But Peter Kuenzle, a freshman at Brookfield East, understands that communicating with others through email, Skype and over the phone is a valuable learning experience, despite the hiccups inherent in the distance-learning project.

“It’s been interesting,” Peter said. “Working with people in a different state is kind of what the real world is going to be like. I’m sure it’ll be beneficial for us, it’s just hard to do.”

Elmbrook’s administrators and teachers see the benefit, too. The district is looking to establish a small number of online courses as part of its summer school program, and administrators said that with enough training of students and teachers, those offerings eventually could expand.

For the rest of the article, go to Schools ready for online classes