Running head: CATEGORIZATION OF VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

Categorization of Virtual Schools

Godys Armengot
University of Maryland University College

CATEGORIZATION OF VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

Categorization of Virtual Schools

The most helpful way to describe types of virtual schools is by focusing on the type of
students and the psychological and social context of the student. A virtual school focused on the
student rather than the curricula and the method of delivery can address the skills and limitations
of such students directly and guarantee more inclusive education. Unfortunately in a many cases
the method of delivery and the curricula are driven by a cultural mindset or a set of assumptions
or methods held by a particular group of people. This mindset is often so powerful that it
inordinately benefits and privileges students who come from more affluent social classes.
In order for us to have a clear and effective classification of virtual schools, it is
fundamental to address the problem of equity in education. Virtual schools have the potential to
include students that in a physical environment have been marginalized or outright excluded for
different issues. Therefore as Rose (2015) points out: Experience with civil rights issues
increases awareness of the access and instructional issues that occur when schools take actions
without considering the impact on students of a particular race, ethnicity, gender, disability, or
because they are English Language Learners. Sometimes the actions are intentional; many times,
the results are unintended. From a legal perspective, it is the result that is important. However,
overt action can result in separate legal action in the form of a legal suit from the aggrieved
parties (Rose, 2015). If the result is the goal, we should focus on the students first to make the
best decisions about the curricula and the methodology.
Virtual schools and online learning have the potential as pedagogical tools to fulfill
multiple purposes. As Roblyer & Lloyd (2008) argue, we can do more than we are currently
doing to assure success for all students, even those who have known deficits in past achievement

CATEGORIZATION OF VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

and self-regulation. With functional strategies in place to identify and assist at-risk virtual
learners, virtual schools can better fulfill their early promise of becoming an education
equalizer. Virtual schools can be used to help students develop the necessary skills in order to
confront the challenges of the twenty first century without ostracizing them. Describing virtual
schools by their focus on the students could promote the expansion of curricula and the
availability of courses beyond the particular control of specific schools and make education more
expansive and make it more accessible for marginalized segments of our society such as students
living in inner city areas and rural areas. Since virtual schools are all on the internet students can
take classes with high quality teachers from different parts of the country.
Qualified teachers in this system can be available for students who are taking subjects
that may be difficult for them and this is probably one of the great reasons why virtual schools
should be classified by student type. In other words, families and students need student-focused
virtual schools. However even if more information is needed to accurately describe the range of
virtual schools, there are several instances in which this has been done by describing the
offerings of virtual schools while still emphasizing the student focus. As Wicks (2010) points out
Online learning is being used successfully for a wide variety of purposes [...] expanding the
range of courses available to students, especially in small, rural or inner-city schools, beyond
what a single school can offer; providing highly qualified teachers in subjects where qualified
teachers are unavailable; providing flexibility to students facing scheduling conflict: affording
opportunities for at-risk students, elite athletes and performers, dropouts, migrant youth,
pregnant or incarcerated students, and students who are homebound due to illness or injury;
allowing them to continue their studies outside the classroom; providing credit recovery

CATEGORIZATION OF VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

programs for students that have failed courses and/or dropped out of school, allowing them to get
back on track to graduate. Virtual schools give students more opportunities to learn and test
their abilities regardless their physical, psychological, ethnic and social class background.
Virtual schooling is not a supplement to traditional education in physical spaces and it
should not been seen as a type of homeschooling or special school for students with special
needs. As Barbour and Reeves (2009) argue, the variety in virtual schooling is also reflected in
the delivery methods used. This is relevant to the student focus of each virtual school. Some
virtual schools operate and function like a traditional seminar through correspondence and the
interaction between the student and the professor is limited to reading and writing responses
through email. In other scenarios of virtual schooling the students interact with the course
materials, the instructors and their peers through emails, discussions forums, chat rooms, video
calls, instant messaging and audio conversation delivered in real time.
All of this can be designed depending of the availability of the students. So the time and
the availability depends on how the students decide to take courses as the Barbour and Reeves
argue, this student interaction can be unscheduled, to allow students to work at their own pace
when it is convenient for them, or it can be scheduled to allow for the real-time interactions.
Within all of this variety, there are three dominant methods of delivery that have emerged for
virtual schooling: independent, asynchronous, and synchronous (or a combination of
asynchronous and synchronous) (Barbour &Reeves, 2009, p.405).
Students with special needs can benefit greatly from a virtual school that can prioritize
their needs instead of giving them the impossible task of understanding an educational model
that was designed without thinking about them. Students with special needs will be able to use

CATEGORIZATION OF VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

their computers with specialized software that can help them to accomplish their tasks. So for
Deaf students and hard of hearing, for example, they can use screen readers and online
interactive websites such as Google Docs where they can share their work with the rest of the
class. Also students with physical limitations can use the variety of benefits that offered by
hardware and software programs designed to support their needs. As Rose argues Students with
muscle control problems benefit from a variety of different tools, such as mouth sticks, hand
wands, and adaptive keyboards, depending on their specific abilities. This indicates that page
design requiring mouse movements can present accessibility problems (Rose, 2015, p.10).
Mobile learning is another classification that we can use in order to understand virtual
schools. Virtual learning can be enhanced by mobile devices making learning available anytime,
anyplace. Mobile learning is an industry that is growing and it is reaching a global scale.
According to Wicks (2010) it is still in its infancy, but in the future mobile technologies would
become an intrinsic part of the virtual learning course design. Virtual learning can be classified
according to the student type and I think this is the most effective way to assess and guarantee
student learning. Virtual education can be most effectively described through its orientation to
prioritizing the students including students from different backgrounds and students with special
needs rather than describing it based on the curricula.

CATEGORIZATION OF VIRTUAL SCHOOLS

References
Barbour, M., Reeves, T., (2009). The reality of virtual schools: A review of the literature.
Computers and Education, 52: 402-416.
Roblyer, M.D. & Lloyd, D. (2008). Predicting success for virtual school students: putting
research-based models into practice. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration. 11.4.
Rose, R. (2015). Access and Equity for All Learners in Blended and Online Education.
iNACOL. Retrieved from http://www.inacol.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/iNACOL-Accessand-Equity-for-All-Learners-in-Blended-and-Online-Education-Oct2014.pdf
Wicks, M. et al. (2010). National Primer on K-12 Online Learning. Washington DC: iNacol.
Retreived from http://www.inacol.org/resource/a-national-primer-on-k-12-online-learning-2ndedition/