Online Smart School

I came across this blog post written by one of our students, Angie S., sharing her experience attending high school at Minnesota Virtual Academy.

And a big THANKSgoes out to Angie herself, for taking the time to share her experience!

As the school year begins for many students across the country, the state of Florida has mandated that every high school graduate will be required to take an online course prior to graduation. Since the beginning of Florida’s Virtual School in 1997, most of the students who enrolled in these online courses were the highly motivated. This is changing. According to an article in The Miami Herald, all high school students must take an online course to graduate from high school. These courses include the standard English, Math,and Science but also foreign languages and even Physical Education.

According to the article, Florida legislators made this new mandate based upon the believed technological abilities of its students. For many students, navigating the personal computer is already a part of their lives. Some educators are not convinced this new mandate is the right thing for students. The critics of this new mandate believe online courses diminish the social aspect of school; however, many of the online teachers make regular contact with their students through email and phone calls. Some students can opt to take their online course in a computer lab at school with other students.

You can read more at The Miami Herald. 

A guide compiled by the Russell Group, which comprises 20 top universities including Oxford and Cambridge, to be released today, will advise students which A-level courses are favoured by admissions tutors.

Last summer David Willetts, the universities minister, clauimed he had been ‘pushing for greater transparency from universities for some time’

It has long been assumed that certain courses were regarded more highly by universities than others, but the new book marks the first time institutions have publicly acknowledged the fact.

According to the guide, “softer” options include media studies, art and design, photography and business studies while traditional and mostly scientific subjects are seen as more academically rigorous.

Pupils not studying at least two of the “hard” subjects – maths, English, geography, history, the pure sciences and classical or modern foreign languages – will find that “many degrees at competitive universities will not be open” to them, it says.

The book suggests pupils taking less traditional subjects may be “trying to avoid a challenge”, adding that if pupils study more than one “soft” subject, “some caution may be needed.”

The advice, produced with the help of the Institute of Career Guidance, comes after ministers put increasing pressure on universities to provide more guidance on the decision-making process by which students are admitted.

Last summer David Willetts, the universities minister, claimed he had been “pushing for greater transparency from universities for some time”, so that poor guidance could not be held responsible for pupils missing our on places.

The handbook marks a “welcome step towards levelling the playing field” for applicants, he said.

Superior guidance on university applications at private schools is likely to have played a part in private pupils – 7 per cent of all pupils in England – taking up a quarter of places at the 25 most competitive universities.

Wendy Piatt, director general of the Russell Group, said picking the right GCSEs and A-levels played a “crucial” role in determining a teenager’s “life chances”.

She said students could put themselves at a disadvantage by choosing combinations of A-levels which “will not equip them with the appropriate skills and knowledge for their university course or which may not demonstrate effectively their aptitude for a particular subject.”

Maths or science subjects are listed as either a requirement or “useful” for most of the 61 degree courses listed in the handbook, The Guardian reported.

It also emphasises that in many other countries, particularly in Asia, maths, the native language, a science subject and a foreign language are compulsory for pupils until the age of 17, suggesting that foreign pupils could be in a better position if fighting for places with British pupils.

General studies and critical thinking should be no more than extra subjects in addition to at least three other A-levels, the book says.

Andy Gardner, a career adviser and representative of the Institute of Career Guidance, said state school pupils has faced a “torrent of misleading information until now”.

The guide recommends studying science and maths A-levels for courses in archaeology, anthropology and geography, while law A-levels are not necessarily a prerequisite for law degrees, with history just as useful.

Some universities do not require history A-levels for history degrees, with English an appropriate alternative.