Ah, I see where my difficulty lies. My own pedagogical beliefs and frame of reference are commiserate with the "What is Happening in this Classroom" (WIHIC) and related learning environment theory and surveys created by Fraser, Ledbetter, Zandvliet and many others. Using the preferred and actual learning environment surveys, validated in numerous learning environments the teacher directed/teacher constricted model consistently falls far below the efficacy of students' critical voice, negotiated learning, group cohesion, relevance of learning, and other measurable learning environment attributes.

The iNACOL standards critique from a very different frame than my experience (and the copious validated results of the WIHIC strand of research) demonstrate are optimum for learners in successful, dynamic learning environments. This dissonance derives, I believe from the digital immigrant struggling to understand the needs of future learners. I can tell you definitively, that my students will not read, nor do they care about the pages that tell them what they will learn, what the privacy policy is, or the rules for plagiarism, and netiquette even if those are important to me as a teacher. Students want to get down to the learning, be dynamically engaged, have a voice in what they are learning, and communicate with me, their teacher when they have a better idea, or want help getting to their learning destination. These are attributes that are measurable and the focus of learning environment surveys.

Ok, fair enough, I have one parent now, who desperately wants me to identify exactly the due dates, what needs to be done each and every moment of their child’s virtual school day. Interestingly, they also are clear that they have no intention of following those guidelines. So I'm confused. I suspect they just want an alternative to what exists no matter what format that is. Which leads me to the next argument.

I agree that we need to bring digital literacy and citizenship into the brick and mortar classroom with blended models of instruction. Classrooms are moving in that direction, as more people become accepting of allowing students to access their smart phones, bring in their ipads, use twitter, and facebook rather than the unfortunately still prevalent locking down of access to internet reception that frightened and controlling adults determine is best for kids. A brave new educational future will be the support for supplemental DL (virtual) programs. I'm optimistic enough to hope for the Shakespearean rather than the Huxley version.

I need to digress further here. I love the distinction of this new-to-me-from-this-MOOC vocabulary: full-time and supplemental programs. There are vast differences in the responsibilities and expectations of both students and teachers associated with these two vastly different concepts in DL. Having the vocabulary to delineate the two is helping me to categorize those differences and understand many frustrations I experience daily. Thank-you!

Returning to the main discussion: The need for the full-time DL environment will remain as well as (I hope) a place for teachers like me who want to practice the full range of digital teaching skills which include course design, development of my own learning materials and lessons using resources I choose (like this exciting, dynamic Pearson e-text I have for my Grade 8 DL classroom). Unless we find a cure for bullying, anxiety, depression, family crisis, traveling parents, alternative lifestyles, and a gamut of other influences that remove students from the conventional school system, virtual schools (cyber in America) are here to stay.

References

Fraser, B.J. (1998). Classroom environment instruments: development, validity and applications. Learning Environments Research, 1(1), p. 7-33.

Houston, L.S., Fraser, B.J. & Cynthia E. Ledbetter, C.E. (2008). An evaluation of elementary school science kits in terms of classroom environment and student attitudes. Journal of Elementary Science Education, 20(4), p. 29-47.

Zandvliet, D.B., & Buker, L. (2003). The internet in BC classrooms: Learning environments in new contexts. International Electronic Journal for Leadership in Learning, 7(15), Retrieved September 22, 2012 from http://people.ucalgary.ca/~huartson/iejll/.