Virtual School Teacher Certification

"Career Opportunities". Georgia Department of Education. 4/22/2010 .

"Certification Requirements for Instructional Positions". Florida Virtual School. 4/22/2010 .

I searched around various virtual schools and what it took to apply for a teaching job at them. To become a teacher at a virtual school you have to have a teaching certificate in the state which the school server is based out of (generally it’s in the name of the school, i.e. Florida Virtual School). To get a certificate in another state it’s rather easy, just have to submit a standard or Level II certificate to the NBPTS and it must be comparable to the new state’s standards and you can get one.

Some schools have various other qualifications that have to be reached. For example to become a highschool teacher at a virtual highschool in Georgia, you have to attend a 10 week online teaching training course. Although upon completion of the training course does not guarantee you a job at the school. The qualifications vary from school to school but all require a state certification.

I found it interesting that for the most part becoming an online teacher is being treated exactly like becoming a normal school teacher with little variation in the requirements. I’m surprised that not every virtual school has some sort of online training course for their teachers, for I feel teaching online is a complete different experience than teaching on a face to face basis. It requires a special kind of organization, motivation, and understanding when teaching the course. Besides in video chat situations you are completely disconnected from your students. This can be hard for some teachers ajavascript:void(0)nd a training course should be set up to help teachers realize that is how the courses will be held and how it is a completely different setting.

For my video I was unable to find one on getting certified, but found a video on getting a certification online to teach overseas for virtual teachers.