Computers have replaced teachers for 11 students in a small Christian school in Harrison, Ohio, according to a recent article by Valerie Christopher in The Cincinnati Enquirer. The school is one of only 21 non-public schools in the U.S. to use fully computerized lesson plans.
“It takes roughly 10 to 12 students per classroom to pay an average teacher’s compensation,” principal Jerry Goodbar told Christopher. He said providing computers to the 11 students in question “was a great opportunity to work on their core subjects and be tested and graded by the computer.”
One of the students, eighth-grader Jonathan Hodge, finished eighth-grade work in April and now is studying ninth-grade math, history, science, and language arts. He told Christopher the computer “enables me to work ahead and not have to let others slow me down.”
The program the students are using is Switched-On Schoolhouse Network, a software package designed by Alpha Omega Publications (AOP), based in Chandler, Arizona. AOP provides Christian schools with curricula from three different perspectives:
- Horizons, for the conventional classroom teacher looking for a workbook-style curriculum;
- Lifepac, a complete work text format curriculum for students in grades K-12; and
- Switched-On Schoolhouse, a 3-12 grade level CD-ROM providing a combination of traditional learning and computerized education.
George A. Clowes is managing editor of School Reform News. His email address is [email protected].
For more information …
Further information about Alpha Omega Publications is available on the Internet at www.aop.com.
George Clowes is former Heartland senior fellow addressing education policy. He served as founding managing editor of School Reform News between November 1996 and January 2005.
