Online High

Today’s blog post is actually an article over at Squidoo. Take a read.

International Virtual Learning Academy has offered up a school interview in the Articles section. Yet one more way to get information on this school.

Please wander over and take a read.

If you are interested in the academic side of online high schools, here is a blog that I have been reading. Professor Michael Barbour is knee-deep in all things virtual schooling. Definitely worth a read if you are interested in the theory behind virtual schooling.

I have started a twitter for those who would like to know when things get updated here on the site or when articles about online high schools that I have written go live at different sites around the Internet.

You can see my twitter here.

I have been having an on-going email discussion with someone who works at an online high school that is not free (and, no, it is not one of our featured schools, but, yes, it is listed on this site). He seems to think that I spend too much time focused on the free online high schools and not enough time on the commercial ones.

My first advice to him was to look at our featured schools. A grand total of zero of them are free and they get more press around here (via that link to the left of each page and the graphics in the listing) than any other type of schools.

My second advice to him was to look at who can attend those free ones. By and large, it is traditional-aged high school students. No adults need apply. True, a few let students as old as twenty or so attend, but they are the exceptions.

Truth be told, for some students, free online high schools are the absolute right choice. They just are, but that being said, for some students, the commercial programs are the absolute right choice. There are just too many factors to consider to believe that the choice should come down to cost alone. I certainly don’t believe that and I hope that you don’t, either.

It is very interesting to get these sorts of comments, though. I have been doing some thinking lately about what happens in the blog and I encourage you to look toward some changes coming soon!

International Virtual Learning Academy is accredited by NAAS and the curriculum is aligned with national standards. It currently offers more than ninety courses and students who complete the program can earn a California high school diploma. It is possible to start at anytime and, importantly, students have access to school counselors (called “academic advisors”). While the school does have a diploma track, it also offers individual courses.

Take a look.

On Best Online High Schools, it is easy to find the real schools. Those are the ones in our listings. Yes, some could make an argument that some are more real than others (based on accreditation, approval, etc.), but my take is that they are real schools.

The fake schools are easy to find as well, but you need to know what you are looking for. The simplest way to determine if it is a fake school is if what is offered is too good to be true. A high school diploma in seven days? Really?

What can be challenging for me are the schools that are in-between. You see, some states, like Florida or California, don’t have what you would call a real approval process. What is given is more like a business license. That is all well and good, but it severely limits the acceptability of such schools. Here’s the problem: just because school is in Florida, California, or elsewhere, does not mean that it is not a real school. It just means that you need to dig deeper.

Additional information: Some of the schools in the advertisements off to the left and to the right may not be real schools. Post a comment on the blog or in the forum and I am happy to give you my take on the situation.

Doug Covey, the CEO of Blueprint Education, has another brand-new article up in the Articles section. Good, solid advice for distance learners. Take a read.

Flatirons Academy is petitioning Windsor School District (Louisville, CO) for permission to offer an online high school for all students in grades sixth through twelfth. You can read about it here:

Group seeks approval for online charter school

It would be a free online high school.

Today’s post is here. Enjoy.