K-12 Distributed Education

A Review of Secondary Netcourses and Virtual Schools
"This summary provides a useful overview of the current state of virtual secondary schools for those wishing to explore the possibilities of this exciting new area of education."

"Courses offered primarily over the Internet-netcourses-will have a tremendous impact on precollege education. Educators searching for meaningful applications of the Internet have used networking primarily for reference and for short educational activities. Netcourses are the next logical step for those seeking to integrate technology and learning. Netcourses will expand schools' course offerings; allow teachers to offer specialized and non-core classes; serve as alternatives for home-schoolers and non-traditional students; and bring learners, teachers, and resources from all parts of the world together."

AE21
This unique Adventist distributed education program (Gr. 5-9) exemplifies the FACT21 Prefered Practices and includes innovative instructional strategies. The curriculum is not only interdisciplinary, but it also integrates technology, Christ Like Qualities (CLQ), community involvement and more.

CAL Campus: High School Online Diploma Program
"Students from anywhere in the world may study for their High School Diploma through the CALCampus Online System and earn their diploma from American Academy. This is an international program resulting in a USA diploma."

Central Connecticut Adventist Virtual School
This is a new online K-12 Adventist school for the 99-00 school year.

Class.com
"Class.com, Inc. offers the highest quality education over the Internet to students and learners worldwide. Today, we offer a complete high school diploma from the nation's first fully accredited, university-based independent study high school. Our program uses innovative technology to maximize student learning through the use of video, graphics, sound, and text that encourages individualized discovery and learning." Many of their courses are now offered via the Internet.

Cyber School - Multimedial Schools "Exemplary"Award
"CyberSchool is not a school in the traditional sense. It is a collection of high school credit courses that are taught entirely over the Internet to students around the world. The primary mission of CyberSchool is to make it possible for your school to offer students a broader, more flexible curriculum." Sponsored by Eugene Public School District 4J in Eugene, Oregon.

BYU Independent Study Website
"With over 40,000 enrollments each year, BYU Independent Study is a recognized leader in distance education. We offer approximately 350 university courses and 170 high school courses."

Christa McAuliffe Academy- Multimedial Schools "Honorable Mention"Award
This is an full online high school.

Dennison Academy: Dennison Online Internet School
"This is not just another school with a website. This website is a school--a middle school/high school for English literate students worldwide." Anyone can earn a high school diploma from Dennison. It is not accredited.

Distance Learning for K-12 Students
Including articles, a comprehensive list of online schools, and more.

EDsOasis
Although there are no full courses here, explore the winners of a contest to find the best K-12 online lessons!

The Florida High School
"The project's mission is to place a complete high school online by the year 2001 and will include those student services that will enable students to successfully transition to postsecondary educational institutions and to the workplace. To maintain high quality, course content will meet the requirements of the Florida Sunshine State Standards as well as important criteria such as the SCANS competencies that are supported by both the education and business communities."

High School Hub: Academic Resources for High School Students
"The High School Hub is a noncommercial gateway to excellent free online academic resources for high school students. It features a reference desk, college information, and subject guides for English, mathematics, social studies, and science."

In Search Of The Webness Factor: An Investigation Into Distinguishing Features Of Web Sites For Educational Use (pdf file to be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader)
A Preliminary Report by Terrie Gray with Marva Belisle, Kathy Hayden,
& Sharon Sutton
August 1996

Kentucky Virtual High School
"'KVHS is a major step forward in terms of equality of opportunity for all students...' The Kentucky Virtual High School is a statewide educational service delivering high school courses and online learning opportunity to Kentuckians. KVHS courses are delivered to public high schools through the Kentucky Education Technology System. Courses are being offered for the first time beginning January 2000. Course offerings and services will expand in future semesters."

Maryland Virtual High School- Multimedial Schools "Honorable Mention"Award
"As the project matures, the schools in Maryland will be linked together solving 'real world' problems. Students from different age groups, with varying mathematical and scientific backgrounds, with all levels of computer expertise, and from schools geographically distant from one another will collaborate on problems of common interest. Students will no longer wonder why they are learning disjointed facts nor will they wait impatiently to see the uses of their high school education. Instead, they will be motivated to learn because they are solving 'real' problems now.

