Innovative technology has been a great benefit to us. It has helped revolutionize many industries. Apart from making things more efficient, technology has helped us explore new avenues and new ways of doing things. This has helped us discover opportunities that never existed before. The same holds true for the field of education. The increasing popularity of online high schools can be contributed to the wide range of options offered by online platforms. Therefore, it is only imperative that you understand the importance of selecting the right online program for your child. Here, we show you how to choose the right online high school program.
Why Accreditation Is Important
The first and foremost aspect to consider is accreditation and the reputation of the school. When opting for an online education, it is important to understand the crucial difference between an online school that is accredited and one that is not. There are several so-called ‘diploma mills’ out there that claim to award online degrees and diplomas to students, which of course, have no real value. Unfortunately, many students and their parents find out the hard way. Therefore, to prevent students and their parents from falling prey to such scams, it is vital that you run due diligence checks on the school you’re enrolling with to ensure that they have all the necessary accreditations.
Accreditation is a process of validation that is used to evaluate both brick-and-mortar as well as online schools on a regular basis to ensure that they adhere to state and federal standards of education. Validation is the process that is used to verify the authenticity and credibility of a high school education. It involves assessing the school’s course curriculum, the teaching methods employed by the school, the procedures used to carry out assessments, as well as the overall educational practices that are followed by the school. This ensures that the school delivers a high-quality education to the students it educates.
Course Curriculum
The next important factor to consider is the curriculum offered by the school and the different course offerings. With accredited online high schools, the course curriculum is designed by professional, qualified educators and teachers who have extensive experience in the field of education. It involves the use of multimedia resources and interactive learning tools, which makes studying online even more appealing. Furthermore, the curriculum adheres to state and federal educational standards, so parents do not have to worry about the quality of education their child receives in such a school.
Online high schools also provide students with a whole range of options to choose from when it comes to selecting core courses, honors courses and elective courses. These courses involve self-paced learning, which means students can complete their coursework at their own pace, without having to worry about keeping up with the rest of the class, while adhering to overall timelines stipulated by the school. This brings us to the next important factor to consider when choosing the right online school for you.
Flexibility and Self-paced Options
One of the key benefits of opting for online learning is the amount of flexibility it offers you. With traditional, brick-and-mortar schools, students are required to attend school on a regular basis based on a fixed schedule. With online platforms, that is no longer the case. Students can attend school while at home or from any other place they choose to be. All they need is a computer or laptop, and an internet connection. Furthermore, there is no fixed schedule that they need to follow. Students are allowed the freedom and flexibility to choose how much time they wish to spend on each topic. While overall timelines must be adhered to, students can vary the pace of their learning as per their own abilities.
Attending a traditional school can be difficult during days of inclement weather such as when there are heavy rains or snow days. With virtual learning however, this isn’t a problem. Students can study at any time of the day or night they wish to and at their own pace, right from the comfort of their own homes. Additionally, traditional schools provide students with limited options in terms of course availability. But with online schools, students now have multiple options to choose from since they are not restricted by the availability of teaching faculty at their local school.
Empowering Students To Achieve More
There have been numerous students at The Ogburn Online School who have gone on to achieve their dreams while pursuing a high-quality education. This is one of the most significant benefits of choosing the right online high school program. Being able to study online empowers students to pursue other avenues they may be interested in such as sports, music, and drama, for example.
With the flexibility and convenience of online learning, students can now schedule their study-time around their other commitments. Moreover, even their parents can help them with their extracurricular pursuits by scheduling their child’s activities around their own professional commitments. For more information on how our students have performed, you can browse through their testimonials by clicking here.
Charting Your Future
Planning your future course of action is the final step in choosing the right online high school program – the one that is right for you!
Make sure you carry out your own due diligence on all the different aspects of an online school before you choose to enroll with one. With all the guidance we’ve provided you with, it should be a breeze. However, if you do run into any roadblocks or have any doubts or questions, you’d like answered, feel free to contact us by clicking here.
