Do you miss reading the work of Liam Julian, who until he left Fordham last year was one of Flypaper's most prolific and talented writers? Then get your fix with this New Atlantis piece on virtual schooling. If you hate the idea of cyber-schools, you'll love Liam's argument that these settings are terribly suited for kids with motivation problems--i.e., many of the kids who have been "left behind." And if you love the idea of cyber-schools, well, you won't hate his argument that "individualized virtual learning is one promising path to incrementally improving modern American education." Of course, true techno-enthusiasts, who think virtual learning will "transform" our system, will scoff at the word "incremental." So be it; incremental change looks a lot more likely to me.
