This article was orginially published by Higher Education News on August 16th. 
 

More and more Oklahoma students are using online programs to do their schoolwork, a new report shows.
A Tulsa World analysis of state records shows that the number of Oklahoma public school students doing schoolwork through computer-based programs has increased nearly 400 percent over the last three years, writes Andrea Eger at Tulsaworld.com.
 
“The state’s most recent official count of virtual students for 2010-11 was 5,429. That’s about the combined student population of Tulsa Hale, Jenks and Broken Arrow high schools.”
 
While the programs are offered at no cost to students, most are operated by for-profit companies that contract with public school districts.
 
Damon Gardenhire, communications director for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, said:

 
“Everyone is trying to get their arms around the scope of what’s being offered and how fast it’s moving. While this is something we think education as a whole should embrace, like anything else, it is something we should be taking a close look at in terms of quality and consistency.”

 
White Oak, an unincorporated community between Chelsea and Vinita, boasts the most virtual students in part because of its early foray into online education as well as its partnership with K12, a Virginia-based company that invests in radio, television, online and direct-mail advertising.
 
K12 offers virtual programs in more than half of the U.S., and most are named for the state they serve. The districts keep 5 percent of the state funding for virtual students and send the rest to K12.
 
“Across the nation, a growing number of students are benefiting from innovative online learning options,” writes Dan Lips, from the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, in his report called Education in the Digital Age: Policy Reforms to Improve Learning Options in Oklahoma.
 
“Online learning has the potential to revolutionize the way that children learn,” he writes.
 
However, questions and concerns about profit-driven motives and accountability for public dollars are the most commonly raised ones by leaders of school districts losing students to other schools’ virtual programs.
 
Rick Mansheim, who is employed by K12 as head of school for Oklahoma Virtual Academy, said the company is actually losing money on the venture right now.
 
“There is no management fee for K12 in Oklahoma because there isn’t enough funding in Oklahoma to make that work,” he said as he refuted some of the accusations of corporate greed:

 
“The money basically all stays in Oklahoma in the form of salaries and curriculum materials, and K12 actually contributes some money. We do believe that at some point there is a future here. We believe in what we do. We view it as an investment in school choice.”

 
But Dusty Chancey, superintendent of Graham Public Schools, Epic One on One’s sponsor, readily admits to having concerns that online learning is simply “not for some kids”:
 
“Most kids can text, but not all of them can learn the core curriculum in the virtual classroom,” he said. “They need the personal interaction. A lot of these students need the opportunity to try this mode of education but soon decide it’s not for them.”