Distance Education

Pros of having virtual schools:

1. Children that are not ready to interact in a social setting can still participate in a good learning environment.
2. Parents are able to monitor more closely their child's education.
3. If a child were to fall behind, they would have less trouble catching up than they would in an actual classroom.
4. Families that have to travel a lot can still give their child a great learning experience.
5. The virtual schools have really great material, and can give children a very unique learning experience that they may not get in a crowded classroom.

Cons of having virtual schools:

1. Student's may not get the same social skills that they would acquire being in a normal school setting.
2. It may be easier for children to miss out on important lessons because they may not be covered in their virtual curriculum.
3. Students may have a hard time when they finally go to a real school, because they are used to a different learning style.
4. Student's cannot receive all of the same services that they would in a real school. (Counseling for example)
5. It may be difficult for some students to learn when they can be so relaxed and easily distracted in their own home.

I think that you could determine a student's readiness to participate in distance education by their attention span, maturity, and desire to learn. If a student is patient enough to be in front of a computer for long periods of time, then they probably would not have trouble with the virtual school. In order to be able to teach in a virtual school, you would have to be a great communicator because students may not be able to ask you as many questions after a lesson as they could in a real classroom.