Cyber School

 &

Video Conferencing

BySteve Nicklas & Chris Rickerson

 What is Cyber School?

 • An institution that that teaches courses primarily

through online methods.• Serve grades K-12.•  Accredited schools with courses led by certified

teachers.• Follow curriculum mandated by the state.• Students collaborate with teachers through web

communication.

 Advantages of Cyber School   • Parents can work with children.• Students have a more flexible schedule. • Students can work at their own pace.

o Not confined to level of work of other students.• More individualized attention.• Finances

  

 Disadvantages of Cyber School 

  • Anti-social

o  Miss classroom environment.• Unable to participate in  clubs and athletic teams.• Not as disciplined.• Unable to experience a "real world" daily schedule.

 

  

Quality of Education in Cyber Schools 

 • Follows state wide curriculum• All necessary materials are provided by cyber school.• Student has an assigned teacher to turn in completed

work to.•  Chartered through public school districts (varies)• Must attend 180 days of school and complete an

average of 900 hours of instruction a year.

PA Cyber Schools   

• PA Virtual Academy o K-12 Schoolo Offers AP courses

 • The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School

o  Home to over 9,000 students• Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School

o uses blackboardo requires community involvement from students

Video Conferencing: The Backbone of Cyber School

Video Conferencing originally began in the business sector Businessmen needed to be connected to different kinds of people all around the world

Liked face-to-face meetings

The Spread of Video Conferencing

Used by Government Agencies

Used by US Military

Businesses

Popular in social networking

Videophones

Education

The Advantages of Video Conferencing

Adds personal interactions to Cyber School Allows cultural exploration Allows students to take more diverse classes or honors classes Allows students to work with experts and professionals Allows students to "take field trips" without leaving the classroom More motivation to attend Mostly used in interest driven extra cirricular classes

Promotes technological literacy in teachers

Advantages, continued...

Often includes other kinds of technology Requires collaboration between school personnel Assessments and assignments require innovative thinking on the part of the teacher

 

Video conferencing may be costly Network difficulties may put the class behind Time Zone restrictions Possible lack of tech support / user competency Desired sites may not have video conferencing capability

Disadvantages of Video Conferencing

 

Sources• http://aceonlineschools.com/online-schools/faq/#is-online-cours

e-content-the-same• http://www.successful-homeschooling.com/virtual-schools.html• http://www.ehow.com/list_6880184_pros-cons-cyber-school.ht

ml• http://zsem.k12.com/npages/• http://www.pacyber.org/• http://www.pavcsk12.org/• http://communication.howstuffworks.com/classroom-

video-conferencing1.htm• http://www.netc.org/digitalbridges/uses/• http://www.averusa.com/communication/

video_conferencing• _distance_learning.asp• http://www.techlearning.com/article/3312