Virtual School, Minorities, and Literacy

According to a recent article at eSchoolNews' Web site (Stansbury), it cites a recent webinar hosted by the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL), which I unfortunately was not able to attend. The article, however, discusses how at the event "titled 'Increasing Academic Offerings for Minority Students through Online Learning,' panelists Ray Rose, director of programs at MentorNet, Sharnell Jackson, chief eLearning officer for the Chicago Public Schools, and Themy Sparangis, chief technology officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District," all discussed how online learning, such as via virtual school, can help to improve the opportunities, and possibly even the performance of, minority or "underrepresented" students.

For me and the purposes of my blog and focus, this presents an interesting possibility. Mainly from my traditional classroom teaching experience, and in some of my reading, I have found that minority students make up a larger percentage of students who do not have what are considered to be traditional academic literacy or ICT literacy skills. This could include poor grammar, spelling, and general writing skills, but can also include critical reading skills or a breadth of background knowledge (which can largely affect reading comprehension and fluency), and lack of experience with creation and manipulation of digital documents and media. At times this also includes ESOL students, who are less familiar with English and all of its uses, in addition to the cultural aspects that make meaning of our language. Primarily though, I think it is cultural and socioeconomic differences at play here, included lack of regular access to technologies (the digital divide).

However, what is suggested in the eSchoolNews article by Stansbury, and by the panelists she cites, online learning can help provide learning that is more tailored and more equitable for minority students. The article cites an Illinois school where there is a large Hispanic population that has managed a high pass rate for online learning, which includes students who have used virtual learning for dropout recovery as well as parents who work full time or raise children but don't have their high school education. Still, the NACOL panelists all noted, according to the article, that schools must work to close the digital divide in their schools and make sure that access to updated computers with broadband connections were provided so that minorities could make use of virtual school. Some methods suggested were offering scholarships and tech literacy courses, which obviously would be the kind that teaches ICT (information and computer technology) literacy, one of my focuses in the study of a virtual school English class.

For a virtual school course, one panelist, Jackson, suggested - for students success - that "educators who are teaching online classes communicate with students’ traditional classroom teachers, so they can better learn—and cater to—these students’ needs." She further explained that:

"Expectations for teachers are still the same even in online learning: help kids become proficient, college-prepared students. Online learning students must achieve and excel in their studies just like in a traditional classroom format, but online learning can increase communication and engagement, as well as provide individualized learning options."

Given all of this, from my own observations of a virtual school Senior English class and its interworkings, this is how that particular school is operated. The teacher and school certainly performs in this way, and student success seems to follow accordingly. As it pertains to traditional and ICT literacy, students will never learn this without exposure to reading and writing using digital tools. According to an October 2007 Florida Tax Watch report on Florida's Virtual School, minority students made up about a third of students in that particular virtual school. However, Florida Tax Watch also reports that this is quite low when compared to the state's traditional schools.

Noticing this, Florida Tax Watch asked:
"What is there about e-learning in general that fails to adequately entice minority students to participate at higher levels?" and "Why do African-American and Hispanic students have a high withdrawal rate compared to their enrollment shares?"

Providing its own answers, Florida Tax Watch stated that "some theorize that the answers to these questions rest with the notion of the digital divide," and gave that idea some credence, however, it also noted that "the great majority of FLVS students are part-time, taking just one or two courses. They spend the rest of their day on the campus of a comprehensive school site, where computers are available – to the universe of students, including minorities."
Florida TaxWatch's study also said "to secure national data about minority participation in online learning programs." According to its report, this kind of data was not readily available, "as most as most states do not compile such figures." Still, from "perceptual data from national experts," NACOL claims that minority participation is about 10%. and that, as a result," it would seem that Florida Virtual School is outpacing the country in its service to minority students" if about 33 percent of its students were considered minorities."

While this is great in the case of FLVS, being just one of many virtual schools nationwide, I wonder about the seemingly anecdotal nationwide data from Florida Tax Watch, knowing that in Southern states such as Florida, minority populations are much higher than the much of the country, especially in the Midwest and Northeast. I guess what I am saying is I hope their data is considered per capita. I think the a primary issue facing minorities and their representation in virtual schools may be lack of familiarity with computers in the home (often relative to socioecnomic standing) and not enough digital learning experiences in some elementary schools. I think that given that most virtual students are those in the secondary grades, previous exposure to digital forms of learning before that time may seem more foreign or present more of a logistical challenge if one has to learn basic ICT and, at once, to be able to effectively take on the coursework as well. In the case of learning with computers and having ICT abilities, familiarity does not breed contempt, it breeds success and opens opporunities for more individualized, potentially engaging learning and skill development.

References:

Florida Tax Watch Center for Educational Performance and Accountability. (2007). Final report: A comprehensive assessment of Florida Virtual School. Oct. 15, 2007. Accessed April 16, 2008 from http://www.nacol.org/docs/FLVS_Final_Final_Report(10-15-07).pdf

Stansbury, M. (2008). Panelists: Online learning can help minority students. eSchoolNews (online edition). Accessed April 16, 2008 from http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/news-by-subject/technologies/index.cfm?i=53470;_hbguid=f581aec8-754e-4b40-9237-0c5d99153799