Brooke Rodriguez
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For me, blended learning classes allowed me to enroll in and experience courses that I would not have been able to in my high school schedule.
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– Brooke Rodriguez
Blended and online learning courses allow students from different backgrounds to have equal access and opportunities to learn. Online courses allow for students to take classes that aren’t necessarily offered at their own high school, bridging the learning gaps for students. Blended learning reduces the socioeconomic setbacks that prevent many students from being able to take all of the courses available. With access to online learning courses, students from a large diversity of backgrounds can explore topics that interest them as well as prepare well for college.
Online courses don’t differentiate anyone; all students are unified. This also helps to reduce learning gaps between students. For me, blended learning classes allowed me to enroll in and experience courses that I would not have been able to in my high school schedule. Since I am in an International Baccalaureate program, I am limited in the amount of elective courses that I may take. Through online courses with Florida Virtual School, I was able to take a broad range of classes, from AP Microeconomics to AP Environmental Science to AP Calculus BC. I would not have been able to take an economics or psychology course in high school if it wasn’t through online learning. Also, by taking AP Environmental Science, I was well prepared to apply for, and ultimately be accepted into, the University of Notre Dame Leadership Seminar on the Environment: Science, Policy, and Ethics.
Since online classes allow a great amount of flexibility because you can access them at any time of day, I chose virtual school as my means of blended learning. Throughout my four years in high school, I took seven Advanced Placement Classes through Florida Virtual School, including AP Macroeconomics, AP Microeconomics, AP Psychology, AP Environmental Science, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, and AP Art History. In addition to the AP classes, I also took Pre-Calculus Honors, Physics 1 Honors, and Chemistry 1 Honors. I earned an A in all of these courses and am definitely a better, more well-rounded student for having taken them.
Online classrooms are both similar to and different from traditional classrooms. Online classrooms still have a teacher, but there is a reduced student to student interaction. There are still discussion boards and some collaboration projects, but the majority of online coursework is individual. This is actually beneficial, as it truly pushes a student to try and grasp the material on their own, and the online teachers serve as great resources to clear up any misconceptions a student may have.
Online teachers care just as much about their students as traditional teachers do. However, online classes are very different from traditional high schools in the fact that the courses may be accessed at any time of day or night. This was especially important to me, as I was able to work on my classes at night after school and work. Online learning really allows a student to chart his or her own course of learning. Choosing to take online learning classes while in high school was one of the best decisions I have ever made, as I was able to broaden my education and grow as an independent learner.