"Currently, teachers and students are investigating a wide variety of topics, including change of state, measurement of earth size and movement, and environmental issues, such as air quality and the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem."

Mathematics Oriented High School Servers
"This collection of Mathematics-related resources is maintained by the Florida State University Department of Mathematics as a free service to the online community."

Mindquest
"Mindquest is a unique way for adults and young adults to complete a diploma from home, anytime of the day or night, through the Internet. It is the first online program designed expressly for adults and young adults who want to complete a regular high school diploma, issued by a public school."

Princeton High School Virtual Museum
"Welcome to the Princeton High School Virtual Museum, an interactive set of lessons for high school students that make art fascinating and fun! Students explore paintings, art objects, and architecture to learn more about world and American history, literature, and the creative arts. The lessons uniquely combine the powers of great artists with the internet, allowing students to interact with and appreciate great works of art. Choose one of the wings of the Virtual Museum, and begin your exploration of the masterpieces."

Virtual High School - Multimedial Schools "Exemplary"Award
"The VHS project is a collaborative of high schools from around the country. In exchange for contributing a small amount of teaching time, a school in the collaborative can offer its students NetCourses ranging from advanced academic courses to technical and specialized courses. Schools donate computers, Internet connectivity, and staff time. Each school also provides a VHS site coordinator who is responsible for project management and support of teachers and students at their local school. The VHS grant provides training, software, and technical and administrative support. Each school can enroll up to 20 students for each course a teacher contributes. Quality of teaching is maintained by requiring each teacher to successfully complete The Teachers Learning Conference, a graduate-level netcourse designed to give participants exposure to the best educational strategies and technologies for netcourse teaching. As the Virtual High School gains popularity, schools can contribute more teachers, enroll more students and help make a wider variety of courses available to the student body."

Silver State Adventist School
Formerly Reno Junior Academy, SSJA is coordinating a new collaboration with Seventh-day Adventist academies to develop an on online high school. Brian Hartman is the director of the new program. They just completed their first year. They primarily do synchronous classes with LearnLinc from ILINC. If you are looking for a Christian online high school, contact Brian for further information.

Star Schools
A U.S. Department of Education Project - "The purpose of the Star Schools Program is to encourage improved instruction in mathematics, science, and foreign languages as well as other subjects, such as literacy skills and vocational education, and to serve underserved populations, including the disadvantaged, illiterate, limited-English proficient, and individuals with disabilities through the use of telecommunications. The Star Schools Program was first authorized in 1988 and was reauthorized most recently under Title III of the Improving America's Schools Act (PL103-382). "

Virginia Internet High School - Multimedial Schools "Exemplary"Award
The school's mission: "The Virginia Internet High School works with and through local school divisions in providing alternative high school scheduling placements for their students. Our purpose is to provide a quality educational choice via the Internet for every required class and a limited number of electives. VIHS is dedicated to removing time and distance as obstacles to students obtaining the quality high school education they seek."

The Virtual High School
http://www.virtualhighschool.com/
"The Virtual High School will be offering high school courses in all of the major subject areas for all grade levels. The curriculum will be developed and delivered by qualified educators within their professional disciplines. Guidelines are set by the Ministry of Education and Training in Ontario, The Avon Maitland District School Board, and the principal of the GDCI Virtual High School.

"The GDCI Virtual High School will grant Ontario Secondary School Diploma credits upon successful completion of the courses as well as an Ontario Secondary School Diploma upon meeting graduation requirements."

Virtual High School
"Univ. of California site promotes and discusses methods of online education. Learn about the feasibility of and technology behind such projects."

Virtual Schools: Charting New Frontiers
Kathleen Rutkowski
January/February, 1999, Multimedia Schools
"The World Wide Web offers educators, instructional designers and educational reformers a virgin territory that is largely unexplored, uncharted, and unclaimed. What is unique about this frontier is that it is multidimensional and not governed by the same rules of space and time that govern the traditional neighborhood redbrick schoolhouse."

Willoway CyberSchool- Multimedial Schools "Honorable Mention"Award
This Internet school for grades 6-8 using video conferencing and Palace virtual world.