-1- As technology advances and new digital tools become available to educators and students, a steady migration toward online learning has begun to take place. Many students who struggle in a traditional learning environment now have the opportunity to attend a “virtual” school, where they can learn at their own pace: Advanced students are not held back by the slower pace of their peers, while students with disabilities have more time to understand the material before moving on. Parents in rural communities who home-school their children because of the time and distance it takes to travel to the nearest brick-and-mortar school can have the support of a strong online curriculum. And students who have dropped out of school have the chance to resume their education, finish high school, and get a diploma via distance learning.
-2- But despite the potential benefits that virtual learning offers, traditional, face-to-face learning has significant strengths of its own. Students can interact in person with a teacher who can answer questions and help motivate them. Teachers can evaluate students more individually, taking into account personal elements in a way that even the best computer program cannot replicate. (They can more easily tell if a student is moody, or anxious, or depressed, for instance—and they can intervene as appropriate.) Traditional schools offer more opportunities for peer interaction and the chance to develop deeper personal relationships. They also offer a physical place where students can learn, which gives working parents the ability to leave the house for their jobs and know that their children are in a safe environment.
-3- Leah Rogers is acting head of the Chicago Virtual Charter School (CVCS), an innovative school that is a cross between a traditional school and a virtual one. Students work online from home four days a week and come to school for the fifth. Although students are working from home most of the time, they appreciate the chance to come to school one day a week to see classmates and their teachers face to face. The occasional face time is like an anchor that keeps them from drifting too far off their course of studies, supporters say. CVCS is one of a growing number of schools that have adopted a blend of face-to-face and online instruction, an approach that appears to be paying off: the school made Adequate Yearly Progress in 2008 and 2009 and has posted considerable gains in both reading and math, becoming one of 147 public schools in Illinois to win an Academic Improvement Award.
-4- In a typical school environment, all students in a classroom have to learn the same thing at same time. But at CVCS, students can work on material at their own pace, and educators can tailor their instruction to each student individually to fill the gaps in that child’s knowledge. “In a traditional setting, students are at the mercy of the teacher, who decides how fast they’re learning [and] how much time they have to spend on the subject,” Rogers said. “We give those who ‘get it’ faster the ability to move on.”
ACTIVITIES
1. Match each paragraph with the appropriate title (there is an extra title)
1. Paragraph 1
2. Paragraph 2
3. Paragraph 3
4. Paragraph 4
a. The merits of conventional learning
b. A mixture of both traditional and virtual schools
c. The drawbacks of traditional learning
d. The benefits of virtual learning
e. Comparing between the traditional and the blended models of education
2. Correct the following FALSE sentences with information from the text
a) Virtual schooling is an option only for disabled children.
b) In Chicago Virtual Charter School (CVCS), fast learners and slow ones are educated similarly.
c) CVCS has proved to be a failing experience of education.
3. Complete the following statements with information from the text
a) Teachers cannot be replaced by computers because they_________________
b) CVCS is a new model of school which consists in_______________________
c) If their children are at school,parents________________________________
d) In a typical classroom all students have to____________________________
4. Find in the text equivalents for the following defintions
a) ________(p 1) = speed at which somebody/something walks, runs or moves.
b) ________(p 2) = potential for effective action (plural)
c) ________(p 3) = something created by mixing
d) ________(p 4) = make or adapt something for a particular purpose or person.
5. What do the underline words refer to?
a) THEY (p 1) refers to__________________________
b) THEY (p 2) refers to__________________________
c) THEY (p 3) refers to__________________________
d) WE (p 4) refers to____________________________
6. Paragraph 1 has two links. Click and provide the information required:
a) Name why students should use digital tools.
b) Name collaborative resources for the classroom.
c) Define what online learning is.
d) Write briefly (5-6 lines) how Communication Technologies are used in E-Learning
7. Provide a justified answer for the following question:
- Think about the traditional, the virtual, and the blended model of education. Which model of education are you interested most?
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