IndexPerspectivesConsConclusionMany of my peers are surprised that I have a legitimate diploma after I tell them I went to school online. I've been asked if I actually graduated, if I'm "mentally disabled" and that's why I made the switch, and also if I meant I was homeschooled. The answers are invariably yes, I did, no, I didn't, and no, I didn't. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay I enrolled in an online school following a significant move from Nebraska to Georgia. The curriculum was so different that I had already learned most of the math and science lessons while attending my old middle school, but the new one refused to let me try more challenging courses. In addition to my academic boredom, I was frustrated trying to make friends as the “new kid” in a district where everyone already knew each other. After two months, my parents saw that things weren't improving for me and started looking for alternatives. We chose a public school hosted entirely online, with students and staff from all over the state. I happily stayed at that school until I graduated in 2018. Making that change was the best choice I could have made for myself, but not enough students understand what online school is like, if they're aware that it's an option. That said, it may not be for everyone, because rarely is anything. Here, I'll briefly review my favorite pros of online school, then the most notable cons (in my opinion), all from the perspective of a longtime former student. Pros: I spent a total of just under five years enrolled in an online school. school, and after the first week I was already thrilled with the noticeable changes in the way I learned. Ask me why I stayed in an online school for so long and these are the first reasons that come to mind. Take a Road Less Traveled A state school on the Internet eliminates some of the traditional limitations of formal education. It doesn't matter how many buildings you have when your school is effectively digital and there are thousands of potential instructors that can be hired from anywhere in the state. Labor and effort cost the same, and there are price tags for digital infrastructure too, but when staff can work from home and you don't need to maintain a large building, everything becomes a little easier. The freed up resources can be used to create new and varied offerings for students. The most obvious result of this was the wide variety of classes available. I took a course in human physiology, which taught me even before I reached college that the biological sciences were not in my interest. (This realization saved me time and tuition dollars.) And to this day, I don't know a single person in my state from another school who was able to take two years of Japanese language. Another positive outcome was the extensive list of clubs and extracurricular activities that my high school was able to offer with the help of its large and diverse group of teachers. Don't look at the clock... A watched pot never boils and a watched clock never ticks. Don't lie; we've all passed the time during a class by looking at the clock every five minutes (has it really been that long?). It's easy to get bored after an hour of conversation, especially when the content starts to feel repetitive. How many students have wished they could come in, learn the lesson, and leave wheneverhave they finished? With an online education, you can. The modules of each well-structured online lesson put the student through a process that facilitates full understanding of the lesson. The lessons are organized in sequential order, which cannot be accessed until the prerequisites are completed. At the end of the module, which may include text readings, multimedia inserts, links to virtual textbooks and practice slides, there is usually a short quiz to confirm understanding of the content. Completing the quiz means the end of the lesson. Using this format means that a math lesson could last 10 minutes instead of 50. Conversely, if math isn't your strong point, you can take as much time as you need. There were some days when I could complete all of my daily lessons in a quarter of the time my brother spent in school! The flexibility of the online format gives students the ability to take their time to master the content and move on once they finish. I took him on vacation to San Francisco. I had just finished a lesson for class while eating ice cream on the dock! With online training, you don't have to rush to complete homework before or after a personal trip. Online lessons can be completed from anywhere with Internet access (case in point: see Figure 3!). I took many trips and vacations throughout high school and rarely fell behind on my homework. When I did this, I could catch up easily because most of the lessons don't have daily deadlines. Sure, it sounds great, but wouldn't it be terrible to take a relaxing beach vacation only to wake up at 8:00 for classes? Yes, it absolutely would. But it's not necessary. Because the lessons build on each other and are not dependent on the physical presence of an instructor, a student can work through the lessons at a pace that suits them. If you can concentrate better in the morning, you can finish most of your homework before lunch. If your brain prefers to focus between midnight and 3 a.m., that's also an option. (But your teachers probably won't respond to emails right away.) Cons If online education had no positive aspects, it would not be used by a growing number of public and private K-12 and higher education institutions. Unfortunately, all good things come at a price, and here I reveal the two biggest flaws of online school. High school is full of firsts and traditional teenage experiences. Unfortunately, while online school boasts many advantages that make it comparable to a brick-and-mortar school, it cannot totally recreate those experiences. (Not that they don't try.) My classmates generally weren't as enthusiastic about school dances as my physics school friends, but that might be because we accepted that when we chose a school where we had more options and more freedom, we were giving up some aspects of the more “normal” high school experience. These included prom (of course), but also sports games, Senior Ditch Day, flirting and dating with our peers, and socializing in the hallways between classes and in the parking lot after the last bell. Students who look forward to the cultural footprint of high school should carefully evaluate their priorities before deciding whether they will be content to sacrifice those experiences. It's worth pointing out, however, that online school doesn't preclude the possibility of having a social life. Students can meet in web conferencing sessions and exchange emails to build friendships. Additionally, online schools usually try to make sure there are in-person experiences for students to have.