Virtual Classrooms

Lumberton Independent School District is the latest east Texas district to approve a four-day hybrid school calendar for 2023-24, hoping to alleviate issues with mental health, attendance and substitute fill rates.

To compete with other local districts and meet growing demand for online learning options, a Washington district is creating an online-only academy that will accept students from anywhere in the state starting in 2024.

With enrollment plummeting since the onset of the pandemic, Portland Public Schools is closing its Online Learning Academy in June as a cost-cutting measure. Its enrollment has dwindled to 225 students across 13 grades.

A nonprofit advocacy group says Pennsylvania’s 14 cyber charter schools held a combined $164 million in unassigned fund balances in the 2020-21 school year, essentially stockpiling funds that should be spent on students.

Georgia's second largest school district is discontinuing a virtual learning option for elementary students that it launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, though a program for for middle and high schoolers will continue.

The 13 largest cyber charter schools in Pennsylvania failed to meet any of the state averages on English, math and science exams. Some attribute this to low participation in tests, and some are calling for reform.

Later this year, the private university will launch several open online liberal arts courses on the digital learning platform edX in hopes of expanding its reach to virtual students across the globe.

With nearly 4,000 fully online students and 1,600 who primarily take classes in-person, a private university in Minnesota is restructuring to create CSP Global and accommodate growing demand for online courses.

Southern University in Louisiana will use a $6.2 million grant to expand broadband Internet and create interactive VR spaces and tools for the training of future middle-school teachers and university faculty.

A study from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found a decrease in Dane County students reporting suicidal thoughts or actions between 2018 and 2021, although they remained higher for LGBTQ+ students than others.

Faced with teacher shortages, district officials proposed adding cameras to classrooms in order to record and livestream lessons to other rooms. Teachers say this could harm learning, and students have privacy concerns.

University of Texas at Arlington has launched a new certificate and master’s degree program to train educators to teach online, use web-based applications and curricula, and personalize learning strategies.

In an email to families this week, Seattle Public Schools told students to bring laptops and chargers home over winter break in case inclement weather prevents their return to school in January.

Studies show that learning loss in Virginia, as in other states, was not relegated to public schools. The most salient variables appear to have been socioeconomic factors, which call for investment and focused tutoring.

To meet growing demand for flexible learning models without losing campus culture, NCCU is creating a model for “hybrid living,” with in-person and virtual homecoming events, student club meetings and faculty meetings.

The Campus Reimagined initiative at Florida State University has attempted to combine pedagogical best practices with simple tech tools to maximize student engagement whether they’re learning remotely or in person.

Commonwealth Charter Academy in Pennsylvania, which saw its enrollment skyrocket as regular school districts struggled with remote learning, has agreed to purchase an office building in Moosic with cubicles for teachers.

With a large snowstorm headed for Western New York, area schools are considering remote learning to avoid days off, but factors like Internet access and localized precipitation complicate the decision.