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Computer and Online Home Schooling

by Jube Dankworth

The computer is now as essential to homeschooling as an encyclopedia was in days past.  Computers have dropped in price so they can fit into most family budgets along with lowered costs of Internet service providers.  People who have problems budgeting for a computer can have free access to one at most libraries in Texas.  The Internet is triggering a major revolution in the education community, including homeschooling.  Many futurists believe that with the advent of virtual schools and the availability of online classes, public schooling as we know it may be replaced.  The article entitled "Technology Counts 2002: E-Defining Education; How Virtual Schools and Online Instruction Are Transforming Teaching and Learning" at www.edweek.org/tc02 mentions that more than half the states either already have virtual online schools or have them in the planning stages. Home-school curriculum providers are also beginning to have online classes available at sites such as www.homeschoolmentor.com with streaming video unit studies classes.

A tool is only good as the craftsman who is wielding it.  If you need to learn the basics of your computer or specific software, it will save you time and frustration to take a class; this is possible through free online courses such as Barnes and Noble University.  There are books that teach how to use software available for minimal expense that can then be used to teach your teens this same software. (Teach Yourself Visually and the Dummies series are great.)  Some support groups offer hands-on co-op classes on computer use.  Check your local community college under the continuing education department for computer classes.  Some communities have other continuing education entities that offer classes at a low cost as do some community groups such as the AARP and county service centers.

The Computer for Teacher Support

Once you know computer basics, where do you start?  You can join your support group's email list to keep in contact with the people in your group. You can join email lists for the curriculum you are using with your children; these lists help you learn from other moms who are using your specific curriculum with advice and tips on how to overcome challenges.  You can join Flylady at www.FlyLady.net to help organize your household without overload and burnout.

Now that your support foundation is established, where should you go on the Internet?  If you are not yet comfortable surfing the Net, there are books that give you starting points.  Homeschool Your Child for Free by LauraMaery Gold lists entire areas in which you can save money by using your Internet connection.  This book originally came out in 2000, but an update is expected in mid-2003 and will be available at major bookstores.  Another great book for starters is Homeschool on the Net by Julie Dalton.  Julie's book is the only Internet book that is never out of date.  Once you purchase her book, if one of her sites in the book is not active, you go to her site at www.homeschoolonthenet.com and input the code from the book.  Her site gives you the updated URL (website address) for the out-of-date site.

Online newsletters or magazines are called zines.  There are many zines sent by convention speakers, curriculum providers and local homeschool stores. To find these, ask to be put on the zine list of your convention speaker and/or curriculum provider and encourage your homeschool store to do the same.

The Computer for Field Trips

Virtual tours can bring spark into your home school on dreary rain days. A favorite zine for online classes and virtual tours is ClickSchooling, which can be found at www.homefires.com.   This zine will come in your email inbox, and whenever the kids are climbing walls, you can visit a factory or an historical place or watch candy being made. Review the site before bringing your children to the computer. You may need to read the site to your younger children, have children act out parts of the tour, or do some hands-on follow-up to explain written tours to your children.

Many of the tours are only pictures with words, but more and more the tours are real virtual video tours.  Streaming video is now becoming easier to produce and to download.  One site with streaming video is www.fiberartshop.com/knclbg.htm which is hosted by Common Threads Online Class Room with a class for Beginning Knitting.  You should probably not depend on video streaming for classes unless you have DSL or cable modem connections.

The Computer as a School

Now that you have access to a computer, know how to use it and have explored a bit, what can you do with this puppy??  There is software for individual courses or complete curricula. Some parents are using the computer for the total education of their children by signing them up for virtual schools. There are several types of virtual schools. Some schools allow enrollment in individual courses rather than requiring enrollment in their complete program.  (See page 6-1 for some of these curriculum suppliers.)  Just as you would investigate any school to which you would entrust your child's education, be sure to investigate any virtual schools you are considering.

One of the types of virtual schools is the virtual charter school.  Charter schools are schools established under most states' charter school laws. These are public schools that are online.  Therefore, be aware that while they may be free or low cost, you may be under obligation to submit your child to testing and/or attendance requirements.

For example, www.migrant.org was set up by the Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC) for migrant children of Kentucky. Because the program generated such an overwhelming response (over 1 million visits a month), OVEC set up a structure to charge all non-migrant children. Going through their ³buy it² windows, enrolling two children and keeping the scores (rather than having them keep scores on their database), the cost is $250 for the year which is less expensive than co-op classes in many areas.

Virtual schools are not for everyone.  There can be problems, as one mom noted in this email: “PS. Just the stories I heard from folks that called me in a panic near the end of the year: ‘hard drive crashed, child lost all their work,’ ‘modem's were down, and their child couldn't get work done,’ ‘computers didn't arrive until Jan,’ ‘grades didn't arrive in time for the subscriber's school district, so the year was lost,’ and frustration in trying to reach a live person at the ‘school’..... R J”

Tim Lambert, president of the Texas Home School Coalition, warns, "People should be aware that charter schools are public schools and, as such, are regulated (to some degree) by the state. They ought to know what the regulations are before they opt in."  Government-Subsidized Home Schooling Programs: Will Family Educators Dodge This Bullet by Rodger Williams at www.hstuac.org/subsidy.html discusses the ramifications of accepting these virtual charter schools.

There are many virtual schools that are private schools and not run by any of the states.  Even with these private virtual schools, there can still be problems.  If this is what you need for your school, be sure to check references.

The Internet as a Resource

To begin research on a computer, you need to have a good understanding of the library system.  The Internet search engines were originally set up by librarians.  Many libraries are willing to give classes to groups of homeschool moms; just call.  You can access over 60 databases from the comfort of your home by having a library card from almost any Texas library. These databases contain full-text articles from magazines and newspapers, literary criticisms, e-books, encyclopedias, almanacs, biographies, and much more.

Search engines come in many forms.  When we think of search engines, we tend to think of the main sites known as search engines such as www.google.com or www.yahoo.com.  There is also a search engine attached to your browser (the software you use to get on the Web).  Most notably, whenever you see one of those rectangular boxes with the words search or go beside it, you are viewing a search engine.  Some of them search the web while some just search the site you are visiting.

In the past, search engines had sites listed in order of relevance.  With the commercialization of the Internet, many search engines now have paid slots in the top three to five listings.  Read the two sentences under the names of sites found to see if they are indeed relevant to your Internet search.

For the most part, the computer can be a useful tool for whatever you may be teaching your child.  There are many sites specifically for children such as www.askjeeves.com and www.howstuffworks.com with great information to answer those constant questions of the younger set.

You can use the Internet for a complete school experience for your child, for unit studies or for whole courses.  Happy surfing!

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