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Virtual Education Offers Global Opportunities for Students and Teachers
February 6, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
Middle school students in California, for example, watched Chinese dancers perform during a recent virtual field trip. Some schools are even making virtual education with foreign educators a part of their curriculum.
In Michigan, educators have partnered with colleagues in China to offer virtual education exchange opportunities that allow students to communicate with each other, often through videos, online. During the next school year, students will have the chance to attend a real Chinese school, taking virtual classes according China’s time zone, at their own schools during the hours of 8 p.m. and 4 a.m.
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Rep. McMillin: Districts don’t oppose virtual learning, they just don’t want charter schools offering parents choices
February 4, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
Traditional K-12 districts don’t oppose virtual schools, they just don’t want charter school operators to be able to run them, state House Education Committee chairman Thomas McMillin said today.
His committee wrapped up testimony on a school choice package that includes lifting a cap on the number of “cyber” charters and expanding high school and college dual enrollment. McMillin, R-Rochester Hills, said the committee will likely vote next week to send it to the full House.
Testimony about cyber schools closed after discussing questions about the quality of instruction at two existing schools.
But leaders from several traditional districts also said they have – or want to offer – similar virtual schools, some even using the provider criticized for making large profits on the schools.
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U.S., Chinese Schools Build Virtual Ed. Partnerships
January 31, 2012 By admin Leave a Comment
For the past three years, starting in kindergarten, students in the Oxford district have opportunities to learn synchronously and asynchronously online with their Chinese peers.
“They make videos, send them over, pose questions, and talk about different things they like in America,” Mr. Skilling said, referring to the Oxford students.
For the 2012-13 school year, the district will launch a foreign-exchange program in which high school students in Michigan will attend the district’s international school in China full time, at set classroom times, via the Internet. The students will take virtual classes, at the high school building, from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m.
“A lot of American students choose not to do exchange programs because they don’t want to leave their peer group,” Mr. Skilling said. This alternative will allow those students to have an international experience without leaving their families and friends.
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