Power to the People

Many Americans have a picture in their mind of what home schooling is. In the past it has been a huge burden on parents if they chose to stay home and guide their child's individualized learning. It also could be difficult to find the right textbooks at a local bookstore or know where to order them through catalogues. In today’s time, home schooling is incredibly better because the internet provides an endless font of benefits. Now, online courses take the weights off of parents teaching. Nooks and other e-readers cut textbooks costs in half and make buying them as easy as a swipe of your finger. And for the critics who say that the students miss out on human interaction, there is even the option for tutoring via Skype. Home schooling is now an easier method for families than it was ever before.

To start off- what exactly is it like to take online courses? I looked up the high school level program in the Keystone School online to find out. Like any traditional school, there is a curriculum and a set of requirements for graduation that emphasize math, science, social studies, and English. 

Delving a little further into the courses themselves, I found incredibly detailed outlines of what the workloads would be like. It surprised me to see that there are even lab sciences offered, many of which can be done with simple materials found at home and others for which they provide a lab kit with the cost of the course. It’s plain to see that in terms of designing a syllabus, parents no longer have to worry. Online courses are now a full-fledged industry with professionals collaborating to produce expert course designs and curriculums. In fact, parents no longer need to even be present for home-schooling, which maybe could free them up to bring in another source of income. (They’ll probably need one, with most courses priced at hundreds of dollars)

Then comes the next 21^st century blessing: e-books. This trendy technology can actually be a huge benefit to your wallet. As I recently found out at the NYU Bookstore, textbooks ain’t cheap. I can’t imagine having to spend thousands of dollars on books alone throughout high school or middle school. Not only is the content from textbooks now more accessible, but also cheaper than traditional hardcovers or paperbacks. Just browse the etextbooks section of Barnes and Noble’s website for proof:

Some of these digital volumes are up to three times cheaper than buying the physical tome. Options to rent them are even better, and there’s no worrying about if the book gets damaged. Although the starting price for a Nook is about $99, when you could save on average $50 per large textbook the extra cost soon pays for itself.

A major question about home schooling via the internet is if the student will miss out by not having the physical presence of a teacher to instruct them, which I find to be a valid concern. But in yet another of the many examples of cultural convergence, tutors now have the option to operate through videochatting. Programs like those offered through Sylvan Learning Center focus on the importance of speaking and working with teachers in real time. It’s almost like bringing the classroom setting to the student. Not only does the student get valuable human interaction, but they also get one-on-one help by an expert in the subject, something their parents wouldn’t necessarily be able to provide for them. Here's an example of a similar program offered through Revolution Prep:

So what’s the verdict? It seems that with these three Web 2.0 technologies, home schooling is a more viable option than ever. The quality of the education provided is guaranteed by online courses, and combined with cheap e-textbooks, it takes an enormous pressure off of parents. Students don’t lose out on the teacher interaction without a traditional classroom setting because they can receive even more individualized instruction via Skyping with their tutors. Logistically, the internet has streamlined the process of education from home. The only downfall is that for all of the methods I have described, there is money involved. Shouldn’t knowledge be free? But that’s an entirely different discussion.