Doing VCE at home? About Distance Education (+ Interview with a Student)

One of my first posts on this blog was titled How you can Choose the Best Subjects for VCE, where I discussed a little about Distance Education. I will further explore it in this post.

Virtual School Victoria, otherwise known as Distance Education Centre Victoria, allows students to conduct their VCE units in the comfort of their own home over the internet. The school increases access to education, giving the opportunity for students to receive a formal education when they otherwise wouldn’t be able to due to issues such as illness or living in rural areas. While this may sound like a new, modern and alternative way to go to school, VSV follows all the government’s education guidelines and has been around since the beginning of the 20^th century. They even have school camps and graduation ceremonies like most mainstream schools. Furthermore, there are currently approximately 4,000 students enrolled, making it the most populated public school in the state.

Principal Intro from Virtual School Victoria on Vimeo.

Distance education often gets referred to as ‘homeschooling’. While they both involve completing work at home, they are quite different. VSV is a school where students enrol in and work which follows the government guidelines is provided for students to complete at home. Meanwhile, home-schooling involves a student’s work being completely controlled by their family. Meaning that the work does not follow government guidelines or the VCAA curriculum. You cannot get your VCE certificate through this type of education while you can through VSV. In addition, home-schooling families must be registered with the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA). In an article regarding homeschooling by the Herald Sun, a home-schooling mother says: 

"I am not doing school at home; I am doing home education. I am not trying to replicate the school system or structure.”

While all work is completed at home, VSV have a physical location in Thornbury. This allows students who have the ability to travel there to converse with their teachers, use the library and attend seminars.

There are two ways which you can be a student of VSV – entirely completing all your units at home or undertaking one or two subjects via VSV while you complete your other subjects at mainstream school. The latter group are referred to as school-based students.

As outlined in one of my previous posts, in the instance where your school doesn’t offer a subject you want to undertake or you have a subject clash, you have the ability to complete it through VSV. During 2006, 60% of the school’s cohort were school-based students rather than full-time students of VSV. In order to partake in this, you will need to be enrolled at a public or private school, obtain approval from your principal and nominate a staff member to be your supervisor. As a VCE student, you will only be able to complete two of your subjects via distance education – your other subjects will be completed at your regular school. In regards to upfront costs, there are none for students who attend government schools. Meanwhile, for students who attend private schools, for each unit there is an upfront cost of $405. Often, your school will pay some or all of it while sometimes the student will be required the whole cost. 

If you are interested, I suggest you take a look at this web-page which outlines all the subjects which can be completed via VSV. Furthermore, you can take a look at the booklist which outlines the required texts and textbooks for each unit.

The subjects which are avaliable at VSV are:

Year 11 [Units One and Two] Accounting Art Australian and Global Politics Biology Business Management Chemistry Classical Studies Computing: Applied Computing Dance Economics English Food Studies Foundation English Geography Health and Human Development History: Global Empires Industry and Enterprise Legal Studies Literature Mathematics: Foundation Mathematics: General Mathematical Methods Mathematics: Specialist Media Music Style and Composition Philosophy Physics Product Design and Technology Psychology Sociology Theatre Studies Visual Communication and Design

Year 12 [Units Three and Four] Accounting Algorithmics Art Australian Politics Biology Business Management Chemistry Classical Studies Computing: Data Analytics Computing: Software Development Dance Economics English EAL Extended Investigation Food Studies Geography Global Politics Health and Human Development Australian History Industry and Enterprise History: Revolutions Legal Studies Literature Mathematics: Further Mathematical Methods Mathematics: Specialist Media Music Style and Composition Music Investigations Philosophy Physical Education Product Design and Technology Psychology Sociology Theatre Studies Visual Communication and Design

On the other hand, there are also students who complete all their VCE units through distance education. There are six reasons which are accepted by VSV, including:

• ·         Medical (physical)

This includes individuals who are unable to attend mainstream school due to a physical ailment for at least six months. A specialist will need to fill out a form for you confirming the situation.

• ·         Medical (emotional and social)

This is in relation to mental illnesses and disorders which prevent students from attending school for an extended period of time. You will need a specialist to confirm this and you will need to partake in on-going treatment for your condition.

• ·         Travel

This may as a result of family commitments.

• ·         Elite sport or performance.

As a result of being an elite athlete or performer who may have a busy schedule, an individual may be unable to attend mainstream school.

• ·         Distance

If you live more than 4.8 kilometres from a public school or bus route, you would be eligible to be a VSV student.

• ·         Young adults

Individuals who are between the ages of 17 and 21 are eligible to be VSV students.

• ·         Previous Home School Student

Individuals can transfer from home schooling to VSV.

In 2006, one quarter of full-time students were enrolled due to illness, with the second largest group being travellers.

As of 2019, VSV no longer accepts students over the age of 21. The VSV website provides a list of education providers which do though.

Next, we're on to the fun part! My friend has been a full-time student at VSV for a term and is currently working towards completing Year 11. She is planning on achieving her VCE within three years rather than the typical two years and is an amazing aspiring artist. If you have Instagram, I suggest you follow her [@universe_bmcg]!

