Summary: The article is mostly about how enrollment in online classes is expanding in the US. The beginning of the article talks about a middle school in Boston that received a grant for 650 laptop computers and how they use them instead of textbooks. Attendance at the school went up by over 90% and office referrals went down by 30%. The author talks about several other changes the school made such as providing parents with instant messaging software to parents so they they could contact teachers if they encounter problems while helping their children with homework. Then the article talks about how enrollment in online high school classes is going up in general and could be as high as 50% by 2019. The article points out that virtual classrooms are cheaper than regular classes but the benefits might be greater academically for students.
Reaction: I think this article makes a lot of good points about using education in classrooms. Although I don't think that he can compare online classes with using laptops in class. Overall I think this model of using online classes instead of physical classrooms isn't very good. It may benefit the student academically but it also takes away from all of the social aspects of school. I think the first part of the article where they talk about using laptops instead of textbooks is good but I do not like the rest of the article that talks about replacing schools with online classes.
Szep, J. (2008, July 7). Technology reshapes america's classrooms. Reuters, Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/07/07/us-usa-education-technology-idUSN2547885520080707
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