Online school sounds very foreign to most people, but is very beneficial to students. It offers many things that a traditional brick and mortar school cannot. Students would benefit from being able to attend classes at home because students' learning would be unaffected by weather or other conditions, students would have an alternative to their brick and mortar school, and students would have more flexibility and independence.

Schools often close because of extreme weather, such as snow days. Although snow days are usually celebrated by students as a reprieve from the burdens of school, multiple snow days can interrupt a student's learning and lead him or her to struggle later on. After missing days of school, teachers can feel rushed to get through their material, so they spend less time on parts of a lesson, leaving students with gaps in their learning. If school is canceled for a long period of time, students can forget what they had learned and lose their focus. Coupled with the rushed teaching at school, students can significantly fall behind in school. This can lead to a drop in the student's self esteem, since they feel they cannot understand the material. In my experience, whenever school was canceled for a long period of time, this was the pattern. In an online school setting, classes would not be canceled because of weather or other conditions, so the teacher would not have to rush, students would not lose their focus, and students' self esteem would not drop.

School attendance is mandatory for most children in the United States, but sometimes there are problems with the schools that students have to attend. Schools can be understaffed, underfunded, have bullying problems, or a toxic environment. Forcing children to attend these schools can only hinder their learning. If the students were allowed to attend classes from home, they would flourish in their learning. An online teacher can teach many more students than a traditional teacher. With video conferencing, every student would be able to see the lesson clearly, and with email, the teacher and students can communicate effectively. Funding would not have as great of an impact in an online school setting since most of the resources would be online, which is less expensive than in a traditional classroom, where the school has to buy many materials. In online school, any type of cyberbullying can be easily seen by the teacher, as opposed to traditional school, where teachers cannot monitor the actions of all of their students.

Allowing students to attend classes from home would give them more flexibility and independence. Students would be able to manage their own schedule, which builds time management skills, and learn to contact their teachers online in a professional manner. Students who pursue extracurriculars, like sports, would be able participate in their activities, and study uninterrupted at a time most convenient for them. Instead of having to wake up early after staying up late and be groggy for a large part of the school day, a student would have the option to sleep in and be rested and ready to learn for the day's lesson. Students would also be able to spend more time on a part of a lesson that they struggled on before moving onto the next part. Having uninterrupted learning time, being well-rested during the school day, and spending more time on a challenging part of a lesson benefits the student's learning.

All of these factors support that claim that students would benefit from being able to attend classes at home because students' learning would be unaffected by weather or other conditions, students would have an alternative to their brick and mortar school, and students would have more flexibility and independence. Having online school as an option would greatly benefit students in many ways. It benefits some students more than traditional school.