by Eduardo Calderon|Staff Writer

With technology advancing rapidly, so will the landscape of education.  And on that landscape, the idea of attending courses online is gaining more attention from a student population frustrated with the norm.

“Basically, students take courses from Texas Tech and University of Texas at Austin online to get high school courses,” counselor Rebecca Hudkins said.

When NEISD made the switch from the A/B schedule to a traditional bell schedule, the popularity of online courses was on the rise.

“It frees up a student’s schedule to take courses they’re interested in, or sign up for more AP classes,” Hudkins said. “It can also be used to regain credit other than taking summer school.”

Signing up for online courses is a simple walk to the counselors’ office.

“[To sign up], students must get permission from their counselor, and a form must be complete,” Hudkins said. “Johnson only accepts University of Texas at Austin or Texas Tech courses.”

The courses available online are not limited to only electives.

“When I took online courses, I took English, Chemistry, and Geometry,” senior Issac Sarabia said.

Some students find working online is easier then working at school.

“School doesn’t really work for me like it used too, I work a lot better from home,” Sarabia said. “It would be easier to concentrate on the online work then at school.”

Online courses can be used to graduate earlier than planned.

“I wanna get advanced in school so I can finish early and move on in life [through the] online courses,” sophomore Vanessa Ruiz said.

Online courses can be the escape that some students crave.

“I am tired of high school, and I just want to move on with my education and make my own money,” Ruiz said.

Online courses do have a few missed opportunities then the regular high school experience.

“You miss out on people and things that happen to them in high school, you lose contact with friends, and miss out on fun high school activities,” Ruiz said.

Although online courses are available to anyone, they may not be for the faint of heart.

“It has to be a good fit for the student, they work at their own pace, and do not need prompting to complete work,” Hudkins said. “They must be self-motivated, it may be difficult for some students.

Online courses can be found at http://www.utexas.edu/ce/k16/cbe-ea/high-school-courses, or http://www.depts.ttu.edu/uc/k-12/.