Wired In
Going to high school online
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
For the first time this fall, students will be able to choose to attend a full-time public high school that meets in cyberspace instead of a classroom.
Hawai'i E-Charter will begin the academic year Aug. 23, with students "commuting" from all islands into a class connected through the Internet. Signups, which will continue through Aug. 21, also are handled online. Applications are open to all Hawai'i students who will be sophomores or juniors during the coming school year.
E-Charter is being financed through a five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Education that also produced the ongoing E-School program, a series of online courses intended to supplement what students learn on campus, said Vicki Kajioka, director of advanced technology research for the state Department of Education.
"We have built up our expertise and design of courses," Kajioka said. "And as a successful model, we have been encouraged to see whether this can become a full-time school for students with special needs."
Time will tell whether this will work, but the projection by those with experience in online teaching is that E-Charter can fill a necessary gap. Kajioka cited the case of Megan Robertson, a Maui student pursuing her high school education online so she can travel to the Mainland for equestrian training.
Renee Adams, who is based at Makawao School on Maui, has just finished her first full year of teaching social studies with E-School.
As one of the faculty members for E-Charter school, Adams has taught a wide range of students this way, partly because her course (modern Hawaiian history) is needed for graduation. Some are A students who want to get a required course out of the way, she said; some have been from military families here only briefly and needing a way to fit in the course before graduating.
Some simply like this approach to learning, Adams said: "What's really neat is kids who have attention deficit disorder have remarked to me, 'This way of learning really works for me ... in a classroom there are so many distractions, but this way I can just focus on the computer.'"
Adams and the students have used three means of electronic communication: online chat, posting messages on bulletin boards and e-mail.
"I feel more and more strongly that one of the positive things is students who take our courses get a dose of technology skills, built into every course," she added.
Students and teachers connect via a private network not reachable by the Internet but also use the Web and outside resources for study. And they've met for field trips to the state library and archives to hone their researching skills, Adams said.
Other faculty members include English teacher Laura Tavares from the Big Island, math teacher Brent Kiyan from Moloka'i and Soo Boo Tan, who will teach Science from his O'ahu home base.
The state will continue to run the supplementary E-School online program for the next year under the current grant and then will seek additional money, Kajioka said. The full-time E-Charter virtual school will become the charge of a principal, no longer falling under Kajioka's direct supervision.
"I'm like the proud parent of a child who has reached independence and will move on," she said.
You can reach Vicki Viotti at vviotti@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8053.
