Salisbury High School seniors Michele and Jason Rowland wanted to take an advanced-placement statistics course to help them with a science project about second-hand smoke.
There was one problem: Salisbury High didn’t offer the course.
In January, Rowan County’s 5,500 high schoolers will have access to 14 advanced-placement courses — from government and politics to psychology — regardless of which school they attend or how many sign up.
“This kind of equalizes everything out,” said Salisbury High senior Jasmin Sanchez, who enrolled in three courses over the Internet this fall.
Thirty-five students already have signed up for classes at the new virtual “campus” for spring 2001.
Traditionally, high schools could typically offer only seven APcourses. When few students sign up for courses, schools can’t always afford to commit teachers to instruct them.
“Now there’s no excuse why any student anywhere can’t take a course,” said Matthew Sullivan, curriculum director for county high schools.
Now APcourses are available online through three vendors, which also are offering 25 standard courses. There are three more standard courses online — general psychology, introduction to sociology and Western civilization — available through Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.
The Web Academy site allows students to hone skills in the subjects they’re already studying in classrooms — subjects such as grammar and computer proficiency. Students can also see the entire code of conduct for Rowan-Salisbury Schools at the site.
Sullivan says the online courses aren’t meant to replace the human interaction of teachers in classrooms. Mentors throughout the schools will still be available to help students.
In May, Sullivan plans to compare grades between students who finish online courses and those in traditional classes.
“Are online courses as academically rigorous as traditional courses? I want to see the test results at the end of the year,” he said. “The reality is that they’re not going to have the opportunity to take some of these courses any other way right now. This gives them that opportunity.”
Michelle Rowland says online courses require a lot of self-motivation. Students can fall behind in their work by two weeks or more — or jump ahead as much as they want.
“You have to really want to take it,” she said. “You have to be really self-motivated and want to work. Otherwise, it won’t get done.”
Today's News