Students expand to online education
Peninsula is ranked 23rd for education in California. Still, some students have opted to take the non-traditional, off-campus path of online courses.
Online courses are usually taken to make up a failed class, to take courses that are not available at Peninsula High, or to take classes that will not fit into a schedule. In order to be able to take an online course, approval from a school counselor and Associate Principal Stephanie Scott is required.
“Very few students take online courses,” Principal Mitzi Cress said. “The criteria is for the institution to be WASC accredited, the course must be listed on the online institution’s UC approved course list and the institution must send an official transcript with a grade.
Junior Samantha Wathugala is currently taking her U.S. History AP class online. For each unit, she reads two chapters in the textbook and is given a couple of assignments. These can consist of questions based on sections in the textbook and questions about primary source documents. The questions range from short answers to five paragraph essays.
Wathugala finds that taking the online course is a more efficient way for her to manage her time. Since her schedule was full, Wathugala was given permission to take the course.
“Taking it online allows me to take both Calculus BC and Chamber Choir, which had come into conflict with AP U.S. History,” Wathugala said. “It’s also very flexible. My friends taking AP U.S. History can’t just put off taking a test or writing an essay until after their other tests, but I can.”
Professor David Goyette at National, Wathugala’s online teacher, is currently teaching six online courses, each one serving anywhere from five to fifteen students. Goyette writes the curriculum for a class, posts YouTube and WeVideo lectures, meets students one-on-one or in groups online via Classlive and responds to students’ questions by email.
“If a student travels, is participating in a demanding sport, or needs to spend time outside the traditional classroom for a health reason, the student can access the class from home or on the road via any device with a Wi-Fi signal and Internet capability,” Goyette said. “The courses themselves provide opportunities for synchronous and asynchronous activities.”
Although online classes can be beneficial, it also has a drawback: It is conducive to procrastination, allowing students to put things off until the last minute.
“We are currently reviewing the approval process because of concerns that some students are not finishing courses in a timely manner.” Cress said.
Peninsula’s rule regarding the online courses is if there is room in an on-campus course, the online course will be approved.
