Online Courses Are Considered for High School in fairfax County - Essay Example

Of course, the radical and very new concept of an online high school is something which has divided opinion regarding the viability, merits, advantages and disadvantages of the possibility of offering this as an option for high school students. While some educational professionals and parents alike see fantastic potential and convenience in this, many are also concerned that the disadvantages may outweigh the benefits and that traditional high school educational methods and approaches should be enforced without offering alternatives.

However, though there are inevitably going to be certain problems with any type of innovative and radical change to educational institutions, the advantages of creating a virtual high school are extremely substantial, both for the students and parents involved and the educational institutions which provide them. Due to this, an online high school course should be offered as an alternative to traditional systems by using other successful courses as models, as this will benefit both students and educational institutions alike.

The concept of online education has garnered much research which shows it to be a very effective form of pedagogy, and so the quality of education that students would receive in an online learning environment would not be reduced, but enhanced. While higher education programmes have traditionally been governed by the conventional components of ‘teaching’, recent decades have brought about a re-evaluation of the fundamental premise and function of education. This has led to a significant shift in focus towards a learner-centred approach where autonomy and the facilitation of independent and lifelong learning has become a primary goal (Somekh 20).

As a result of this and prevailing socio-economic factors, distance and online education has become an increasingly popular, accessible and valid form of education.