District 544’s Virtual School met expections in its first year of programming

By Bob Williams | The Daily Journal

Published Friday, June 1, 2007

The Fergus Falls School District 544 met expectations in a new online program involving technology and students from both inside and outside the district called Virtual School.

The Virtual School of Minnesota is an online school for students in grades two through 12. At peak times during the 2006-2007 school year, the Fergus Falls Virtual School had 24 students, one shy of their goal of 25 for the year.

“For the first year, it was manageable at the level we had,” Technology Specialist Jesse Thorstad said.

There are currently 15 students virtually enrolled in grades seven through 12, with 16 teachers involved in teaching courses online as well as developing future curriculum. The school offers 50 different courses from mathematics to digital imaging. Future plans involve putting more courses online and attracting more virtual students.

“We’d like to see 60 students next year,” Thorstad said. “Our goal for three to four years from now is to have all our courses online and not have to depend on a curriculum provider.”

To move all courses online will involve more training for faculty.

“During the year we met once per month for training with teachers to create online courses,” he said. “Now that we have a year of experience, we know where our friction points are.”

One concern is finding students who excel in classes online. It is not a suitable situation for every student. Part of the coming changes will be to revamp pre-enrollment situations to make sure students are a good fit for online learning.

According to Thorstad, the research base for online schooling is growing.

“Virtual school is right for a small group of students and we have to have a process to determine who those students are,” he said. “In the right environment with the right things in place, virtual students learn as well as classroom kids.”

Cason Baumgartner, a student from the twin cities, was available online at the school board meeting to talk about his experience and answer questions from the board.

“I chose virtual schooling instead of a local school because I used to get in a lot of trouble,” Baumgartner said. “This is the kind of a thing with no egos. I also like the fact I can go to school on a flexible schedule and take classes at 10 at night.”

Melanie Cole asked whether a lack of the social aspect of going to school had an effect on Cason.

“I see my friends every day,” he said. “This gives me more time to interact with my friends.”

Recent upgrades in web capacity, namely, high speed internet access, have allowed for easier access in communicating with students online. All software needed for courses online is available online and cross-platform. It does not matter what kind of computer a student has at home.

Currently, the virtual school is only taking full-time virtual students. As courses progress online, it may allow for a more blended enrollment where students could take a portion of their course load online as well as attend classes.

Communication for most of the year between students, teachers and parents is via email. Teachers are expected to make phone calls to parents and students on a regular basis. Students attend school once per semester for testing and to get some face to face time.

Fergus Falls is the 22nd online program in Minnesota. More information on the Virtual School of Minnesota can be found on their website http://www.vsmn.org/