This year, hundreds of Vermont high school students are enrolled in virtual classes; taking courses designed by Vermont teachers.
Distance learning offers students the benefit of taking subjects that might not be available at their local school – or courses they couldn’t otherwise fit into their class schedule.
Experts say everything from foreign languages to physical education can be taught online. There’s even a biology course featuring virtual frog dissections in 3D!
But there are questions about how online instruction compares to teaching in traditional classrooms.
We talk with Jeff Renard, coordinator of the Vermont Virtual Learning Cooperative and Peter Drescher, state technology coordinator at the Department of Education about the growth in online courses for high school students.
Also, Burlington Free Press reporter Candace Page describes how the state is preparing to respond to a host of invasive threats at Vermont’s doorstep; from chronic wasting disease to the emerald ash borer.
And we visit with Middlebury College student Hannah Waite who has combined her knowledge of physics and her musical talents to create an instrument called the laser harp.