The financial lure of lower-cost online learning during a period of tight budgets shouldn't prompt schools to proceed before giving serious consideration to a multitude of factors.In 2003, my first year of teaching high school, the district technology representative approached me about creating an online U.S. Government course that would become one of the first courses offered in the district's new e-learning program. My district had prided itself on being on the cutting edge of technological advancements. At the time, it was one of the few districts in Virginia to maintain a one-to-one laptop initiative, and all courses had been equipped with Blackboard course management software. An e-learning program was the next step in this evolution. I agreed to create the course that summer and taught it about 12 times over the next four years. My class sizes ranged from one student who needed to take the class to satisfy a graduation requirement to more than 20 students in summer sessions.
