Abstract:

During the last decade there has been a growth of virtual education in schools, colleges and universities both in public and private institutions. Virtual schooling has developed as an alternative to traditional in-seat lessons. It is developed for people who have difficulties to be physically present at school, e.g. living far from school, unsatisfied with local provision, disable, or who prefer to have a more flexible day/time to attend lessons and study thanks to the asynchronous nature of most of the work.
The supremacy of USA virtual schooling system seems not to be so certain as it was in the past according to the increasing numbers of European institutions which have started to teach courses, entirely or mainly, through distance online methods. The aim of this paper is to analyse the different styles of virtual learning offered in Western countries, with a specific interest in the USA and Europe, and to compare the different models to find pros and cons of them in a perspective of continuing monitoring of the development of virtual education as a growing phenomenon which is interesting the educational setting as a whole.

Keywords:

Digital competence, distance education, learning innovation, online courses, technology, virtual learning, virtual schooling.