland Virtual Learning Opportunities Program. In past years, students have chosen from two Web-based options: health and technology. Although all Montgomery high schools offer AP classes, offerings vary. Online options save students from driving elsewhere or forgoing the class altogether.
And if fuel prices continue to blow past expectations, so might online solutions.
“I’ve got some … off-the-wall ideas,” said Montgomery County school board member Steve Abrams. “What if high school seniors did one day a week telecommuting, or what if we had a rotating schedule depending on area? What would that do for transportation costs?”
