Philip D. Brown

Richmond County Daily Journal

Richmond Senior High students are showing increasing interest in taking classes over the Internet since Virtual Public High School courses have been added as options, according to school administrators.

The Virtual Public High School program which includes courses that might not be a part of the school curriculum is now up and running. In addition there are dual enrollment college courses with Richmond Community College and University of North Carolina at Greensboro and recovery classes, all of which were offered last year at RSHS.

Junior Somonia McLaurin was one of the students who enrolled in the online classes during the first semester they’ve been offered. She is taking Introduction to Psychology.

“All our assignments, we just type them up and send them,” McLaurin said. “You don’t really have to work on too much at home, except the essays. I have to work on those at home sometimes.”

Her assignments are given to her over Blackboard, an academically-geared computer program incorporated at most universities. The weekly essay assignment she receives is roughly a page or two.

She said the experience of an online class does take some getting used to for a high school student, but it’s what she expects to see in college.

“Because it’s online, it takes more dedication,” McLaurin said. “You don’t have a teacher in the room with you, so you really have to do it on your own, but I guess that’s what it’s going to be like in college - your professor isn’t going to tell you to do stuff.”

Senior Brandie Long is also taking the Psychology course, and she said she’s adapted well to the online classes.

“It’s not any harder than any other class,” Long said. “You have to be self-motivated, though. If you take these classes, it pushes you forward and lets you know what to expect in college.”

Marla Barbee is the facilitator of the program at RSHS, and she said it has been a tough transition for some students.

“For some students it’s tough at first because they’re not familiar with Blackboard,” Barbee said. “Once they get comfortable, I really have had some students that have exceeded expectations, but I’ve had to stay on them to get their work done.”

She said next semester will be an increased challenge as more students show an interest in enrolling in online classes, especially the dual credit college classes.

“This semester we have three students taking UNC-G classes, and there have already been 48 who have expressed an interest in taking them next semester,” she said.

“Students will be allowed to take one block of online classes here in this lab,” RSHS Principal Cory Satterfield said. “We don’t want them here all day taking the classes, but you could potentially take two of those classes in that time period, so it’s an excellent opportunity for our students to get credit.”

Satterfield said offering online classes at high school is “a brand new experience,” with some minor bugs that are being worked out. Still, he said the school’s staff is learning from the student interest and performance in them.

“I’m finding out that kids have different ways of getting information, and there’s a lot of other classes that they can get through this, for instance we don’t have a German class but they can take German through this,” he said. “And kids are learning that they have to be self-motivated because there’s not a teacher in the classroom, and they’re being trusted with more responsibility.

“I can foresee this growing into a thing where students need an online class to graduate high school.”

He also noted students are responding to the opportunity.

“We’re looking at possibly having 60 students take classes online with UNC-Greensboro next semester, so they’re really responding to this,” Satterfield said.

Senior Shalima Lindsay is taking a Philosophy class through UNC-G this semester, and she said she feels this is preparing her for the next step to a college campus.

“I wanted to start getting my college credits ahead of time,” she said. “It’s different from high school because being online gives you more responsibility, not having a teacher.”

When Senior Natalie Brown signed up to take a dual credit class through RCC, her decision was based on convenience.

“For me, it’s more convenient to take the online classes,” she said. “I can do it on my own time, and it might help me when I get to college, having already taken a college class and knowing what to expect.”

She said the college curriculum is more detail-oriented than the high school curriculum, but she’s growing with the challenge.

“This has really helped me by doing the writing assignments,” Brown said. “It just seems that I can express my ideas better through writing the paper than talking to someone.”

She said the more challenging curriculum is rewarding in enhancing reading and writing skills, but it takes a special kind of high school student to take them on.

“If you don’t enjoy reading for a class, this probably isn’t for you,” she said.

Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at pbrown@yourdailyjournal.com.