At one time, the public education system was a one-size-fits-all approach to getting students from kindergarten through high school.
Now, there are nearly as many options as there are students — each one with strengths that might appeal to different students and their parents.
There are charter schools, where students, parents, teachers and administrators interact in a way that is simply not possible in the traditional school setting. And there are also a host of different programs within traditional settings — many more options than were available just a few short years ago.
Then there’s online learning — as an approach to homeschooling or as a supplement to traditional education — that allows students who might be at, ahead or behind the level of their classmates to progress at their own pace. The clear advantage is that the students aren’t hindered by the pace of the class. Those who might fall behind in a traditional classroom can spend the time they need to spend on a particular lesson without slowing everyone’s progress. And those who might work ahead can do so without being held back by the class as a whole.
In addition to the advantages it can offer the students, online homeschooling can offer families more flexibility by allowing children to take their studies with them on vacation, for instance. Travel can be a richly rewarding, educational experience. But in the traditional school setting, there are limited times that students can get away without missing valuable classroom time, and those times have to be coordinated with parents’ busy work schedules.
Some point out that the relative lack of social interaction can be a drawback to online homeschool learning. But parents who are serious about providing opportunities for their children can substitute other chances for their students to interact with others. There are recreational sports leagues, clubs and various pursuits that can provide the same sorts of social interaction as the traditional classroom does.
In the end, online learning isn’t for everyone. Nor should it be. The idea behind online learning and some of the other innovative approaches we have seen sprout up in recent years is that they offer intriguing alternatives that make educational success more likely for some students.
The goal is the learning, and if that goal can be achieved in school or at home, it is well worth pursuing. The good news is that we live in a time when more and more alternatives are available for our children.
Courtesy of jisc.ac.uk 
