Local students soon to learn online

If all goes as planned, Albemarle and Charlottesville high school students will get to take online courses next school year. And if the virtual venture proves successful, local students one day might meet the bulk of their graduation requirements online.

“I think the biggest thing is that it’s going to offer some flexibility for students,” Albemarle Assistant Superintendent Billy Haun said.

The Charlottesville and Albemarle school divisions plan to offer biology and world history II next school year. Administrators foresee enrolling as many as eight students for each of the two yearlong courses, from each of Albemarle’s three high schools and Charlottesville High School. Both courses would be split into two sections.

No students will be forced into virtual courses; it would only be an option, Haun said.

“[For] some students, virtual learning may not be a good choice for them,” Haun said. “They may need to be in that classroom with that instructor in front of them live, every day. But then some students may learn well this way and do very well with it.”

Administrators explained the idea last week during a joint meeting of the local school boards.

Charlottesville Associate Superintendent Gertrude Ivory said virtual courses could increase student engagement.

“Our students are technologically astute, and we have to capitalize on that interest,” Ivory said.

As envisioned, the virtual courses could allow students to learn through a variety of platforms, which could include online reading assignments, chat rooms and lecture videos, for example. The class would still convene a few times throughout the year, though likely at night or during weekends, to avoid disrupting students’ class schedules.

Officials say students would need to attend a few classes for in-person instructions, exams or field trips, for example.

As envisioned by city and county school leaders, “eventually, there might be a virtual school where we would have enough course offerings where somebody, if they wanted to, could actually do the majority — if not all — of their high school [requirements] virtually, through those courses,” Haun said.

The ideas for bringing virtual learning to Albemarle and Charlottesville schools are still in the works, and some of the talk of what virtual courses would look like is simply speculation, officials warn. However, school officials are serious about the idea, and numerous administrative meetings have been held to discuss implementation and examine research conducted on high schools that offer virtual courses.

The idea is not brand new to local schools. Western Albemarle High School has teamed up with the Henrico County school division to enroll some of WAHS students in an online Japanese course offered by Henrico.

Next school year, a Charlottesville teacher would instruct either the biology or history class online, and would be available to students who have questions or need extra help. And an Albemarle teacher would instruct the other course.

Both the Charlottesville and Albemarle school boards would have to sign off on the course plans before they are implemented.

Albemarle Superintendent Pam Moran said school administrators are aiming to create virtual courses that are “highly engaging” and teach students workplace skills.

Haun said virtual courses could help students prepare for the future, including college or work, noting that many companies are teaching employees new skills through webinars, and many universities offer online courses.

Precisely how the costs would be divided between Albemarle and Charlottesville long-term hasn’t been determined yet. And exactly how a switch to more virtual learning could affect the divisions’ bottom lines is to be determined.

“This is speculation, because we’re new into this,” Haun said. “I don’t see it having a drastic effect [on the budget], one way or another.”

However, some initial investments might be necessary, he said.

“There are always some things that come up that you don’t know about. So are there going to be some upfront costs on, you know, some of the technology pieces? Possibly, and I would have to say that I expect some. I don’t expect them to be huge,” Haun said.

Albemarle School Board Chairman Ronnie Price Sr. said there has also been some talk among school leaders about the concept of a “high-tech high” school that would benefit Charlottesville and Albemarle students. But exactly what a high-tech high might entail hasn’t been determined, he said.

Haun said such a technology-driven high school might require meeting space but not necessarily its own building.

“I wouldn’t foresee a virtual school being a brick and mortar building that you had to have a seat for every student every day,” Haun said.

School administrators are hoping to pilot a course this upcoming summer, though it’s unclear whether there’s enough time for course design.

Students would have firm deadlines for coursework, but they’d be able to do most of the work on their own time schedules, as opposed to meeting daily for weeks.

“You certainly have made someone’s life during the summer a whole lot easier because now you can still go on vacation, you still can do some of those [summer] things,” Haun said.

Virtual courses could also allow students a chance to squeeze in classes that might otherwise be difficult to fit in their schedules, or to have a heavier class load.

School administrators say each school division would be responsible for ensuring students have access to technology necessary for the course, emphasizing that students would not be turned away from a virtual course because they don’t own certain technology, such as a computer.

Though all of the details have not been worked out, some students might use their own laptops, Haun said, while in other cases, schools might lend laptops to students or make computer labs available to them.