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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY 1: Virtual Summer School

For most students, school is over and summer fun is here. Even kids who are going to summer school don't need to be cooped up indoors during these bright sunny days. Why? Thanks to technology, many kids now have the option of attending "virtual" summer schools online.

These "virtual" classes are not new. Many colleges and universities offer online courses where the students never meet; they correspond with their teachers and classmates on the web. Even some traditional schools augment daily classes with internet-based assignments and feedback.

There are a lot of benefits to online schooling, and that's why public schools have started participating in this non-traditional type of education. Instead of students riding the bus, going to class, eating lunch at school, and going home in the early afternoon, they can now log on at any time of day or night and learn. This flexible online option requires just as much work and participation as normal summer school. However, the timing is different.

Online summer school is not for all students, just like it isn’t for all adults. The student needs to be an excellent reader in order to garner as much information as possible from the lectures. In addition, students must understand computers and be self motivated in order to complete the class successfully.

If the students meet these requirements, then online summer school has many advantages. Written lectures can be read and reread until the student understands them. The students can email each other and the teacher if they need help. Students who participate in online summer school often earn higher grades because the teachers can answer more questions without slowing down the entire class progress. And because of this new technology, summer school students can still go to the beach, travel around the world, and take family vacations!

--Written by Katheryn Troyer

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