3 Things to Look for When Considering Online Schools

For many parents, finding good elementary and secondary schools for their children to attend has become a right-of-passage. Education is one of the most significant factors determining a child’s future, so it only makes sense to invest the time in finding a public or private school where your little one will thrive.

But with online schooling becoming more and more common due to the coronavirus pandemic, many parents are at a loss when it comes to identifying the best virtual school. When you can’t take a walk around the campus and meet the teachers yourself, how can you judge which option is best?

The following article explores three factors that should guide your decision making, and identifies some of the qualities you should look for in online education. You can Learn more about chemistry lessons for Secondary and JC students.

1. Certification

Even when learning online, schooling is always local in the sense that students are always following a curriculum set by a local school board or education department.

Enrolling your children in an online school that hires teachers certified to work in your province or state with extensive knowledge of the local curriculum is a must if you want your children to be able to make real progress toward their diploma.

2. Reputation

Though the pandemic has put a spotlight on online learning, virtual schools have been around for a long time. Students living in remote areas have long relied on distance learning, and for children following non-traditional career paths like sports, modelling, or music, virtual education has provided an opportunity to complete high school on an independent schedule.

This means it is possible to find virtual schools that have been operating for years, and have built up strong reputations for academic excellence, so make sure to enroll your children in a school that has a proven track record.

 

 

3.Academic Support

As many families have learned over the past year, lack of academic support is one of the biggest obstacles to delivering solid education outcomes through distance learning.

Learning is a kind of dialogue, and children need to be able to ask questions and actively participate in the education process. This is especially true when kids get to high school, and are confronted with classes like SNC2D that require them to explore more complicated subjects like biology, chemistry, physics, and earth and space science.

The best virtual schools have dedicated teachers monitoring student progress, responding to questions, and providing detailed feedback on assignments and can intervene if they notice that a student is struggling.

Even before the pandemic, online classes were becoming a popular alternative to classroom learning — not only among students who have special needs or career paths not accommodated by traditional education models, but also among those who prefer to learn at their own pace.

But not all virtual schools are equally adept at delivering strong outcomes, and if you want to make sure your children get the best education possible, finding an established online school that has a good reputation, hires certified teachers, and provides the kind of high-level support necessary to help kids master the curriculum is essential.