I thought I would ask her some questions to get some first-hand insight into VSV. Below is a transcript of our conversation:

Hazel: Did your expectations of distance ed differ from the reality of it? In other words, were there any differences between what you thought it would be like and what it's actually like? 

B: Honestly, it's not really that different to what I expected. I expected to work from home and have to complete my tasks online. The only thing was that I didn't know was that I only was going to have four subjects, which is extremely helpful but also probably why I have to do an extra year. 

H: Are there any subjects which you are currently doing that you think are more difficult to complete through distance ed than mainstream school?

B: Psychology, English and maybe maths are definitely ones you could probably manage on your own. It would definitely have to be programming. Programming is really confusing and easy to mess up, especially when you have to do it all yourself. You also have to regularly keep in touch with your teacher to make sure you're doing everything right. You have to also download all the right programs which can be sometimes difficult to obtain. I didn't have a desktop at the start and some of the programs and just the laptop wouldn't allow me to download anything. It worked eventually, but it was slow, so I ended up just getting my uncle to make me a computer. Programming is much easier now. I 100% recommend having a desktop computer (or a REALLY good laptop) if you want to do programming or any computer-based subject. 

H: Would you say the teacher support is adequate?

 B: It's okay, but it's also based more on yourself and if you put in the effort to ring them and ask for help. They would send you an email or ring you if you miss an assignment due date. But they don't know if you are having trouble unless you tell them yourself. I have trouble myself with contacting the teachers and some of them have sent me emails with less work so I can catch up, but that's really it. The person, like a home-room teacher (I forgot what he's called), is the one who rings you and makes sure you're doing everything and they tell your teachers if I need less work or for them to contact me. But they would only call if you miss assignments or ring them. Some teachers don't really communicate with me at all. I believe I haven't spoken to my maths or English teacher before. It's adequate, but it's not the best. 

H: Is the workload similar to mainstream school?

B: The workload is definitely less because I only have four subjects this year. I'm not sure if I'll have more next year though. Other than that, I think the subject work is the same as [mainstream] school but without homework. You have to watch recordings and take notes. Then complete tasks for the week. For Psychology, there's sometimes a work-sheet you need to complete if you attended the online lesson, which excuses you from one task that week. We learn all the same subjects as mainstream, just only get less subjects.

H: Do you think distance ed students need to have a high level of personal skill? For instance, as someone who is in mainstream school, I think one would need to be more self-motivated and have good time management skills to be a distance ed student. Would you agree?

B: Definitely. You need to make sure you are motivated to study and do the work. Distance ed is good for developing peoples' organisation and time management skills. It's important to keep up to date with assignments. The main thing would have to be if you are motivated to work, study and complete everything by yourself. Otherwise, you will not get anywhere. I am good with planning my time but I lack the motivation most of the time and that leads me just sitting there watching my screen. 🤣 

B: You also have to make sure you're not sitting all the time, get breaks in and exercise. 

H: That's very true, I never thought of that. With mainstream school, you get assigned breaks. 

B: Yeah, you have to make sure you're taking care of yourself too and doing your work. 

H: Virtual School Victoria claim they provide a 'flexible' way to get an education. How flexible is it really? Can you complete the work whenever you wish and are the deadlines reasonable?

B: They are quite flexible. I started my work late because of me enrolling late, so I got sent different due dates and less work to complete to catch up. You can contact your teachers and ask them to extend due dates or SACs if you're sick or busy. It's mostly as long as you're doing the work and completing them, especially before a SAC, before a holiday or the end of the term. But I recommend trying to get the work done by the due date, especially SACs. It'll be easier and you'll get feedback quicker. 

H: I definitely agree with your recommendation. It's much easier to keep up rather than catch up. 

H: I know at the school I got to, we have people such as student wellbeing coordinators, careers (we call them pathways) counsellors and even on the rare occasion we'll have a doctor come in for students who would like to see a doctor during school hours. Do distance ed students get access to these facilities also? 

B: I'll have to check, but we do have pathways. People that come to the distance ed campus to talk about different careers and stuff. I'm not too sure about the others. 

H: I saw on their website that they have careers/uni information for students and that there is a wellbeing coordinator. I was just wondering if they make their students aware of those important facilities. 

H: I've heard that you need to have someone as your supervisor. What is the role of the supervisor?

B: My supervisor is my mum. The supervisor is just someone who makes sure you're doing the work and not slacking. But they don't have to be with you while you study or work, as long as you do the work and hand everything in on time. Although, they have to supervise you while you're doing SACs to make sure you don't cheat.

H: Do you ever have the opportunity to interact with other students online? 

B: You can interact with other students through online lessons. Another way would be to go to the school's campus or on excursions to meet your class. I recommend going on excursions to meet other students because it's the easier and the least nerve-racking way to meet them.

H: That sounds fun!

H: Okay, very last thing! If you could give one piece of advice to a person who is about to begin distance ed, what would it be?

B: One piece of advice would be don't do distance ed if you won't put in the effort and are not motivated to finish school. Distance ed isn't an easier way out of your education, it's just an alternative for people who struggle or can't go to mainstream school. 

H: Well said! 👏 You're a queen!

If you would like to contact the school directly, below is VSV's contact information: