Pedagogic shift - in international virtual schools

Virtual International Schools

Virtual schools have emerged out of the end of the 20th Century (Russell, 2004) particularly in the USA, where the numbers have been growing rapidly in recent years as a result of globalization, technological advances, changing perceptions on the traditional model of schooling and new funding models (Clarke et al., 2005).

In Europe, a major study (A Transnational Appraisal of Virtual School and College Provision - VISCED) was funded by the European Union to provide a systematic review of virtual schools and colleges across Europe. As part of the project, VISCED identified different levels in which virtual schools and colleges could be categorized. In particular, they suggest that the main reason for the growth in virtual schooling across Europe is to provide inclusive education, education for expatriates or for disengaged learners.

Some authors (Freedman, 2005) also discuss the importance of technology, underpinning virtual schools, reflecting that success and or impact of virtual schools, is to some extent measured in relation to technology. Technology, it could be argued distinguishes distance education from virtual schools. The way a school is planned and managed, whether it is a traditional model or a virtual school, can have an impact on teachers’ professional development, how they learn as a group, on the potential for pedagogic shift and on how teachers change their current isolated teaching practices to teaching in collaboration with others in a virtual international school context.