Virtual learning has changed the face of education. It used to be that if someone needed special learning aids, that they would have to be accomodated, within the scope of a specific plan, but that the accommodations were labor intensive, teacher administered. There was no way for a student, or an individual with learning issues, could do things independently. With the inception of computers, and technology in schools and homes, a student can take an idea or a program home, and continue to practice and learn, thus developing independent learning habits and skills away from the classroom.
There is now a new system that allows learning from home in its entirety for students that can not handle a mainstream classroom environment. The model was taken from the college precedent, and reconfigured to accommodate school aged children. This has helped immensely with classroom sizes for public school classrooms as well.
The other areas that this has helped with include tutoring, which can now be done completely online, live, with a certified tutor. This eliminates the need for costly programs, and allows students to learn at convenient times that work for them and their families. The programs can also range from foreign language learning, math, science, English, to learning a new skill like reading, writing, and typing. With each passing day, there are new programs being developed, that are geared for specific learning needs. If Dyslexia is an issue, there is a program that works with that, if there is a processing issue, there is a program that works with that. All in all, education is beginning to take on a new form, much like the rest of our world that has accepted technology as a way of life. There will always be the need for teachers in the classroom, but the demand on meeting specific needs lessen, and teachers can focus on the primary educational goals, while supplementing technology for the other areas of concern.