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February 2009 saw the publication of two (at least two that come to me) magazines with a distance learning focus. Leading and Learning--the magazine you refer to--had a rather glowing account of Florida Virtual. It was future-oriented and described some components of what must be the future of 8-12 education. NEA also published a lengthy article on the topic this month. Virtualizing education in Alaska, according to the article, takes the form of a teacher speaking into a video camera in real time while students watch and reluctantly participate. I kept looking for a disclaimer saying "Luckily, this story of virtualizing education is from LAST decade. We're not really still doing this to our kids in the classroom." No such luck. The article is worth reading, if for no other reason than as a "how not to do distance learning"! http://www.nea.org/home/30580.htm If you've ever seen Marco Torres with his cartoon teachers saying "read pages 1-10 and answer questions 1-4" using the latest and greatest technology of each age, that's exactly what the Alaska article highlights. ~Tim