( Sept 23, 2005) Nostalgia: Virtual AND Brick and Mortar not OR; Will Virtual Schools be the savior not the scourge of traditional schools

(Ed.note: This was one of the first posts of the Evansville Observer, and I have reposted it due to popular demand.)


Remember back many Christmas seasons ago when folks first started ordering on the internet. In that first year there was a lot of speculation that presto, the brick traditional stores would be history.

Then the returns came. The Christmas returns. What an internet snafu. Soon it became clear that brick and mortar could work WITH the virtual store and the best retailers have done exactly that.

Several years ago, the first virtual schools came into existence. Some were charter schools. Most were seen as a threat to traditional education. Traditional union spokesmen opposed them as being a threat to strong schools. Today some of these college on line schools have a growth rate of 30% or more.

As we face the energy crisis, and as the physical part of the infrastructure of education becomes increasingly expensive, we may look to the retail model as providing some instruction as to how to model our educational system.

Two years ago, one of my girls attended a class with fellow J.C. McKenna students and went physically to class 4 times in Madison and submitted papers and offered posts for discussion weekly on the internet on their required reading. The teacher reviewed the posts and offered guidance. It was a very interesting class, and she became quite involved in it, especially as other classmates posted comments on her work. A little like this blog. Anyway.

It may be that far from the scourge that was once thought, VIRTUAL in the proper balance, may indeed be the savior as schools nationwide face the energy crisis and funding crisis that is not delivering the physical resources to do the job.