Online Education: Separating the Good from the Bad

An internet search for online high schools will result in a lot of bad actors.  Companies offering to sell you a discount diploma that promises to be the real deal.  Those companies are often referred to as diploma mills. 
“What you get out of it is a piece of paper, but it's not a high school diploma,” said Darrel Fincher the Technologies Director for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, “It's not recognized by the state department of education.  It would not be recognized by your local districts and it wouldn't be recognized by your colleges and universities.”

However we learned not all online high schools are created equal.  In fact a real virtual school is headquartered in Oklahoma City and offers students a chance to earn a diploma and not just buy a piece of paper. 

“We have worked extremely hard to be the opposite of that if you will,” said Rob York, President of Advanced Academics located in Bricktown.

Advanced Academics is a school that is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Certified teachers and counselors work one-on-one with students across the country.  “Our command if you will, is to deliver to educators innovative online solutions that empower their students to achieve their goals,” York said. 

Most importantly, while the teaching may happen online, the school is actually a partner of a real-life local school district. Which means students can take part in extracurricular activities on campus while doing academics online. 

“Because they are a part of the school district and advanced academics they can come in and participate in those programs but go home and take their advanced academics online program that is in concert with the school district,” York said.

Besides getting a diploma from a real school, students can rest secure in the knowledge no one at Advanced Academics is cutting corners when it comes to educational standards.  “We have to go through the same accreditation process as any school in the state of Oklahoma,” York told Fox 25. 

York said the program works for parents who want to home school, but still want a quality education.  However the online school also offers many advanced class that are often inaccessible to students in rural districts.  This means regardless of where a student lives they are no longer limited in what they can learn. 
Online Education: Separating the Good from the Bad

Posted: Friday, February 8 2013, 09:57 PM CST