OUR SCHOOLS • DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION E-SCHOOL
Hawai'i's virtual high school demands real efforts

By Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Education Writer

At the most high-tech campus in the state, no one is really sure where the students are or whether the teachers wear bathrobes when they come to work.

There's no schoolhouse gate, no desks and not even a building to visit.

Welcome to the Hawai'i Department of Education's E-School, a virtual, online high school open to all public school students.

Officials here say that school is not a place, but a relationship that develops between teachers and students as they learn everything from business math to Shakespeare or environmental studies through reading, lectures, discussions and chats that all take place online.

"I always tell students, 'You are now part of this educational process where you must participate,'" said Allen Cole, registrar for the E-School and its summer school director this year. "'You can't sit in the back of the classroom.'"

The E-School was started in 1996 with the help of a $4.8 million U.S. Department of Education Technology Innovation grant.

Teens take the classes as a supplement to regular school — often from their home or the school library — and earn credits toward graduation. Some of the classes fulfill core curriculum requirements, but others, like the Shakespeare or art history classes, can offer students in small or rural schools classes they wouldn't otherwise be able to take.

At the time the school started, classroom Internet connections were hard to come by and the Web was an emerging educational tool. There were no other e-high schools in the country for Hawai'i to copy, giving DOE officials the challenge of creating a new kind of school from scratch.

"No one knew how to do it," Cole said. "The grant was to help us figure it out. There weren't even universities doing it yet."

Now, more than 400 students from 45 high schools across the state take E-School classes each semester.

It's a program that has put Hawai'i public schools in the forefront of virtual learning.

Hawai'i is one of only 12 states that has established a virtual high school, according to Technology Counts 2002, Education Week's annual survey of technology policies and student use of technology in the 50 states.

It's also one of 32 states that have an e-learning initiative and one of 25 states that allow cyber charter schools.

Hawaii's E-Charter School, which graduated its first class this year, was founded off the same federal grant as the E-School that serves all students.

Claudia Atta, E-School director, said E-School benefits students who don't always speak out in regular classes by giving them a new format to express themselves in.

"They often find their writing voice in E-School. They become responsible learners," Atta said. "They'll be at such an advantage as learners in the future when they go to college."

Cole said E-School is hard work for both teachers and students. "The irony of it is they often have a more intimate relationship with their online teacher than with their classroom teacher," Cole said. "They reveal more of themselves; they participate in discussions more. Our teachers have to reveal more of themselves, too."

He tells students to expect to spend at least four to six hours each week on the class at the bare minimum.

"The first students didn't know what to expect," Cole said. "Was it like watching TV? Was it Internet basket weaving?"

Once some of the first students discovered that their e-classes were rigorous and counted as a real grade on their transcript, they dropped out.

"Many students didn't realize this was a real course," said Vicki Kajioka, director of the Advanced Technology Research Branch of the Office of Curriculum, Instruction and Student Support. "From the very beginning we made sure our courses were standards-based and rigorous. We also made sure there was a lot of interaction between the teacher and the student. We didn't want to make this another correspondence class or like reading a textbook online."

What are you most proud of? Kajioka said she most admires the DOE employees who were visionaries and pioneered the development of the online curriculum. To get the online classes started, Kajioka said, the staff had to tackle equity issues between the islands and geographically isolated places in Hawai'i, technical issues, grant writing to find startup money, developing the courses and finding the right technology to help create a new kind of classroom.

Best kept secret? It's free.

E-School classes are free during the regular school year to all Hawai'i public high school students. With permission from their parents and principal, some advanced middle school students also can take classes. There is a charge for summer classes similar to other DOE schools.

Everyone knows: Allen Cole, the registrar who keeps track of who is taking classes, what's most popular and what's the best method of online teaching. He's been with the E-School from the start.

What we need: E-School officials are always on the lookout for grants to help expand the school. They would like to expand to elementary, English as a second language, foreign language and classes for struggling students.