The benefits of virtual schools definitely outweigh the downsides. Since technology is moving so quickly and many schools are implementing a 1 to 1 program, the age of virtual schools outside the classroom is slowly coming into view. The primary benefit of these programs is the ability for students to work at their own pace and take control of their education. The faster and brighter students will work more independently without a teacher than those who are slower. Students who need more help can get personalized help from a teacher without the distractions from other students. Another aspect of virtual schools that is so feasible in this time, is the fact that it is significantly cheaper. The education system in the United States complains that they need more money to educate their students. In fact, the education system does not need more money. I believe that our changing education system requires changing teachers. This problem can be solved by having the best teacher or group of teachers teach hundreds of students each through the use of technology. Why have many teachers of which some are great, average, and poor when you can have only the best teachers teaching students with the use of virtual schools? The price of virtual teaching can be much cheaper and its results can be just as good as or if not better than schools as we think of them today.

In addition to the lower cost of virtual school, technology in education also comes along with the universal internet. There are an unfathomable number of websites whose main purpose is to help and teach students. For example, it would be extremely easy to replace math teachers in a school with others on the internet. Websites such as Khan Academy and Youtube provide endless videos to teacher students. Students no longer need to wait to the next day in school to get help from their teachers. Instead, they can use the endless number of students websites to assist them with their lessons. These resources are on the internet and students are already using them. All the education system needs to do is to implement them in their schools them. Some teachers already use them in class to teach their lessons. What’s the point of paying teachers in schools if they are going to show material from the internet that any student is capable of using himself without the assistance from a teacher? Furthermore, the giant number of educational resources on the internet allows students to find a teacher that works best for them. In traditional schools, students are stuck with the same teacher throughout the entire year. Why is it then that the American education system is so reluctant to allow students to use the internet for their learning and continues to say that we still need a giant number of teachers to teach the students? Are the teachers on the internet not teachers? Whether they are trained or not and are trying to help students on the internet, they are still teachers. Students can work with teachers that work for them. The internet can provide teachers to students that students can understand. I think we can all agree that we each have different teachers who we would rather have teach us and others that we would not want. Each student responds differently to each teachers teaching methods. With virtual schools, students can find the teacher that they can easily understand. In short, education is simply as big as the internet and clearly has the most potential to change our education system with the use of the best teachers and allowing the student to choose the education that make sense to them.

I believe that the future of education should give the student a choice of a personalized education. Personalized education is such a great reason to use virtual schools. Some students need teachers and other do not. Why not take advantage of this and change the education system to teach in a way that treats the students differently as opposed to the current education system that more or less assumes that we all thrive in exactly one kind of classroom environment? The only people who knows the best method to get a lesson across to the student is the student him/herself. Everyone learns differently and virtual schools can provide the means for students to learn in their own unique way. The best way to describe uniqueness among students is to look at the students as both the “customer” and the “product” of the education system. The students or the “customers” need and education that works for them and the education system should provide them with the means that best work for them rather than teaching in a way that assumes that “customers” all have the same needs and wants. In turn, the students who are the “products” will get a better education and be more prepared for the future. The education system is rapidly changing and now is the time that we put the students at the focus of education. After all, it is their education.