Online schools 'worse than traditional teachers'

A major report, based on research in 17 US states with online charter schools, has found "significantly weaker academic performance" in maths and reading in these virtual schools compared with the conventional school system.
 The National Study of Online Charter Schools, the first major study of this growing sector, has taken a wrecking ball to the idea that pupils learn as effectively in such an online setting.
The report, from researchers at the University of Washington, Stanford University and the Mathematica policy research group, found online pupils falling far behind their counterparts in the classroom. In maths, it was the equivalent of pupils having missed an entire year in school.
Low achievement in these schools, identified by this research, has raised big doubts about this approach.
The online schools relied much more on students driving their own learning and often determining the pace at which they advanced.
And the biggest problem identified by the researchers was the difficulty in keeping online pupils focused on their work.There is less teacher contact time in virtual schools. On average, pupils in bricks-and-mortar classrooms received the same amount of teacher time each day as the virtual pupils received on-screen each week.
 Apart from the challenges,the study also highlights certain groups who benefit from online schools - such as rural students with limited options, students at home with health problems, those with families moving around the country and those who for whatever reason did not fit in with a conventional school.