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INTRODUCTION
Today, many states offer virtual school options for K-12 students, and enrollment in virtual classes is growing significantly and steadily. The benefits of virtual learning include flexibility of learning from any place at any time. This accommodates students whose schedule, lifestyle, or location may not work well with traditional, face-to-face schools and schedules. All of this, along with the research indicating that online learning is as effective as face-to-face learning makes virtual learning appealing. However, success in a virtual learning environment is not a given for all K-12 learners. Numerous factors indicate a student's ability to succeed in virtual courses. These success indicators can be categorized as internal or external to the student. For example, internal indicators include a student's motivation or time management skills. Parent involvement and expectations of the instructor are external to the student. Internal and external indicators of virtual learning success can assist parents and students assess whether virtual learning is a good fit. This article discusses these indicators along with providing an overview of virtual schools and their benefits.
AN OVERVIEW OF VIRTUAL SCHOOLS
Virtual schools use the Internet or other technology, such as video (Barbour, 2006), to offer programs or activities. Virtual education is a form of distance education and the terminology "virtual school" is commonly applied to K-12 learning (Clark, 2001). Virtual schools offer web-based courses and activities either synchronously or asynchronously. Synchronous activities are real time communications between students and teacher. In contrast, an asynchronous approach to distance learning is evident when course content is accessed by students at different times (Cavanaugh, 2007; Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2011).
Virtual schools offer two types of courses: fully online courses or blended courses (Picciano & Seaman, 2009). The difference is how the content is delivered. A course where most or all the content is delivered online is referred to as a fully online course. A blended course mixes the delivery of content with face-to-face delivery and online delivery. However, a greater portion of the course is conducted online (Picciano & Seaman, 2009).
Enrollment in online courses has increased significantly over the past few years (Allen & Seaman, 2010; Weiner, 2003). More specifically, enrollment in K-12 virtual classes grew tenfold between the years 2001 and 2006. In...