Are we ready for the students of the future?

An interesting article regarding online education. It seems that online education is finding its way to the high schools. Actually the article claims that there are over one million K-12 online students.
The K-12 Online is growing so much that according to the article:

>...University of California is launching an extensive effort to make sure applicants' online high school courses are on par with traditional classroom instruction.

....The rigor of the curricula and the interaction between the instructors and the students are what make online courses successful, Ellwein said.

"It's not a correspondence course," he said. "What we do here — it's a classroom. Kids are in the classroom every day. You have incredible feedback. It's not an easy credit."

Students can receive a high school diploma through the program, but to be eligible for UC admission, they must complete science labs at the traditional school.

The University of California has seen such an increase in applicants taking online courses that last fall the faculty established criteria for evaluating the classes, said Susan Wilbur, UC's director of undergraduate admissions. Under the new policy, all online course providers must be approved by UC, and then each online course must be evaluated to determine whether it meets UC admissions requirements.

Currently, the 10-campus university grants credit for online courses taken only through its own online college prep program; through Cyber High, an online school run through the Fresno Unified School District; or — the most common route — if a principal at an accredited school will accept an online course and include it on a student's transcript.

Are we ready for the students of the future?