His class has no physical teacher and no fellow classmates.  There are no lectures. 

He doesn’t turn in hard copies of his homework.  And when he has a question, he doesn’t have to raise his hand.

Basically, his class consists of  him and a computer.

Senior Mark Schultz, who completed Rockhurst’s math curriculum in three years, had to find a way to continue his math career.  He did so by enrolling in the Jesuit Virtual Learning Academy (JVLA). 

Ran by Creighton Prep High School in Omaha, Nebraska, the JVLA offers online classes that, according to its website, “utilize technology to connect students.” 

Currently, Schultz takes Multi-Variable Calculus, one of 23 total classes offered by JVLA.

Rather than the workload, the biggest problem for Schultz has been receiving help with challenging problems.

“It is a huge difference from being in a classroom just because when I don’t understand a problem, the only thing I can do is send a message to the teacher instead of getting immediate help,” Schultz said.

But it wasn’t always clear what class Schultz would take his senior year.  As an eighth grader, Schultz had tested out of freshman and sophomore math at Rockhurst.

Originally, Mr. Scott Duschen, assistant principal for academic affairs, thought that Schultz would have to take his math class at a local university. 

But the JVLA offered an efficient outlet.

“We all agreed that this was the best opportunity because it was a new online course used throughout the Jesuit system, and he is our guinea pig on this [to test its quality],” Mr. Duschen said.  “Everything fell into place at a perfect time.  He can stay on campus, Mr. [Greg] Owsley [math department chair] is free the period that he is taking the class and he is on one of the new library computers.”

Although this system has worked out well for Schultz, the online course system probably will not take the place of any required courses. 

“This is a complete experiment on Rockhurst’s part so we will see how it goes,” Mr. Owsley said.  “I don’t think an online class can be as good without a real teacher because you don’t get the immediate feedback.  It’s like if you read a book, you can’t ask the book a question and get an answer.”

JVLA’s online school has a wide variety of courses, including areas of social science, science, art, theology, foreign languages, computer classes and music theory classes.