Virtual Charter Schools and Home Schooling By Carol Klein

But I’m not sure it’s the best thing to sit in front of a computer for 4 hours a day” (Trejos, 2000, para. 16). When technologies are used for learning, parent involvement is critical so that face-to-face interaction continues and remains intact. Ray (2002) also was helpful in this regard when he advised the use of balance and argued that “Although use of computers and the Internet are not essential to a solid academic education, parents and their children can wisely use them as part of a good education. The possibilities are myriad” (p. 174).

Quantitative data would be helpful in defining technology use in home school environments, but few statistics are available. Nonetheless, in 1996, it was found that while one out of three American families nationally had a computer, at the same time 86% of American home schooling families owned one and used it for education purposes (Basham, 2001). Just 4 years later, when about half of all American households had Internet access, approximately 93% of home schoolers now had access to a computer (Heuer, 2000). This availability of tech-nology contributes to the ability of 71.1% of home schooling parents to customize curriculum to their child’s specific needs (Ray, 1997b). Additionally, in a study on computer use in New Mexico (Ray, 2001), it was determined that Internet access and use for educational purposes was 61% for home schoolers in this location.

The latest National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) study, “Computer and Internet Use by Children and Adolescents in 2001,” reports that American children and adolescents between 5 and 17 years of age use technologies more than adults: about 90% use computers and 59% use the Internet. Household respondents provided this information regarding the experiences of 28,002 children and adolescents 5–17 years of age. Also, this report concluded that it still remains true that house-holds with higher family incomes are more likely to use computers and the Internet than those living in lower income households (DeBell & Chapman, 2001). Data on current technology use by home schooling families is needed, but even without it one can see how computer and Internet use have so obviously become ubiquitous throughout our society, and especially within our homes over recent years.