Online education for K-12 students is growing

Computers have long had a place in many classrooms, but what about learning online completely? The number of full time online K-12 students is growing.

An estimated quarter of a million students in kindergarten through 12th grade were enrolled in full-time online schools last year, a 25 percent increase over the previous year.

Some parents choose online schools because their children are struggling in ordinary ones, and others do so for their flexible schedules.

K12 Inc., a for-profit company, runs many of programs contracting with school districts that receive state aid for online education.

“Five years ago we were about one-fifth the size we are now,” said Ron Packard, founder of K12 Inc. “I would expect, you know, we've grown five-fold over that period, so we'll probably do so again over the next 5 to 10 years. This is a movement that is just beginning.”

In 2010, the U.S. Education Department said more studies were needed to determine how effective online education is for students.

The National Education Association, a teacher’s union, supports using online content in traditional schools, but questions whether learning online full-time is the best approach.

“There's so much more to learning than content acquisition. There's socialization. There's discussion in classroom,” teacher Jessica Henry said. “You've got to be able to look at their face and know whether they need a push or maybe a hug.”

Courtesy of CNN.