An increasing number of students are moving to online schooling, as opposed to a traditional school experience. Meet Mikayla Quintana, a sophomore at Canyon Ridge High School. She's one of hundreds of local students signing up for online classes. "I decided to do it because I needed credit recovery and to get ahead," said Mikayla Quintana, Sophomore, Canyon Ridge High School. Quintana is enrolled in English and Algebra two. For her, online courses are the way to go.
"At times, they can be complicating because the teachers aren't there to help you one–on–one, but it's a lot simpler because you don't have to be at school to do it. It's definitely a big convenience because there are those days that you just don't want to come to school. Even on weekends, it's easy to do it at home,” said Quintana.
With a few clicks of a mouse and some keystrokes, students are learning things they would learn in a traditional classroom online and they said it's much easier. "You have to go through a tutorial and then you practice it and then you take a test and if you fail it, you do another assignment to make it up. Some kids might find it easier for them than being in the classroom with a teacher,” said Jordan Ritter, Sophomore, Canyon Ridge High School.
"You're able to learn on your own pace and I don't have to learn with a class, you don't have to move at the same pace. I decided to do it because I wasn't able to pay attention in a regular class and when I'm here, I can just put on a set of headphones on and just listen to the instructor on the computer. (Do you see your grades going up because of online learning?) Yes. A full letter grade from Cs to Bs,” said Dontay Balomo, Senior, Canyon Ridge High School. Many hope more students will take advantage of online learning.
"I'm hoping there will be more diversity in it because the more diversity, the more chance you can learn from a different teacher and in a different country. If you wanna learn a different subject like Japanese or Chinese, that would be really interesting to learn,” said Jimmy Chan, Senior, Canyon Ridge High School. Students we spoke with truly enjoy virtual learning.
The numbers may say it all. In Fall 2009, 181 students were enrolled from the Twin Falls School District, those numbers went up to 374 in Spring 2010. This fall, 202 students are signed up and the pass rate for students: 87 percent. We want to know if you think online education is more effective a traditional public school education.