| From online courses to child-friendly laptops | | | | percent from 92 percent; discipline referrals |
| and virtual teachers, technology is spreading | | | | fell 30 percent. And parents are more |
| in America's classrooms, reducing the need | | | | engaged, she said. "Any family can chat |
| for textbooks, note pads, paper and in some | | | | online with teacher and say, 'Hey, we're |
| cases even the schools themselves. | | | | having this problem.'" |
| | | | |
| Just ask 11-year-old Jemella Chambers. She is | | | | Unlike traditional schools, Frederick's |
| one of 650 students who receive an Apple Inc | | | | students work at vastly different levels in |
| laptop each day at a state-funded school in | | | | the same classroom. |
| Boston. From the second row of her classroom, | | | | |
| she taps out math assignments on animated | | | | The Internet is also a catalyst for change. |
| education software that she likens to a video | | | | US enrolment in online classes reached 1 |
| game. | | | | million last year, 22 times the level seen in |
| | | | 2000, according to the North American Council |
| "It's comfortable," she said of Scholastic | | | | for Online Learning. |
| Corp's FASTT Math software in which she and | | | | |
| other students compete for high scores by | | | | That's only the beginning, said Michael Horn, |
| completing mathematical equations. "This | | | | executive director of education at Innosight |
| makes me learn better. It's like playing a | | | | Institute, a nonprofit think tank in |
| game," she said. | | | | Massachusetts. |
| | | | |
| Education experts say her school, the Lilla | | | | "Our projections show that 50 percent of high |
| G. Frederick Pilot Middle School in Boston, | | | | school courses will be taught online by 2013. |
| Massachusetts, offers a glimpse into the | | | | It's about one percent right now." |
| future. | | | | |
| | | | K12 Inc, which provides online educational |
| It has no textbooks. Students receive laptops | | | | services in 17 US states, has seen enrolment |
| at the start of each day, returning them at | | | | rise 57 percent from last year to 41,000 |
| the end. Teachers and students maintain | | | | full-time students, said its chief executive |
| blogs. Staff and parents chat on instant | | | | Ron Packard. |
| messaging software. Assignments are submitted | | | | |
| through electronic "drop boxes" on the | | | | "We're getting the kids who the local school |
| school's Website. | | | | is not working for. And the spectrum goes |
| | | | from extreme special education to extremely |
| The experiment at Frederick began two years | | | | gifted kids." |
| ago at a cost of about US$2 million. Class | | | | |
| work is done in Google Inc's free | | | | Virginia-based K12 recently opened an office |
| applications like Google Docs, or Apple's | | | | in Dubai. Packard says he expects strong |
| iMovie and educational software like FASTT | | | | demand for American education from foreigners |
| Math. | | | | who want to enter US universities. |
| | | | |
| "Why would we ever buy a book when we can buy | | | | Horn expects demand for teachers to fall and |
| a computer? Textbooks are often obsolete | | | | virtual schools to boost achievement in a US |
| before they are even printed," said Debra | | | | education system where only two-thirds of |
| Socia, principal of the school in Dorchester, | | | | teenagers graduate from high school. |
| a tough district prone to crime. | | | | |
| | | | "You deliver education at lower cost, but you |
| There is one concession to the past: a | | | | will actually improve the amount of time that |
| library stocked with novels. | | | | a teacher can spend with each student because |
| | | | they are no longer delivering |
| "It's a powerful, powerful experience," added | | | | one-size-fits-all lesson plans," he said. |
| Socia. Average attendance climbed to 94 | | | | |