In my role as a Family Admissions and Enrollment Coordinator, I am often approached by families who need flexibility in the educational solutions for their children. Perhaps they are missionaries who do not have access to the courses or schedule they need. In other situations, students and their families may be involved in programs and activities that demand a large amount of travel, such as elite sports or various demanding careers. Some families may have encountered a setback due to health reasons and the students cannot attend a physical school at this time. These are only a few examples of why people may need to enroll in courses and programs that are more flexible than traditional models.
In this post I highlight not only some of the benefits of the flexibility that online Christian schooling provides generally but also how these benefits have been experienced practically by some of our parents and students specifically in my context at Sevenstar Academy. The type of online courses discussed here are asynchronous, which means they are courses that do not require the student to be logged in at a specific time. Rather, students can log in to the course content and complete assignments at any time of the day.
Regardless of the specific reason, having the flexibility to enroll in courses that start in any week of the year can be a valuable benefit to many families.
Flexibility of Enrollment
Many online courses and programs have rolling enrollment and allow students to start courses any week of the year. This can provide much-needed flexibility in the timing of course enrollment.
Families may need a student to enroll in an individual course or an entire group of courses at some time other than the traditional start to a semester in August or January. For example, a senior in high school may need to make up a course midyear in order to fulfill a graduation requirement. In other situations, health reasons may dictate that a student starts a “term” of full courses at an unusual time of year.
Regardless of the specific reason, having the flexibility to enroll in courses that start in any week of the year can be a valuable benefit to many families.
“Sevenstar Academy became a very suitable option for me and my lifestyle because of its flexibility to allow me to compete in equestrian competitions, take on a part-time job, and get involved in volunteer opportunities. Sevenstar allowed me to be able to continue being involved in these experiences and to access my academics easily at any time.” – Anna, 2022 Sevenstar Academy Graduate
Flexibility of Access
Many parents who explore the option of online courses are looking for the ability for their children to access a course 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The student may have a job or a mission opportunity they are working on during the day. They may travel a significant amount of the time. They may be in a health treatment regimen that keeps them from attending during traditional school hours.
Before options existed for flexible access to 24-7 online courses, students were faced with falling behind if they could not be at their physical school. Parents were faced with perhaps having to teach courses themselves with traditional physical textbooks.
With online courses that are available to access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, students can learn and make progress without having to be at a specific location. This flexibility also encourages students to develop the self-regulatory skills and discipline needed to move through their courses in a timely manner.
“As a result of online school, I had more free time, since I finished my work faster. My free time allowed me to focus on things aligned with my interests. In addition to selling clothes, I also wanted to continue participating in some of my hobbies, such as competitive dancing. Exercising my mind and body has fundamentally given me more clarity, helping me do better in other aspects of my day-to-day life. Overall, I have learned a lot this year by experiencing things that I could not have learned in a classroom. As part of this process, my accumulated life experience taught me that outside-the-classroom learning experiences are just as valuable as those I learned from studying in classrooms.” – Hannah, Sevenstar Academy Student
Flexibility of Content Time
In an online course that is asynchronous, students have much more flexibility in how much time they spend on each new concept. If there is something that is already known or comes easily to them, they can move more quickly and are not dependent on anyone else’s timing for this. The student has discretion over how much time they spend on any given lesson, video, or piece of content. They can base this on the level of their own comprehension and understanding.
Conversely, they may need to spend more time on content that is a struggle. Perhaps they would do multiple repetitions. Students have the freedom to work with their instructors to adjust their course pacing to their individual education needs. The student may want or need to progress through the curriculum faster or slower than the traditional school model facilitates.
“Some of the pros of learning online include that you can work at your own pace and that you can make up your own learning schedule. While in-person schools are limited to going at the pace of the average student, online learning allows you to work faster if you already understand a concept, or slower if you need a little extra help. In-person schools are limited to a specific seven-hour time frame every weekday (8am-3pm, for example), while online learners can choose to complete schoolwork at whatever time is most convenient for them, whether that falls within the traditional “school” time frame or not.” – Leah, 2023 Sevenstar Academy Student
Self Management Skills
Students in an asynchronous learning environment must develop and apply self-control, time-management skills, and organizational skills. Without the pacing of a traditional 50-minute class period and the lack of a bell schedule to change courses, students must manage themselves and their daily educational schedule. We are speaking here specifically of middle school and high school students. Elementary students who are in asynchronous courses will need more assistance from their parents in this area.
Students in asynchronous online courses can set up and manage their own environment by reducing distractions and choose how much time they spend on a task. Ideally, regardless of their age, this will be done with input from their parents. Together, they can determine how much time per day the student is devoting to each curricular topic. If developed and applied properly, these skills will contribute to their success at the next level of education and in their future in the workforce as well.
We cannot expect our students to forfeit innovations to accommodate an education that wasn’t designed for the world they live in.
For some families, and for a large variety of reasons, flexibility beyond what a traditional school environment can provide is the best option in the education of their children. This may be either short-term or long-term. Online courses provide greater flexibility in multiple areas, including flexibility of enrollment time, flexibility of access to the courses, and flexibility of applied time on curricular content. Overall, flexibility is one of the greatest benefits that online, asynchronous courses provide.