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Virtual high school Area districts weigh creation of online learning consortium Staff Writer Many colleges and universities offer online courses, allowing students to log on to a Web site and take an interactive class online that fits into their schedule.
Now virtual high schools are beginning to pop up throughout the country, luring students - along with their state per-pupil funding - to get their degrees online.
The Brainerd School District and five other area districts are now exploring the creation of an online learning consortium designed to attract and retain students in those districts, including homeschooled students. The concept has taken off in other school districts in the state. A similar consortium is in place in the suburban Twin Cities metro area, said Brainerd High School Principal Steve Razidlo.
The Brainerd School Board curriculum committee, based on a recommendation made by school administrators, recommended that the school board authorize the expenditure of up to $30,000 for the district to explore the creation of an online learning consortium. Superintendent Jerry Walseth said the district has been in discussions with school administrators in Aitkin, Pequot Lakes, Pillager, Pine River-Backus and Crosby-Ironton who have expressed interest in the program. Walseth said it is estimated that creating this consortium would cost up to $30,000 per district but the program itself, other than the initial seed money, likely would be self-supporting because the consortium would be reimbursed for a percentage of each student's per-pupil state funding, depending on how many online classes the student took.
"We can see it's going to be a significant part of the future," Walseth said of online learning.
The district already uses computer-based PLATO Learning courses, like algebra and math, taken online primarily by students at the Alternative Learning Center or homeschooled students.
A pilot project now under way at Brainerd High School is allowing BHS students to take a few online courses taught by BHS instructors. Nancy Evans, BHS media specialist who is teaching an online Web design course, said the online courses allow students to take an additional course they may not have time to take during the school day or as a way to further explore a topic of interest. Some students have said they want to take an online course to see if they are ready to take online courses when they get to college. Other online courses offered at BHS now include economics and a physical fitness course.
Assistant Superintendent Gary Phillips said distant learning, which can involve one instructor teaching via television to students in multiple classrooms at various sites, has fallen out of favor because it was found to be less effective than online learning.
Evans said online learning is a wonderful way for her to get to know her students. While in a typical classroom setting some students may sit in the back and seldom speak, in an online classroom all students must participate in online discussions. Evans said in some of the online courses offered now at BHS, students are required to check in with their instructors for one-on-one instructions.
One drawback to online courses is the high dropout rate, said Razidlo. At a recent conference on online learning, it was relayed that as many as 50-75 percent of students don't finish the course, Razidlo said. Evans said she tells her students that an online course will require at least 200 or more minutes of coursework a week.
Walseth said an online learning consortium is a way to ward off competition from other educational entities or neighboring districts that would offer online courses. It is also a way to attempt to bring back homeschooled students. The district has about 115 homeschooled students that live in the district. If a homeschooled student were to take a course or two offered online through the district, the student's per-pupil state aid funding would be prorated and that portion would become additional revenue for the district.
It also would allow students in, for example, Pine River-Backus, to take a class at Brainerd that isn't offered in their school, or vice versa.
Walseth said the district and the five neighboring districts are exploring the concept of a collaborative, an outside agency, that would run the program. When students in those districts take online courses through the consortium, 12 percent of their prorated per-pupil state aid funding likely would remain in their home district and the remaining funds would go to provide the online services shared by all six districts. This is how similar consortiums operate, Walseth said.
Board chair Lew Hudson said he strongly supports the concept.
"I think it helps keep us ahead of the curve," board member Bob Nystrom said.
JODIE TWEED can be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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