The socialization of online K-12 schooling: What does it mean to be a member of an online-schooled society? by Bryan Mann and Saki Ikoma

Consider the ideal depiction of an elementary school in the United States. The depiction would likely include images like hallways full of colorful bulletin boards and smiling kindergarteners, amicable teachers in classrooms instructing a group of third graders about how to use multiplication tables, and playgrounds with monkey bars from which hanging sixth graders peer at the nearby yellow school buses.

Very few would describe the ideal school as being located in the room next to a bedroom, or a classroom as coming through the monitor of a computer screen, or a teacher to be a series of lessons, pictures, and graphics delivered over the Internet. However, despite not aligning to the idealized descriptions of the school model, policies and practices in the United States are challenging the traditional notions of colorful hallways and monkey bars. According to a report published by the Evergreen Education Group (2012) that follows online schooling trends, more than 30 states have multi-district fully online schools and the number increases every year.

Granted, just because something does not align nicely with expectations does not mean it is inadequate; online resources could potentially provide numerous advantages. New technologies could be used in unison with traditional classroom practices to provide exciting new tools to add to teachers’ repertoires. Additionally, the Internet can make it easier to provide curricula to areas where students do not have access through traditional means. Finally, online schools could provide students with alternative options if they have to leave traditional school environments due to medical reasons or fear of bullying.

Yet, even considering the potential benefits, there are major social questions that have to be asked as adoption of online schools becomes more normative. If society is willing to educate schoolchildren online, what is society willing to sacrifice? Does online schooling ensure that students will be ready to enter the “real” world? Or an interesting question for sociologists to consider: as more online schools prepare students, how does society change overall?

Most of these questions are research-focused and beg to be answered with extensive quantitative and qualitative projects. Currently, the best insight is that the current traditional model of schooling plays an important role for schoolchildren in shaping values and behaviors through institutionalized norms and expectations. Brint (2006) argues that the “effort of school authorities to socialize students is undoubtedly one of the major activities of schooling, and it might be the schools’ most important activity.” Thus, interactions with teachers and peers are critical to learning, both explicitly and implicitly. The various beliefs, values, norms, and expectations of classroom in turn shape a student’s understanding of the outside world. Their informal social network helps them learn what behaviors are welcome and what behaviors hurt others, as they sometimes learn they cannot always get what they want.

The socialization function of school shows that not all messages children receive through schooling are measurable. This “hidden curriculum” is so deeply embedded in schooling as a social institution, it makes hard to believe online schooling is sufficient in exposing schoolchildren to current institutional norms. Despite the potential inadequacies, though, there is no evidence that the trend of online education will subside. As the U.S. educational agenda is increasingly geared toward testing outcomes, people will try new measures to meet those outcomes. If they try online schooling, they may change traditional socialization processes, which will, in turn, change what it means to be a member of society. Whether this change is one that is positive or negative is both debatable and uncertain, making us wonder what it might be like to a member of an online-schooled society in the not-so-distant future.