The new age is upon us, and with it has come new ideas in areas such as education. Cyber schooling is a new educational option available (R., Barb). Cyber home schooling can hold many benefits to a child that public or private schooling cannot. Although home schooling a child has been around for quite some time, the idea of letting the child learn on his or her own, over the internet, is a rather large accomplishment.
The country’s first online secondary school is not a regular public school, though it is funded by public dollars. It’s not a private school either, though it operates largely outside the realm of state regulations and district polices. Rather, it is a new kind of school, a sort of public/private hybrid known as a charter school. Charter schools are independent, results-oriented, publicly funded schools or choice designed and run by teachers or others under contract with a public sponsor. Teachers, parents, social service organizations, or others develop a contract, or charter, to convert an existing school to a charter school or start a new one. The organizers then seek a sponsor, a local school board, state board of education, State University, or some other public entity, to determine if the school is worth approving and to make sure approved schools abide by the charter terms. If a school fails to live up to its promises, particularly those addressing student performance, the charter may be revoked (Buechler). Now if we take this explanation and add a computer and the Internet, we have Cyber Charter Schools. (more…)