ACCESS - A Powerful Tool

Access (Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators and Students Statewide) is a very powerful tool initiated by Governor Bob Riley and Dr. Joseph B. Morton, State Superintendent of Education. The vision of ACCESS for Alabama is to provide access to high quality instruction to improve student achievement through distance learning. ACCESS provides options and opportunities for Alabama high school students to engage in Advanced Placement, electives and other courses they may not have access to in their schools. Students have an array of online courses to chose from such as; English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Foreign Languages, Electives, Health and Art. Within each of the courses are a variety of choices to enhance the learning of every student. Highly qualified, Alabama certified teachers are online supporting the students with high quality instruction. ACCESS also allows students to interact with students from other schools. Besides expanding the reach of education, ACCESS has increased student responsibility for learning.
From a parent and paraprofessional's point of view, I am so excited to have all of these wonderful opportunities at reach. Sometimes, all a student needs is that extra bit of visual help and being able to access all of the information available on ACCESS could be the perfect solution. I will suggest ACCESS to every high school student I know, including my own children. Learning at their own pace and interacting with students from other schools through distance learning may be instrumental in a student's future. Technology has given learning a whole new meaning. I wish this would have been an option in my high school days.