New York — The Virtual Learning Backwoods

Utah Education NetworkImage via Wikipedia

I received an email today from Rich Finlinson, Public Relations Specialist for the Utah Education Network, who attended my NSPRA Gold Mine Session in Washington, DC, in July. The session, “School PR and Social Media,” focused on using social media in doing public relations for schools.

Rich wanted some advice about online press release creation and distribution sites, which I’ll get to in another post, probably tomorrow.

But in communicating with him, I decided to check out the Utah Education Network online and was blown away not only by the agency’s website but by the educational programs the state of Utah offers its kids. Most notable was the Utah Electronic High School, that state’s version of online high school courses as an option for students.

I recently heard Susan Patrick, President and Chief Executive Officer of the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL), speak about virtual schools at the staff development meeting of our Lower Hudson Regional Information Center.

Patrick spoke about the growing presence of virtual schools, online courses and distance learning in the U.S., with state education departments jumping on this bandwagon with zeal. Patrick’s organization, NACOL, is an international K-12 nonprofit association representing the interests of practitioners, providers and students involved in online learning worldwide. You can see the lengthy list of institutional NACOL members (schools) on their site.

The Utah Electronic High School has been in operation since 1994, and provides a wide variety of courses to Utah students. Courses are added each year as interest and funding permit. The Electronic High School courses have been developed by master teachers and are correlated to the state of Utah’s core standards and objectives.

Students enrolled at the UEHS are able to work at their own pace until the class is completed. Most students, they say, spend about 200 hours on a full-credit course, and all courses are rigorous.

This is the case in many states, but when Ms. Patrick showed us a map of the U.S. depicting states either with government-funded virtual school programs or with partially government-funded programs, New York was one of a handful of states without either. How entrenched and backward is the state I live in?

The public approves our public school budgets, except in the state’s large cities. So most New York boards of education are under pressure each May, during the budget vote season, just to get a bare bones budget past the voters. I work for school districts where every penny, from textbooks to salaries, is picked apart by taxpayer groups sick and tired of paying high local, New York, and federal taxes. Property taxes alone in my neck of the woods run anywhere from $10,000 to $25,000 a year.

Unfortunately, I don’t see virtual schools making their mark in New York, unless they’re privately funded, the state overhauls the public education financing system, or the voters decide to be gracious. Or none of the above.

And the sad thing is, our kids will be the beneficiaries of this sad, backwoods legacy.

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A Few Great Websites Picked Up at NSPRA…

NSPRA’s first real day of workshops and seminars provided us with an exhausting mountain of information and tips, and without recounting everything I learned at this late hour, I will instead provide you with some of the great links that were thrown out by presenters today. I’ll have to do more in-depth summaries when I have a bit more time and I’m not out partying with the NY delegation. (Great time, by the way.)
First, check out Wendy Puriefoy’s websites at the Public Education network, including the PEN website, PEN’s Give Kids Good Schools website, and the Civic Index website she discussed in this morning’s keynote. Great reading all around and evidence that PEN is doing good work throughout the country.
I attended Tim Carroll’s skill session, “Byte Into Technology to Energize Your PR Efforts,” a fun workshop that looked at all the ways PR folks can use technology to communicate with constituents. Tim’s session examined podcasting, blogs, e-newsletters, web streaming and the dreaded database management issues we’re all tackling these days. So many things are possible. I trolled through some of his web resources, and discovered this blog done by the Mansfield Independent School District. The most recent posts were from a Mansfield delegation of educators visiting China.
By all means, check out the presentation done by Brian Woodland, APR, of the Peel District School Board in Canada. His presentation, titled “The Top 5 in 5: The Key Trends that Will Occupy You and Your District in the Next Five Years,” and most others taking place here, can be found on the NSPRA website. Mr. Woodland’s special session was informative, entertaining, and downright hilarious.

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