Columbia County Schools' first foray into online course offerings proved successful enough in the 2004-05 school year to continue the program for summer school and in the fall, officials say.
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"We're real happy with it," said Michael Canady, the director of alternative programs for Columbia County Schools. "It's turning into a real viable option for our students."
Bill Tankersley, the school system's instructional technology specialist and facilitator for the Columbia County Schools eLearning Academy, estimated 75 percent of students who took the courses during the past school year and are taking the courses in summer school did so for more remediation purposes. He and Mr. Canady hope to change that.
"We were really looking at students who needed to catch up, usually ones who had failed something," Mr. Canady said.
"What we're starting to target now is the other end of spectrum - advanced kids who don't have a lot of wiggle room in their schedule."
Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue recently approved legislation expanding the online course offerings of the state Department of Education through its Georgia Virtual School.
Although the intent of the law was to give students in rural school systems better access to advanced placement courses, it can benefit Columbia County students as well, Mr. Tankersley said.
Courses such as Latin, AP world history, AP American government and politics and AP comparative government are not offered in most of the county's high schools but can be found online, he said.
"I'm hoping to appeal to upper-level and gifted students," Mr. Tankersley said. "That can free up a period in their schedule that they can take an elective they might be interested in."
Students interested in taking an online course can seek out a school counselor to register for the class. Some courses must be supervised by a teacher, but others can be taken from home.
All of the summer school online courses are available off campus, Mr. Canady said.
"They get the benefits of summer school from their own home," he said.
"It works out well for kids taking vacations or who have other conflicts."
It's too late to register for the first session of summer school, but students have until June 8 to register for an online summer school class for the second session, which is held June 15 to July 22.
Mr. Tankersley warns that the online courses aren't any easier than regular courses and still count toward a student's grade point average.
"After the fall semester, when we first had online courses, word got around, and people realized that just because it was online didn't mean it was something they could take lightly," he said. "There's a drop period where a student can drop the course, but if they stay in beyond that drop period, then their grade will count - whether passing or failing - on their transcript."
Reach Donnie Fetter at 868-1222, ext. 113, or donnie.fetter@augustachronicle.com.
By the numbers
47: Students enrolled
51: Courses taken
39: Students enrolled for remediation
12: Students enrolled for enrichment
47: Percent completion rate of the online courses
88: Percent success rate for those who completed the courses
Figures are from the 2004 fall semester of the e-Learning Academy. Figures were not available for the 2005 spring semester.
Source: Columbia County Board of Education
