TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

New Virtual Program Tailors Instruction To Each Student

ADVERTISEMENT

By MICHELE SAGER | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 23, 2009

TAMPA - The Florida Virtual School is launching a new program that will allow teachers to tailor instruction to meet the needs of specific students.

Florida's online high school started its Learning Recovery Center this week. The center is part of the school's push to provide more individualized offerings.

Through this new program, teachers can create specific assignments, tests and alternative lesson plans to meet the styles of students.

About 33 percent of students enroll in the online school to make up classes they failed in their traditional high school. Therefore, the Florida Virtual School believes its teachers need to use customized lessons to meet those student needs, according to Pam Birtolo, chief learning officer for The Florida Virtual School.

"Over the past 10 years, we have seen a steady increase in the number of students seeking credit recovery in our online courses," Birtolo said in a statement. "By creating this new program, our goal is to give students a more finely tuned learning path."

Some of the new techniques in the recovery center include:

Tests given to students before they take online courses to determine their skill levels.

Personalized course outlines based on the pace of the student.

Webinars that allow students to work directly with teachers and other students.

The Florida Virtual School was founded in 1997 and offers about 80 courses for middle and high school students across the state. For more information, visit www.flvs.net.

Reporter Michele Sager can be reached at (813) 865-1523.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT