In today’s society, many people believe it is time for school reform. The problem is employers are concerned that high school graduates do not have the necessary skills to be successful at a job when they graduate. Some researchers say that these reform efforts need to focus on the root causes of school problems (International). According to a California study by Paplin and Weeres in 1992, students and teachers saw little meaning in what they were asked to study. Students also wanted more activities and more opportunities to share ideas with classmates. This is not to say the basic skills are not important, but schools are not venturing much beyond the basic skills in providing a school-to-work transition. Before graduates can begin working they need to master foundation skills and competences. The three foundation skills are basic skills, thinking skills, and personal qualities. The competencies describe what people actually

The online pioneers of online schools are The Virtual High School and the Florida Online High School in Orlando, Florida. Both were founded in 1996 and serve as models for other online education ventures. The Florida school was first created as a pilot project but is not paid for by the state. It offered 64 courses this fall and has about 2,500 students. The Virtual School offers 155 course sections and has about 2,800 students from high schools all over the country. Neither school offers a diploma. However, two other online schools do. These are Choice 2000 Charter School in Perris, California and the Basehor-Linwood Virtual Charter School in Basehor, Kansas. Choice 2000 offers synchronous classes. The teacher and the students are online together at the same time each day. This fall the school enrolled 350 students, with no more that 15 students in a class. Basehor-Linwood was created to specifically attract home-school children. It offers courses for students in first through twelfth grade and grants diplomas through the state of Kansas. They designed their courses for parents to access and teach to their children.

With today’s technological society, our educational system needs to adapt. There are so many ways students of all ages, race, and gender could benefit. Schools need to incorporate technology into their curriculum. However, they themselves need to be educated on the appropriate technology before trying to buy it or use it in their school. School Boards and schools themselves need to open their minds to our world. We have changed into a computerized society. We should let this work to our advantage by allowing the children of tomorrow to work with every resource possible. Each child learns different and for one child software programs may be his/her ticket to understanding.

Technology can also be integrated into the class through the use of software. Selecting the software is one of the most important components of success when using it for instruction. One has to take the needs and characteristics of each learner into consideration. There are hundreds of types of software available. The teachers who will be using it with the assistance from the technology coordinator should make the selection decisions about sof

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