I just heard a great story.

Right after the devastating tornado outbreak hit the Bluegrass State a couple of weeks ago, the staff at the Barren Academy of Virtual and Expanded Learning (BAVEL) got concerned calls from some of its supporting teachers who work with students in the program. Those teachers wanted to know if any of the kids they were serving were impacted by the storms.

Such teacher concern might not seem unusual – until you consider this. These concerned teachers are not from Kentucky. Because BAVEL is Kentucky’s totally on line digital learning high school, some of the teachers supporting BAVEL students live out of state. These educators do communicate with their students regularly, electronically, but they don’t live ‘next door.’

Still, though separated by distance, BAVEL’s on line teachers were concerned about the well-being of their students just like our resident teachers who might live ‘just down the street’ from their traditional classroom students.

This story provides interesting insight into digital learning. Digital learning isn’t impersonal and cold. There is a personal touch in well-run on line programs, and staff members – even when separated by distance – do care.

A ‘hat tip’ to Benny Lile, Director of Instruction and Technology at the Barren County Schools, for providing this unusual and interesting insight.