While Virtual High Schools have been around for a while now, they are just now becoming more of an apparent choice for parents seeking education for their children.  A virtual high school falls under the category of distance learning in which education is provided via internet or other multimedia sources that do not require a student to be present in an educational institution.  Online high schools such as Virtual High School have provided online education since 1996 in collaboration with 30 states and 20 countries and is still fully functioning today.  Many students have found themselves attending virtual high schools for a variety of reasons such as teenage pregnancy, illness, and or home situations that make it difficult for children to attend school.  While there is still much debate about whether virtual high schools would better serve students, according to the British Journal of Educational Technology, some educators agree that candidates should have the following characteristics:

• self-directed
• independent learners
• highly motivated
• good time management skills
• willingness to ask a lot of questions
• strong support from family
• not dependent on face-to-face interaction

Possible reasons why students are seeking an online education:

• low achievement due to social distractions of traditional high schools
• teenage pregnancy
• illness or disability
• low social skills
• peer pressure
• high interest in technology/internet

This following article discusses students and their ability to focus in a high tech world:

http://www.edutopia.org/editors-note-importance-of-focus

Below is a comparison of the elements of a physical classroom and those of a virtual classroom.

Why some students are going the "Virtual Way."

Virtual High Schools are looking to replace this:

with this:

The following are examples of Virtual High Schools across the country:

http://www.govhs.org/Pages/WhyVHS-Home

http://www.nuvhs.org/

http://www.flvs.net/Pages/default.aspx

The following link is an overview of virtual learning within the Los Angeles Unified School district who recently opened its very first fully online virtual High school.  http://sites.google.com/site/onlinelearninglausd/

References: 

Cathy J. R. C. Wayer, N. & Liu, F. (2010) “VIRTUAL HIGH SCHOOLS: Improving Outcomes for Students With Disabilities.,”  

          Quarterly Review of Distance Education 2(11) 91-104.

“Editor’s Note: Keeping Things in Focus”, n.d.,

             http://www.edutopia.org/editors-noteimportance-of-focus.

“Distance learning | Define Distance learning at Dictionary.com”, n.d.,  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/distance+learning. 

Murphy, E. & Rodríguez Manzanares, M. A. (2008) “Contradictions between the virtual and physical high school classroom:

          A third-generation Activity Theory perspective.,” British Journal of Educational Technology 6(39)

“National University Virtual High School”, n.d., http://www.nuvhs.org/.

“Online Learning LAUSD”, n.d., http://sites.google.com/site/onlinelearninglausd/.

Reid, K. M. & Aqui, Y, & Putney, L. G. (2009) Evaluation of an evolving virtual high school," 46(4), retrieved from

http://0web.ebscohost.com.opac.library.csupomona.edu/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=126&sid=b777a220-ebcb-4798-9a27-08d5ad9a1368%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=afh&AN=46777560

Starkman, N. (2007). GOING THE DISTANCE. THE Journal, 34(2), retrieved from

http://0web.ebscohost.com.opac.library.csupomona.edu/ehost/detail?vid=12&hid=126&sid=b777a220-ebcb-4798-9a27-08d5ad9a1368%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=afh&AN=24417363

“Virtual High School Welcomes You! WhyVHS-Home”, n.d.,  http://www.govhs.org/Pages/WhyVHS-Home.  

“YouTube - Virtual High School”, n.d., http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypKrqmRB_Cw&feature=related.