Ohio DL Schools

In Ohio, there are a few distance learning, online public school options for students grades K-12. I had minimal knowledge about these DL options prior to this assignment. Five of these DL choices include, Connections Academy, ECOT, Ohio Virtual Academy, Virtual Community School of Ohio and Virtual Schoolhouse. I will be evaluating the websites of each of these 5 schools to determine which school I would most likely pick for my child and which I would be least likely to pick for my child.

Connections Academy
My initial impression of Connections Academy was that its website was informative. I felt that it provided opportunities to contact teachers and parents and it provided a very community oriented spirit which is important for an online school in my opinion. One of the things that stood out about this school was that it had a blog to make it easy for students, parents and teachers to stay connected as a community. I thought the website was easy to navigate, provided informative videos and informative FAQ page.

Ecot
I felt that Ecot was very easy to navigate but that it lacked a community feel. I enjoyed the videos and felt that the information was clear however, I felt that most of the information presented was regarding enrollment as opposed other important factors in a school. I also felt that it lacked contact with a teacher and other parents which I liked about some of the others.

Ohio Virtual Academy
I felt that this website was clear and informative. It had a helpful and organized FAQ section. It introduced the staff, provided opportunities to contact other parents and promoted its community and educational excellence.

Virtual Community School of Ohio
I thought that this website was unclear and uninformative. It had no FAQ section and was mainly about enrollment but provided very little information about the school and community.

Virtual Schoolhouse
I also felt that this website was unclear and uninformative. It was not very community oriented and did not give me enough information about its community and educational excellence.

Overall, based on the websites alone, I would hands down pick Ohio Virtual Academy for my child. I think social interaction is such a huge part of development so I would most likely never pick an online school option for my child however, if I had to it would be Ohio Virtual Academy because of its sense of community and educational standards. As a parent, I would like to hear testimonies of other parents and have the option to ask them questions about the school and this type of learning, this website allows for this opportunity.

Based on the websites, I would not send my child to Virtual Community School of Ohio because they did not provide me with enough information about the school, their academic standards and what social opportunities they would provide my child.

The links to these school websites have been added to my Symbaloo below.