“Online learning is an education option that more and more students are using,” said Scott Blake, spokesperson for the Ohio (U.S.) Department of Education. In 2000, Ohio had one online school, enrolling about 2,000 students. Today, more than 20,000 students attend online schools, including students who are unable to attend in person due to illness–students like Danielle Ritz, who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 2005.Ritz, who graduated this past weekend, attended the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT), Ohio’s first full-time online school. Launched in 2000, it currently enrolls nearly 8,800 students. Said Nick Wilson, ECOT’s spokesperson, “We get students with very diverse individual needs. We get students who are victims of bullies, or violence, in traditional schools. We have students, like Danielle (Ritz), who have health issues. We have teen moms. There are a number of reasons why students choose online education.”ECOT is one of the higher-performing online community schools, receiving a designation of “continuous improvement” on the Ohio’s annual report cards. The school also met, or exceeded, the state’s measures for student growth in reading and math.Source: The Canton Repository