The difference in traditional and modern-day schooling :
As I curiously and more so reassuringly search the meaning of 'School', Google provides me with the first definition as 'an institution for educating children'. It doesn't sound too different from what my impression of a school is except the fact that the definition isn't limited to address just children.
In the larger perspective of the word, 'school' is used to address any place where education is imparted to 'students' of any age. However, the primary shift in the paradigm of the word school isn't just related to age. It is indeed related to the evolution of the concept of an 'institution'. In the modern-day paradigm, the 'institution' itself has evolved to encapsulate both brick and mortar schools as well as those that exist on your tabs, laptops and devices. Did I say devices? Yes indeed! You read it right. And this is indeed where the future is heading. Over the last 2 decades or a little more, our mails don't need postal offices, our messages don't need telegraph systems and our navigation doesn't need any paper maps. So why would our institutions lag behind. When you carry your emails, messages and maps in your smartphones, why not your institution?
Accredited digital school
Digital Schooling is a developing and catching phenomenon and it is doing a pretty good job of catching up with the conventional schooling structure. It is simple, convenient, flexible and much more. And above all, it is gaining recognition and acceptance.
When I go to a US Digital Schooling platform, such as International Schooling, it shows me that it is one of the few ACCREDITED Digital Schools in the world. And it indeed is accredited by AdvancED, the largest accreditation agency in the world. So what does this mean to a student or parent? In simple words, it means that students completing their schooling from this digital education will be considered at par with students graduating from conventional US schooling system.
It also means that the universities and colleges would treat the two as 'EQUALLY ELIGIBLE' for undergraduate admissions (considering other things being equal as far as the credentials of students are concerned).
How can you earn an American high school diploma online?
A student completing his High School (Grade 12) from International Schooling would be awarded an American High School Diploma from an accredited school, which indeed is the criterion for acceptance from any conventional school as well. So what indeed is the difference? Well, the difference is reflected in the long list of advantages that a digital schooling system presents. This American High School Diploma from International Schooling is earned by the student in a more comfortable, conducive, student-centric and flexible learning environment, which is decided according to student's preference. It is akin to carrying your entire school in your device and attending it at your own convenience. It could also mean that while the student was attending this digital school, she or he was pursuing many other interests and activities, besides just working towards earning an American High School Diploma.
It creates more opportunities for the student to invest additional time in building hobbies, personality and career. And believe it or not, students can concurrently attend their regular 'conventional' school and a digital school, independent or supportive of each other, eventually earning their 'conventional' school qualification as well as the American High School Diploma from International Schooling. It is absolutely a 'low risk and high reward' proposition.
It is time for students and parents around the world to sit back and think for some time. It is time for them to prepare for the future, the future that wouldn't really resemble the present when it comes to education. And more than just think, it is time for them to embrace the future, which indeed is Digital Schooling.
Edwin Lim
Nov 13, 2018
