Nova Scotia Virtual School will offer about 800 positions in September, and up to 1,500 the year after, Education Minister Ramona Jennex announced Friday.

In the current school year, about 500 students from 58 high schools chose from 22 courses, according to the Education Department. There will be 46 courses offered next school year.

Jennex said the expansion will cost $1.7 million, which covers items like hiring a French immersion teacher, buying equipment and providing technical support.

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“Every district in this province is really quite different, and those of us that are elected know our districts best.”

Beyond the school calendar changes, the legislation will allow students in kindergarten to Grade 9 to take a mix of online learning and traditional school courses, something that only students in Grades 10 to 12 are able to do under current legislation.

It will also clarify that school boards can charge fees for international baccalaureate programs if they cost more than standard education programs.

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Lynn Little, superintendent of education for Cornerstone, told the trustees attending an April 19 meeting in the division’s central office in Weyburn, that when classes and courses were first offered online back in 2006, there were just 35 students registered.

“We have 450 now, although some are repeats,” said Little, pointing to the impressive growth in popularity. There are about 8,100 students currently enrolled in classes in 38 facilities in the Cornerstone division, with about 2,150 enrolled in Grades 10 to 12.

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The long-time Valley teacher is now teaching through Kelowna-based Heritage Christian Online School (HCOS) using programs like Quest Atlantis, Active Worlds and Thinking Worlds. He will speak at a meeting, hosted by HCOS, and provide information on this style of learning at the Salvation Army Community Church, at 1580 Fitzgerald Ave. on Tuesday. Various workshops and presentations about what the online school offers will happen from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., and childcare will be available.

Holden said this style of learning is a prime example of 21st century learning, and although traditional learning through books is important, virtual learning can teach in ways text cannot.

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Unlike many of the virtual classrooms that have popped up across the US in the past five years, i2P does not rely on government funding and is touted for being interactive. The organization gets most of its money from corporate sponsors such as Gatorade and relies on donations from Apple and BGAN Satellite for its technology. Called “21st century learning” and “truly groundbreaking” by Apple’s Distinguished Educators, a program that recognizes K-12 and higher education pioneers who use Apple products to transform teaching and learning, i2P is already being recognized for its unique approach.

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“There are few entertaining educational tools for very young learners on the market,” says Eronne Foster CEO of Cackleberrries Entertainment. “Young children are natural language learners. They pick up a new language easily without conscious learning, unlike adolescents and adults. A virtual world where they can watch entertaining child appropriate animations, play and explore is the perfect tool for learning another language.”

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The new, expanded program would entrench the Internet leadership courses and sharpen their focus on breaking with the past. “Developing an Agenda for Change” and “Mobilizing for Change” are the names some of the other prospective courses.

The hope is that rising officers will learn these leadership skills at their computers, while posted in detachments across the country.

One obvious advantage of Internet learning is that it eliminates the need for expensive travel and sabbaticals. But the courses are not intended to replace other police training or even be all that in-depth.

“Web-based courses are just one piece of a much larger approach to sustainable leadership development,” said Sergeant Julie Gagnon, a Mountie spokeswoman. The consulting contract envisions Mounties taking up to eight distance-learning courses in a year-long curriculum, each being “no more than 15 hours of applied time.”

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Twenty Grade 10 students at their homes throughout Trillium Lakelands District School Board and beyond, including Hamilton, Ottawa and London, create podcast interviews, ads, apply for music licences, search out free content and set up schedules to keep Radio VLC streaming 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Taught by John Graham, the communication-technology class is part of TLDSB’s Virtual Learning Centre, an online secondary school that attracts students from throughout Ontario and sometimes even further afield.

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“It has some positive aspects, particularly the removal of comments – and ads – which would have made so much of YouTube fall foul of many educational filters.

“Of course, more video material will be useful to students and teachers, particularly those using virtual learning environments where they can embed or ‘mash-up’ content into lessons.”

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Adding to the anticipated financial woes could be financial penalties for failing to meet the 2002 class-size amendment requirements. The state has estimated those fines will be $4,800 for each student over in grades K-3 and $4,400 for each student over in grades 4-12.

The final count indicated that 18.5 percent of elementary classrooms, 15.9 percent of middle school classrooms and 13 percent of high school classrooms were out of compliance, representing 884 students.

That’s better than preliminary counts in which the district was 986 students over the caps, but still well off the established goals of 18 students per teacher in kindergarten through third grade, 22 students in fourth through eighth grade, and 25 students in high school.

“The funding was simply inadequate to meet the mandate without completely devastating noncore area classes,” Romagnoli said.

Pasco was in full compliance with the amendment last year. It joined a growing list of districts that failed to hit the mark this year.

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