The district’s Virtual Learning Academy will offer online courses to students as part of their school day schedule beginning next fall. For the first time, online and blended course options will be listed in the course description guide.

In the past, students could only take online courses outside the school day to complement their regular subjects.

Digital learning leader Donna Henry sees the new “LISDblendED” program as an opportunity for students to “self-blend their learning by building a flexible schedule with face-to-face, online and blended classes.”

Henry added that students have some element of control over time, place and pace when selecting courses.

“Want to take band and athletics?” Henry said. “Want to take two languages? Want to attend school and work? LISDblendED makes this possible. Students can take an online course at the end of the school day and free up time to pursue work and career opportunities. Since students taking an online course are not tied to a specific place and time, the student can flex when and where they learn.”

Social Studies Department Chairman Darren Ryan and AP English IV teacher Melissa McClure have been recruited as full-time Virtual Learning Academy teachers and will be leaving campus on Jan. 17 to begin designing courses for the next school year.

“We’ll be heavily working on writing curriculum and making this [as] interactive and relevant as we can,” Ryan said. “The way we’re writing these courses now, there’s a lot more interaction between the students [through] forums and working collaboratively. There’s also back and forth with the whole class and the teacher because of some new software that’s available, where you can talk to people in remote locations and you can record those conversations and save for later learning.”

McClure is excited about the new opportunity but sad to depart from her students, who she considers her “babies.”

“I love them so much,” McClure said. “It’s so hard to leave, but it was going to happen eventually, and the fact that it [will happen] in January [is] really inconvenient and it’s been quick. I didn’t apply for the position. It all kind of fell into my lap because I’m already teaching an online class, and I’ve already been writing curriculum with our supervisor Donna Henry since the beginning of last school year.”

The Virtual Learning Academy aims to provide flexibility to meet students’ individual needs.

Sophomore Dianna Salazar said an online class could help her manage her time and work shifts, as well as give her a feeling of independence.

“I work and I need the hours because I’m helping [support] my family, so having [a] period off and having that extra time would help me a lot,” Salazar said. “Teachers don’t really have to always be there and tell me what to do because I know [what] I’m supposed to do. If I [take a class] online I’ll know that it’s my responsibility to do my business and nobody has to be behind me to tell me what to do.”

Senior Oscar Arenas however, does not believe online courses are the thing for him, as he needs a traditional classroom atmosphere.

“I learn things better in person instead than just reading it off online or looking at videos because I tend to lose interest or not pay attention,” Arenas said. “I’d rather do paperwork instead of online typing, and do everything by hand. I learn things [better] through person-to-person interaction than by myself at home.”

The following courses will be offered during the 2014-2015 school year: English IV online, English IV AP blended, English III online, English III AP blended, Creative Writing online, US Government online, US Government blended, Economics online, Economics blended, PSAT/SAT/ACT online, Art 1 online, Principles of Information Technology online, Business Information Management online and Foundations of Personal Fitness (PE) online.

Interested students need to talk with their counselors before making the decision to take an online class in order to make sure the course meets their personal graduation plans.

For more information on course registration, fees, and guidelines visit the Virtual Learning academy’s website.