Parenting 

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Internet school: learn at home using the Web

The Internet is rapidly changing the way we educate our children. Thousands of schools are already wired – ie. connected to the Internet, and thousands more are planning to go the same way

The present government has an initiative to get all schools online by 2005. On the flipside of this is the growing number of parents who not only choose to educate their children at home, they also use the Internet as their main teaching tool.

In the UK, there’s no law that says you must send your children to school. The only legal requirement is that parents provide their children with a suitable education, which they define as preparing children for life in modern society and enabling them to reach their full potential. Until recently, only a few hundred children were educated at home at any one time. Now, thanks to the Internet, an estimated 50,000 children in Britain are taught at home.

Focused Learning
Some would argue that the Internet is better than having a live teacher. Children get one-to-one attention which is impossible for every child, even in the best schools. In front of an interactive web page, a child learns without classroom distractions, at his or her own pace and with personalised feedback. Difficult subjects can be replayed until they're grasped, and easier subjects quickly zipped through.

In both cases, the child learns at his or her own pace.

Shared Learning
Educational psychologists tell us that children learn more when they’re able to discuss their findings with each other. Teaching by rote doesn’t work very well. Facilitating childrens’ learning does. Most schools now have classrooms that will be unfamiliar to some parents. Rows of desks have been replaced with groups of ‘work tables’ where children can share experiences and discuss their findings.

This kind of shared learning is also available on the Internet. Not only can children exchange work and ideas with children they know, they can also learn from children all over the world via global discussion groups. No school can match that.

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