Kristine Writer 2 | -
Jan 16, 2019 | #1
A CRITICAL INTRODUCTION
The need for public education in the United States has long been an understood concept for advancing citizenship and helping to construct sound foundations for the future of society. As a result, states, with federal assistance, have created a complex network of public education paradigms throughout the nation. Education from Kindergarten through 12th grade is essentially guaranteed for all people wishing to receive an education. The quality of education from one region to the next, however, can have a great deal of variance. Though programs are in place to create a more efficacious education system, the primary component that sets one educational facility apart from another is resources. Obviously, those districts with the most resources are the ones that are best equipped for providing sound educational instruction. Those communities with lower resources will have a more difficult time providing quality education and attracting the most gifted educators. Online education, however, has the potential to provide education to communities that do not have sufficient facilities for gathering students. In an effort to provide a narration about one such community that has had success using online education, this work will examine the case of Western Greene County, a small rural community in Southwestern Pennsylvania who's high school is attended by only 500 students (Census 1).
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
The story is quite familiar, Sarah Jones lives in a remote family home nestled on the border of West Virginia. Neither her father or mother have completed high school and the family has lives on their 42 acre farm for several generations dating back past the Second World War. Her home is situated within the 256 square mile radius of what is considered the Western Greene County School District. The nearest elementary school would consist of a 45 - 60 minute bus ride on unpaved roads. Sarah is a special needs student that requires attention both at home, on the bus and in the school. The bus ride to and from school, when weather permits, is quite challenging for the young student and the closer facility that they held classes recently closed down due to lack of funding. For Sarah, homeschooling wasn't an option due to her parents inability to conduct suitable curriculum for her and her siblings. A decade ago, Sarah and students like her may not have been able to finish elementary school due to situations that are outside of their control. Today, with the help of technology, Sarah uses online education as a tool for going to school. Through the Internet, she gets quality instruction at state and federal standards and she receives the extra assistance that she needs through weekly sessions at her home with a tutor. Online education has revolutionized the way in which elementary programs are conducted in this community and others like it.
PRIMARY ARGUMENTS
Location is no object to online education. The internet is not humbled by barriers that would effect traditional dissemination of education. For elementary school students, riding the bus can be challenging. In addition, for bus drivers who have to focus on driving, being able to keep discipline amongst younger and special needs students can be a complex endeavor. The longer young people are on the bus going to and from school, the greater the challenges are facing the logistics of such travel. Beyond the distance involved, there is also the consideration of roads and weather. In the winter time, this appalachian area is known to get large volumes of snow. Even small volumes of snow on the remote dirt roads in the region cannot be cared for by typical snow plows. Most of the remote areas rely on private plows and friends to keep the driveways and roads clear. There is no guarantee that buses will be able to operate safely on all the ridges where children need picked up. Often times it is difficult to predict conditions in the remote locations as well. For children like Sarah, getting to schools from their small rural homes in remote locations is complicated logistically. As mentioned in the story, the closer location in which the students used to gather is no longer an option due to limited resources. Online education has provided a way for assuaging the logistical problems of transporting students to and from locations to an elementary facility. Quality education, however, is not simply a matter of getting children to and from schools or providing alternatives for that, it is also providing quality instruction.
Virtual education can be considered the great equalizer of educational dynamics. No longer are the most rich and populous districts the ones who have the most resources available or the highest quality of instructions. With online education, young people taking the classes will be receiving the same level of instruction as everyone else and they can be assured that the education meets the state standards. One of the problems with education in remote areas is not only fiscal resources and getting to the locations, but also finding qualified people to teach the students. Though many volunteers may be available, this is not the same as having an education professional there to make sure that the needs of the students are being addressed in accordance with curriculum standards. All states have standards for subjects and what she be accomplished in those subjects by grades. Students who receive education from anyone other than an education professional using anything other than state approved curriculum, could be at a serious disadvantage to other students at the same grade level. In the expressed paradigm, online education is not being used as a substitute for formal education. In the example provided, it is only being used as a tool to help students in remote rural areas complete elementary school. These students will eventually have to be integrated into middle and high schools for education and socialization. So long as the educational platforms being offered to the students at home through online courses are equitable to what other students in the district are learning in conventional classrooms, when the students come together in latter grades the former remote students will not be at an academic disadvantage to their counterparts. Beyond curriculum standardization, there is also the advantage of online education for offering a substitute for homeschooling.
