District Administration - February 2009 - (Page 23)
technology Rise of the Virtual Teacher Online instructors—and their special skills— are becoming increasingly important to 21st-century schooling. By AlAn Dessoff The T he growing use of online teaching in the nation’s public schools has placed a related burden on district administrators to ensure that they use high quality and highly qualified instructors. half the school districts in the country offer at least one online course, and 30 states have their own virtual school programs, reports susan Patrick, president and Ceo of the international Association for K-12 online learning (inACol). Virtual schools enable students with disabilities or those who are homeschooled to get the education they need. And virtual programs enable administrators to offer a broad range of courses that they otherwise might be unable to include in their basic curriculum because of budget constraints or inability to find qualified teachers for some math, science and language courses, for example. students also can take virtual courses for credit recovery. Administrators in districts that use online teaching say they are generally satisfied that their instructors meet the basic requirements for core academic courses—that they are state-certified or licensed, hold at least a bachelor’s degree, and have demonstrated competency in the subjects they teach. But how to monitor online teachers is a chalwww.DistrictAdministration.com February 2009 23
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