Serving the iGeneration with Online Learning

Periodically, I welcome a guest to join me on my blog. Dr. Caprice Young, President and CEO, KC Distance Learning, has authored the following article on online learning.

We recently conducted a national survey of 500 students, aged 13-17, about their attitudes toward school and learning. Born in the mid 1990s, they are the “iGeneration,” a whole new breed of students who have never known a world without the Internet and on-demand access to content, just like Generation X never knew a world without a TV or telephone.

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Not so surprisingly, these students told us that classroom boredom (42 percent) and distractions from other classmates (46%) are the top challenges they face daily at school. Ninety percent revealed that while technology tools are available to them in the classroom, they are limited to basic functions like online research, PowerPoint or Excel.  

The iGeneration has grown up in a world of customization and immediate feedback, which is why we need to re-wire our educational approach of stand-and-deliver learning and engage these students. Ninety percent in our survey said that if they were in charge of their school, they would offer more electives and online classes and be able to choose the time of the day they go to school.

The message from today’s students is clear. It’s time for individualized education on demand.

This year, more than 1 million middle and high school students in the U.S. are enrolled in online classes, and the use of online learning tools, whether inside or outside of the classroom, is inevitable and growing. More and more traditional brick-and-mortar schools are offering blended learning programs that combine classroom instruction or lab work with online curriculum.

Some schools have started, for example, a math lab, where their teacher serves as the proctor and 30 kids are in the lab, each taking the math class that is appropriate for their level. One student is taking pre-algebra, another trigonometry, and all of them can really focus on individualized learning. At the same time, online learners get the attention and immediate feedback they need by communicating in real-time with their teachers through IM, chat, email phone calls and real one-on-one support.

Online learning now is becoming more mainstream.  It continues to serve students who simply cannot participate in their local school programs for a variety of reasons.  Many live in rural areas and cannot reasonably travel great lengths to get to school, other students are home taking care of sick parents or siblings, and some are teenagers who have professional careers as athletes or actors. 

However, as Generation X teachers become decision makers in schools, they want to employ the technology they used in college to give their students an edge. We work in 1,800 organizations nationwide led by these innovative educators to provide online learning through public, private and charter schools. We are finding that online learning students consistently have higher average SAT and ACT scores than traditional, non-online learning schools.

It’s an exciting time to be a part of an education improvement movement and a generational shift that cannot be stopped.  The iGeneration is challenging the current system and we need to listen. Personally, I’m looking forward to really serving this next generation well.

About Dr. Caprice Young
Dr. Caprice Young is the President and CEO of KC Distance Learning, Inc. and was formerly Vice President of Business Development and Alliances of Knowledge Universe®. Dr Young is at the forefront of the online learning movement and a true “education innovator” who is helping to drive access to flexible, high quality education for students of all levels and needs, as well as improving student and school achievement. In her current role, Dr. Young oversees the three lines of business of KC Distance Learning, Inc., including the Aventa Learning^TM brand, the iQ Academy® brand and the Keystone Schools brand, enriching the lives of more than 260,000 students through high quality online education programs.

Week of the Young Child Focuses on Early Childhood Education and Teachers

It is hard to believe that this week (April 11 - 17) is 2010’s Week of the Young Child, as it seems that it was only yesterday that we celebrated this last year.  For those of you that are not familiar with this event, it is a weeklong opportunity to focus on the importance of early childhood education and acknowledge the important role that teachers play in the lives of their children.

Specifically, the goals of the Week of the Young Child are to:

• Promote early literacy and learning 
• Recognize and thank teachers for the important work they do
• Influence public policy in your community, in your state, and nationally

With these important goals in mind, it is disheartening to see how issues related to the status of children, particularly young children, receive considerable lip service, but relatively limited support in terms of the financial commitments needed to ensure that children have the opportunity to enter school ready to learn and succeed. Even as the economy shows some signs of recovery, state legislators look to cuts in supporting early childhood education programs.

In states such as California, Georgia, and Arizona, the options are not about whether there will be cuts, but rather by how much. Fortunately, some states such as Pennsylvania have attempted to maintain their commitments to early childhood education, but there remain significant gaps between the number of children who need services and the funds available to meet their needs.

On the Federal level, the $10 billion hoped for in the Early Learning Challenge Funds, which were at the heart of President Obama’s support for early childhood education, may have been lost in the debate over health care despite a July 2009 statement by the Department of Education stating that, “President Barack Obama believes that we cannot afford to short-change the early learning needs of our youngest children. America’s economic competitiveness depends on providing a high-quality learning environment for every child – from birth through age 5 – to get the early start needed to succeed in school and in life.” I hope that this will not be the case.

Despite these setbacks, or perhaps because of them, it is more important now than ever to advocate for the importance of investing in our children’s future.  Our children cannot vote, and the only voice they have is yours.

Supporting quality early childhood education and educational opportunities for all children are issues that can cut across party lines.  If our future generations are to have even a chance at addressing the challenges they will inherit from us, from our national debt to a fragile environment, they will need the knowledge, skills and judgment that are built from a strong educational foundation. 

Our generation’s legacy to them should not be the problems we have passed on, but the solutions we have created and the investments we have made in their future.  The Week of the Young Child is an opportunity to enhance this resolve.