Homeschooling, particularly for elementary age students, is becoming increasingly popular with parents. Some parents feel that they are better able to meet their children's academic needs and that their children would be better off in a home environment. In the West Greene situation, the new far away location where Sarah would have to be taken may not be perceived by parents as the best environment since it was not well planned and it is simply being used as a substitute for the closer facility that was shut down. Educational environments are important and not all parents are equipped to home school their children. For Sarah's parents, they wanted her to get a better education than they did. On the other hand, Sarah's parents are aware of their own inability to provide such an educational paradigm due to their own limited understanding of academics. Parents who want the benefits of homeschooling but do not necessarily have the know how or time to conduct classes themselves will be able to consider such an option as a result of online education. Sarah's parents will know that she is getting the education that she needs in a safe and controlled environment that they provide for her in the comfort of her own home. In this environment, Sarah will only be exposed to those matters concerning education. Elements like morality, popular culture and other dynamics that may be beyond what the parents wish for their child to experience at her age are a non consideration. In a traditional school setting, it is impossible for the influence of other students to not have some impact on children. While some of these impacts can be considered socially positive, others can be negative. Web schooling is giving parents in the community more control over their children's education than has ever been possible at prior intervals. As a result, the benefits of online education have been nothing short of revolutionary for this area.
CONCLUSIONS
Today Sarah and her family are happy that her educational needs are being met. Sarah is becoming increasingly familiar with the computer and although it took some adjustment, she is now in a regular pattern of learning and has a regimented schedule set up. Her parents said that they first were scared that the lack of structure could be a problem for their special needs student, however, they quickly realized that the way in which it was set up had taken into consideration most of the issues in which they were concerned. The parents also did not consider the additional element of increased computer literacy. For both of them, learning computers was a complicated endeavor as it was not part of their education. They had to learn computers later in life for their respective jobs. Sarah, on the other hand, is quite comfortable with computers and they hope she will take this ability with her throughout her education and later into the workforce. Sarah is learning computer related skills, she is receiving proper state level curriculum for her age and she has none of the drawbacks of a long bus ride to a makeshift location that has limited resources. In addition, she is being taught by a professional educator. Despite her location, Sarah's elementary education experience will be much like those of her peers throughout the country.
Web-based education has the ability to provide alternatives to students in remote locations in rural communities across the US. When sufficient facilities for gathering students are not present, online education can provide a solution. In addition, where qualified educators and distance related problems are present, online education can be a solution. Even for parents who wish to explore home schooling, online education provides a paradigm that could not have been considered only 10 years before. As innovation continues to improve in telecommunications, it can be concluded that online education will only get better. In terms of draw backs, there is the social aspect that can never fully be mimicked by online education. Whether or not this puts students at a disadvantage socially is difficult to measure definitively and long term studies will have to be conducted. Beyond this, online education requires access to computers and to high speed internet connections. The latter, in particular, is not always available in remote locations. In the presented case study, this is not an issue as the entire West Greene area is networked. In conclusion, this is a story of success. This small rural community has proved that online education can be used to provide education for areas that have limited facilities and resources.
Works Cited
American Fact Finder. US Census Bureau.
The need for public education in the United States has long been an understood concept for advancing citizenship and helping to construct sound foundations for the future of society. As a result, states, with federal assistance, have created a complex network of public education paradigms throughout the nation. Education from Kindergarten through 12th grade is essentially guaranteed for all people wishing to receive an education. The quality of education from one region to the next, however, can have a great deal of variance. Though programs are in place to create a more efficacious education system, the primary component that sets one educational facility apart from another is resources. Obviously, those districts with the most resources are the ones that are best equipped for providing sound educational instruction. Those communities with lower resources will have a more difficult time providing quality education and attracting the most gifted educators. Online education, however, has the potential to provide education to communities that do not have sufficient facilities for gathering students. In an effort to provide a narration about one such community that has had success using online education, this work will examine the case of Western Greene County, a small rural community in Southwestern Pennsylvania who's high school is attended by only 500 students (Census 1).
ADDITIONAL MATERIAL
The story is quite familiar, Sarah Jones lives in a remote family home nestled on the border of West Virginia. Neither her father or mother have completed high school and the family has lives on their 42 acre farm for several generations dating back past the Second World War. Her home is situated within the 256 square mile radius of what is considered the Western Greene County School District. The nearest elementary school would consist of a 45 - 60 minute bus ride on unpaved roads. Sarah is a special needs student that requires attention both at home, on the bus and in the school. The bus ride to and from school, when weather permits, is quite challenging for the young student and the closer facility that they held classes recently closed down due to lack of funding. For Sarah, homeschooling wasn't an option due to her parents inability to conduct suitable curriculum for her and her siblings. A decade ago, Sarah and students like her may not have been able to finish elementary school due to situations that are outside of their control. Today, with the help of technology, Sarah uses online education as a tool for going to school. Through the Internet, she gets quality instruction at state and federal standards and she receives the extra assistance that she needs through weekly sessions at her home with a tutor. Online education has revolutionized the way in which elementary programs are conducted in this community and others like it.PRIMARY ARGUMENTS
Location is no object to online education. The internet is not humbled by barriers that would effect traditional dissemination of education. For elementary school students, riding the bus can be challenging. In addition, for bus drivers who have to focus on driving, being able to keep discipline amongst younger and special needs students can be a complex endeavor. The longer young people are on the bus going to and from school, the greater the challenges are facing the logistics of such travel. Beyond the distance involved, there is also the consideration of roads and weather. In the winter time, this appalachian area is known to get large volumes of snow. Even small volumes of snow on the remote dirt roads in the region cannot be cared for by typical snow plows. Most of the remote areas rely on private plows and friends to keep the driveways and roads clear. There is no guarantee that buses will be able to operate safely on all the ridges where children need picked up. Often times it is difficult to predict conditions in the remote locations as well. For children like Sarah, getting to schools from their small rural homes in remote locations is complicated logistically. As mentioned in the story, the closer location in which the students used to gather is no longer an option due to limited resources. Online education has provided a way for assuaging the logistical problems of transporting students to and from locations to an elementary facility. Quality education, however, is not simply a matter of getting children to and from schools or providing alternatives for that, it is also providing quality instruction.
