I was very intrigued by the information from Picciano and Seaman (2007) in their research entitled "K-12 Online Learning: A Survey of U.S. School District Administrators." I understood that online learning communities were most prevalent in post-secondary settings, but I hadn't realized the growth our country is seeing in the elementary through high school settings. There are a few teachers and students in the district I teach in that are piloting an online community such as Blackboard, but it has been a slow process. It has been difficult to use with the technology we are currently using. Therefore, I was interested in finding an example of a K-12 online learning community that was located in Illinois.
I found a online program that is designed for kindergarten through 11th graders who live in the Chicago city limits. The program is called Chicago Virtual Charter Schools (http://www/k12.com/cvcs). According to the website (2010), the program is designed for motivated parents and students that are looking for an alternative type of schooling. The students must be fully committed to the program and cannot attend any additional public schools. The best part is the program is that it is tuition free and each student is given a computer system to borrow while attending the school. The CVCS provides a blended format in which students complete online assignments, assessments, discussions, blogs, and chats. However, they also must attend one face-to-face session each week.
(2010), Chicago virtual charter school. Retrieved from http://www.k12.com/cvcs
Picciano, A.G. & Seaman, J. (2007). K-12 online learning: A survey of U.S. school district administrators. Needham, MA:Sloan Consortium.
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