Cyber School & Video Conferencing By Steve Nicklas & Chris Rickerson

What is Cyber School? An institution that that teaches courses primarily through online methods. Serve grades K-12. Accredited schools with courses led by certified teachers. Follow curriculum mandated by the state. Students collaborate with teachers through web communication.

Advantages of Cyber School Parents can work with children. Students have a more flexible schedule. Students can work at their own pace. o Not confined to level of work of other students. More individualized attention. Finances

Disadvantages of Cyber School Anti-social o Miss classroom environment. Unable to participate in clubs and athletic teams. Not as disciplined. Unable to experience a "real world" daily schedule.

Quality of Education in Cyber Schools Follows state wide curriculum All necessary materials are provided by cyber school. Student has an assigned teacher to turn in completed work to. Chartered through public school districts (varies) Must attend 180 days of school and complete an average of 900 hours of instruction a year.

PA Cyber Schools PA Virtual Academy o K-12 School o Offers AP courses The Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School o Home to over 9,000 students Pennsylvania Virtual Charter School o uses blackboard o requires community involvement from students

Video Conferencing: The Backbone of Cyber School Video Conferencing originally began in the business sector Businessmen needed to be connected to different kinds of people all around the world Liked face-to-face meetings

The Spread of Video Conferencing Used by Government Agencies Used by US Military Businesses Popular in social networking Videophones Education

The Advantages of Video Conferencing Adds personal interactions to Cyber School Allows cultural exploration Allows students to take more diverse classes or honors classes Allows students to work with experts and professionals Allows students to "take field trips" without leaving the classroom More motivation to attend Mostly used in interest driven extra cirricular classes Promotes technological literacy in teachers

Advantages, continued... Often includes other kinds of technology Requires collaboration between school personnel Assessments and assignments require innovative thinking on the part of the teacher

Video conferencing may be costly Network difficulties may put the class behind Time Zone restrictions Possible lack of tech support / user competency Desired sites may not have video conferencing capability Disadvantages of Video Conferencing

Sources course-content-the-samehttp://aceonlineschools.com/online-schools/faq/#is-online- course-content-the-same schools.htmlhttp:// schools.html school.htmlhttp:// school.html video-conferencing1.htmhttp://communication.howstuffworks.com/classroom- video-conferencing1.htm nghttp:// ng _distance_learning.asp