Robotics Club: Extracurricular Activities and Online Learning
Online School, An Attractive Alternative For Some Families
While their friends head back to class, the three Frankovich kids will be logging on and learning from the loft in their Spanish Springs home.
Ryan, Justin and Sean are all enrolled in the Nevada Connections Academy. Their home classroom is outfitted with a computer for each, along with text books and other course materials.
Their daily work monitored here by mom, online by their teacher.
Nevada Connections is a charter school without the bricks and mortar building. There’s no traditional classroom experience, but there are frequent phone conversations and periodic field trips and meetings with other students and families.
For the rest of the article, go to Online School, An Attractive Alternative For Some Families
Online school provides
The Chapman children attend public school, but not the kind where they take a bus every morning to school and sit among dozens of students throughout the day fighting for the individual attention each needs.
Connor, Rhys and Alexandria Chapman attend Nevada Connections Academy (NCA), a free online charter school, that lets them learn at home at their own pace.
Unlike homeschool, NCA is a K-12 public school that provides all classroom materials, certified teachers and classrooms, although the classrooms are virtual.
For the rest of the article, go to Online school provides
Back to school with virtual learning: Separating fact from fiction
Seventeen million pre-kindergarten through 12th grade students in the U.S. will get at least some of their education virtually by 2015, according to new research from Ambient Insight. More than four million of these students will get their entire educations virtually, from full-time virtual schools.
While each family has its own reasons for choosing full-time virtual schools, the most common driver is the ability for a student to work at his own pace and level, regardless of what other students are doing. The proliferation and proven success of virtual schools like the national network of Connections Academy schools has also fueled the e-learning education boom. “More parents today know about the solid academic track record of virtual schools. They see that technology helps deliver a more personalized education for their children, so that students’ studies are tailored to their abilities, needs, and interests,” says Connections Academy’s Senior Vice President for Curriculum and Instruction, Dr. Patricia Hoge. “Virtual schools are increasingly the go-to option for students who aren’t thriving in a traditional bricks-and-mortar classroom setting.”
For the rest of the article, go to Back to school with virtual learning: Separating fact from fiction
Connections Academy TV Commercial — Online Learning Experience that Develops your Whole Child
Nevada Connections Academy Sees Enrollment Grow
With the public school system juggling budget cuts and overcrowded classrooms, more and more parents are turning to alternative schooling for their children.
“We send them a computer. We send them all the material, textbooks, paper, clay, jump ropes and even safety glasses for science,” says Alison Osmond, elementary teacher for Nevada Connections Academy.
Nevada Connections Academy is a state funded, K-12 virtual school. Unlike most public schools, they aren’t making dramatic cuts.
“We don’t have a lot of the overhead schools have with janitors, transportation and all that kind of stuff,” said Osmond.
For the rest of the article, go to Nevada Connections Academy Sees Enrollment Grow
VIRTUAL PUBLIC SCHOOL HOSTING INFORMATIONAL SESSION
Nevada Connections Academy plans to host an informational session for the 2011-12 school year from 4:30 to 6 p.m. April 18 at the Sunrise Library, 5400 Harris Ave.
The session will allow interested families to meet NCA’s teachers, parents and current students.
NCA is a virtual public charter school that serves students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
For the rest of the article, go to VIRTUAL PUBLIC SCHOOL HOSTING INFORMATIONAL SESSION
New year, new school? Virtual schools ease transition
Educators say many families switching their kids’ schools mid-year are turning to virtual schools like Connections Academy, for a variety of reasons.
First, more families than ever have embraced virtual education in general: Some 2 million American K-12 students now get some or all of their education virtually, according to research firm Ambient Insight. Second, the format of virtual schools eases a student’s adjustment period – and physical transitions for both student and family. Finally, family finances sometimes come into play. Virtual public schools – like all public schools – are tuition free and virtual private schools like National Connections Academy cost a fraction of traditional “bricks and mortar” private schools. Yet they deliver the academic rigor and highly personalized educations that are hallmarks of independent schools. So families with children enrolled in traditional private schools who are struggling to meet hefty tuition obligations often find they can save significant money and still get an independent school-caliber education.
For the rest of the article, go to New year, new school? Virtual schools ease transition.
E-Learning Industry on the Rise
The for-profit e-learning company K12 Inc. grew 40 percent last year, generating $385 million in revenue by providing virtual courses to 70,000 students across the country.
Connections Academy, another such provider, generated about $120 million in revenue serving up online courses to some 20,000 students. And recently, the education technology company Plato Learning announced that it is now offering online Advanced Placement courses, marking the first time the company will do so as part of its courseware for school districts.
For the rest of the article, go to E-Learning Industry on the Rise
