On this morning's NPR (National Public Radio) show, Morning Edition, there was a segment on the topic of eLearning called "Public Schools Expand Curriculum Online ("http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89070946).
In the interview with the host Susan Cox, a Mandarin Chinese Language Instructor, talked about her experience as an eLearning instructor. She teaches her course through a program called Virtual Virginia, which is funded by the state and offers a number of online classes to middle and high school students. " [Virtual Virgina] allows children to take classes that aren't offered at their schools. Nationwide, programs like Virtual Virginia help hundreds of thousands of students take the kinds of unusual courses that make colleges sit up and take notice."
Cox touched on some of the issues that surface at some point or another in the online course environment like the lack of face to face social interaction. She teaches the course from her apartment in Alexandria, VA, and holds synchronous sessions only occasionally. Although she didn't use the semantics of the industry, what she expressed near the end of the interview was that she thought the Blended Approach was the most effective use of the technology. "Online educators say the real payoff is that these virtual schools can help liven up traditional schools."
To hear the interview OR read the transcript, go to the link in the first paragraph.
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