Coming fall, Eiden has to move on to Junior High. With his good academic record, he has a wide choice of schools open to him – a well-known private school close by, a Catholic school with a reputation for strict standards of discipline (his mom has been eyeing it), the public school a lot of his friends will be moving into. Eiden, however, has found a fourth option: he wants to go to school online.

“I’ll keep my own hours,” he said in defense. “There are some great schools that give you one-on-one attention. You talk to your teachers on Skype and chat with them in print. The faculty are well qualified. These schools will not withdraw a teacher citing budget cuts. I do my lessons at my own pace.”

He is right about that. If you study online, you get to choose the schedule of lessons. You need to complete studying a set of lessons and do assignments in them over a period of time, say four lessons in history in four weeks. You could do this all at once and move on to the next subject. In other words, if you are absorbed in a subject, you can continue to study it.

“Students with other interests like tennis, guitar, etc. have found online schools very convenient,” said Eiden. “They practise their special interest and do their school work at night. Online schooling allows you to travel, all you need to do is carry your computer with net connection.” He reeled off a list of popular names whose owners had been educated online.

“Students waste a lot of time attending classes where nothing really goes on,” he said. “My day is not subject to the vagaries of weather.”

His mom is not so sure.

CONTINUED…