Virtual education can be considered the great equalizer of educational dynamics. No longer are the most rich and populous districts the ones who have the most resources available or the highest quality of instructions. With online education, young people taking the classes will be receiving the same level of instruction as everyone else and they can be assured that the education meets the state standards. One of the problems with education in remote areas is not only fiscal resources and getting to the locations, but also finding qualified people to teach the students. Though many volunteers may be available, this is not the same as having an education professional there to make sure that the needs of the students are being addressed in accordance with curriculum standards. All states have standards for subjects and what she be accomplished in those subjects by grades. Students who receive education from anyone other than an education professional using anything other than state approved curriculum, could be at a serious disadvantage to other students at the same grade level. In the expressed paradigm, online education is not being used as a substitute for formal education. In the example provided, it is only being used as a tool to help students in remote rural areas complete elementary school. These students will eventually have to be integrated into middle and high schools for education and socialization. So long as the educational platforms being offered to the students at home through online courses are equitable to what other students in the district are learning in conventional classrooms, when the students come together in latter grades the former remote students will not be at an academic disadvantage to their counterparts. Beyond curriculum standardization, there is also the advantage of online education for offering a substitute for homeschooling.
Homeschooling, particularly for elementary age students, is becoming increasingly popular with parents. Some parents feel that they are better able to meet their children's academic needs and that their children would be better off in a home environment. In the West Greene situation, the new far away location where Sarah would have to be taken may not be perceived by parents as the best environment since it was not well planned and it is simply being used as a substitute for the closer facility that was shut down. Educational environments are important and not all parents are equipped to home school their children. For Sarah's parents, they wanted her to get a better education than they did. On the other hand, Sarah's parents are aware of their own inability to provide such an educational paradigm due to their own limited understanding of academics. Parents who want the benefits of homeschooling but do not necessarily have the know how or time to conduct classes themselves will be able to consider such an option as a result of online education. Sarah's parents will know that she is getting the education that she needs in a safe and controlled environment that they provide for her in the comfort of her own home. In this environment, Sarah will only be exposed to those matters concerning education. Elements like morality, popular culture and other dynamics that may be beyond what the parents wish for their child to experience at her age are a non consideration. In a traditional school setting, it is impossible for the influence of other students to not have some impact on children. While some of these impacts can be considered socially positive, others can be negative. Web schooling is giving parents in the community more control over their children's education than has ever been possible at prior intervals. As a result, the benefits of online education have been nothing short of revolutionary for this area.
CONCLUSIONS
Today Sarah and her family are happy that her educational needs are being met. Sarah is becoming increasingly familiar with the computer and although it took some adjustment, she is now in a regular pattern of learning and has a regimented schedule set up. Her parents said that they first were scared that the lack of structure could be a problem for their special needs student, however, they quickly realized that the way in which it was set up had taken into consideration most of the issues in which they were concerned. The parents also did not consider the additional element of increased computer literacy. For both of them, learning computers was a complicated endeavor as it was not part of their education. They had to learn computers later in life for their respective jobs. Sarah, on the other hand, is quite comfortable with computers and they hope she will take this ability with her throughout her education and later into the workforce. Sarah is learning computer related skills, she is receiving proper state level curriculum for her age and she has none of the drawbacks of a long bus ride to a makeshift location that has limited resources. In addition, she is being taught by a professional educator. Despite her location, Sarah's elementary education experience will be much like those of her peers throughout the country.
Web-based education has the ability to provide alternatives to students in remote locations in rural communities across the US. When sufficient facilities for gathering students are not present, online education can provide a solution. In addition, where qualified educators and distance related problems are present, online education can be a solution. Even for parents who wish to explore home schooling, online education provides a paradigm that could not have been considered only 10 years before. As innovation continues to improve in telecommunications, it can be concluded that online education will only get better. In terms of draw backs, there is the social aspect that can never fully be mimicked by online education. Whether or not this puts students at a disadvantage socially is difficult to measure definitively and long term studies will have to be conducted. Beyond this, online education requires access to computers and to high speed internet connections. The latter, in particular, is not always available in remote locations. In the presented case study, this is not an issue as the entire West Greene area is networked. In conclusion, this is a story of success. This small rural community has proved that online education can be used to provide education for areas that have limited facilities and resources.
Works Cited
American Fact Finder. US Census Bureau.