Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/55384
still be that caring adult. When kids walk in the door, I can see who's not focused and talk to that student. For the most part, these kids are learning to be responsible and work independently, and they like the fact that they can be successful." Riverside Virtual School also offers blended online learning. Students work at home, and there are weekly in-person vis- its or Skype sessions. The program thrives because of the student-teacher connection, says Kelly McAllister, a member of the Riv- erside City Teachers Association. "I just went to a conference where someone said this job can be done with- out a teacher," she says. "That's interest- ing, because if a kid doesn't come in and connect with us, it usually means they were not meant for online learning. While learning may happen online, it's still that teacher-and-student connection that makes it work." ISOLATION — OR A DIFFERENT TYPE OF COMMUNITY? While some embrace virtual classes as a nat- ural integration of technology with learning, others fear it may deprive students of peer interaction necessary for socialization. CTA members teaching online courses say they make a strong effort to foster a personal connection and create an online community for students. "We have meet-ups, trips to the museum and hikes," says Kelly McAllister, a middle school teacher at Riverside Virtual School. "We use different tools so that students can interact with each other in classes. We have discussion boards and Google chat, and kids are constantly e-mailing us or texting us when they are stuck. We see our kids at least once a week in most circum- stances. If they can't come in, we Skype them. The kids can be as social as they want to be. Some students don't want to be social, while others want interaction." Virtual school doesn't work for every student and requires family support, says McAllister. "It's no different than any I can work anywhere or anytime, but the best part is that I can take mornings off and work at night. I am not a morning person, and it was hard for me when I had to wake up early and learn. Now, I start about 2 o'clock. Chelsea Kunz, senior alternative education center, chino February 2012 / www.cta.org 17 school; we just give instruction in a different way." Luz Calvo, the CSU East Bay professor, says it is becoming more challenging to teach online courses because the college is constantly raising class size since there is no physical classroom. Professors have been fighting to hold the line at 40 students per class, while the uni- versity would like as many as 60. For online courses to succeed, says Calvo, there has to be interaction between individual students and between groups of students and the instructor, within struc- tured "online com- munities" created with various online programs like Black- board and Moodle. "I post a set of questions about the reading for a week, and students are r equired to post answers and respond to each other's posts and answers," she explains. "There are also functions where, instead of a discussion board, students can post a blog and people can comment on their blog post." While online classes can be isolating for Kelly McAllister some students, others blossom in an online environment, says Calvo. "I think it works a little more for stu- dents who are a little shy and sit in the back of the class and never talk," she says. "We use names, but if nobody knows who you are, you feel very anonymous. There can be a greater level of disclosure in the online class than you see happening in face-to- face classrooms." STUDENT'S VOICE