Online Learning: E-learning - the Home School Wave of the Future?

As the home school movement gains momentum across the country, more home school students and their parents are turning to a new supplement for home school curriculum: e-learning. There are hundreds of schools and universities offering online classes on hundreds of subjects at dozens of grade levels. Home school families are discovering that the format of e-learning is especially conducive to a home learning environment. Online students are encouraged to work at their own pace, and the learning is largely self-directed; a concept with which many home school students are already familiar.

Detractors of both home school and e-learning cite the perceived difficulties of learning outside the time and space confines of the traditional classroom. However, some educators and many home school parents assert that these constraints are the problem with public education. Individual children learn with different styles and at different rates. The enforcement of blocks of time and dedicated spaces for learning can be an impediment for many, which is one of the strongest reasons parents turn to home school in the first place. The nature of e-learning lends itself well to the objectives of the home school environment: to encourage children to learn independently, and enable them to make informed, responsible decisions, or think outside the box.

Though some believe e-learning suffers from a lack of face-to-face interaction, home school families often find online classes superior to the traditional school setting. Quality online courses offer plenty of opportunities for students to interact with each other and with their teachers or professors through e-mail, live chat and class message boards. Additionally, home school students who are already used to self-learning often find themselves excelling in a self-directed e-class environment, and become eager to help others learn as well.

For home school parents who are looking for e-learning classes to supplement their childrens home school education, there are several factors that will help decide which online classes will be beneficial. A good e-course will have extensive instruction posted for students at the outset of the class, and easy access to knowledgeable instructors. Home school parents themselves are usually not professional educators, and are therefore more able to recognize competence in e-instructors who are not necessarily formally trained. Also, a good e-course should feature ways to interact with peers and get feedback from other students on posted work. E-learning can be a powerful addition to any home school curriculum, and should not be overlooked by the home school community at large.