As a high school teacher, I recognize that there are many areas of study that could be developed into online courses. In fact, in my school, we have already done so with health and physical education, among others. What we have discovered in the process, however, is that online learning is not for everyone. It requires a certain degree of intrinsic motivation and time management on the part of the student. While many high school students possess these skills, there are still quite a few who do not. Therefore, as I discuss the courses in my high school that could become online courses, I do so with the caveat that there need to be clear expectation for all students who are accepting the challenge of learning online.
The first course that I would like to see online is a quarter credit course on academic integrity. With the ease of access to the internet, plagiarism is rampant among today’s high school students. Some of them know exactly what they are doing when they copy and paste from a website without using quotation marks or citing their source; they are taking the easy way out. However, there is a large portion of our student population that does not know that copying and pasting from the internet without citing their source is not only wrong, but it may also create significant discipline issues for them as they continue through their education. The online course that I would recommend would be one where:
- Students can see firsthand what plagiarism is,
- Students can read first-hand accounts of the consequences that other students have suffered because they plagiarized, and
- Students learn how to avoid plagiarism by practicing how to paraphrase and cite sources properly.
I would make this course a requirement for all incoming ninth grade students. Additionally, retaking the course would be an element of the disciplinary consequences for students who are found guilty of plagiarism.
I would also like to see Advanced Placement courses have an online option. We have many students who are enrolled in AP courses in our high school. The challenge is when students want to take two of these high level courses when they are only offered once each day and at the same time. Consequently, many students ask to take one of the courses as an independent study. As an AP French Language and Culture teacher, I never want to turn away a student who is interested in learning the French language and francophone culture, but I agree to it knowing that it will lead to a significantly greater workload on my part as I must meet with the student on my own time. If our Advanced Placement and other high level courses that typically run only one section a year were housed online, it would make it easier for independent study students to have a more authentic learning experience. Obviously, this would mean an investment of time and resources at the beginning, but the benefits to our students’ learning experiences would be worth it.
Growing my Classroom 