In Virginia's Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), technology and the internet are helping to transform learning--a practice that, at least in most school systems, traditionally stops and starts with the school bell--into a round-the-clock enterprise.

At the heart of this district-wide transformation is a custom-built, online portal system from educational service provider Blackboard Inc., through which FCPS students can take classes and communicate with their teachers from anywhere, anytime, as long as they have access to an internet-connected computer.

Assistant Superintendent and Chief Information Officer Maribeth Luftglass says the custom-built portal serves as a sort of "virtual gateway" to a wide array of educational services--allowing parents to swap messages with instructors, giving stakeholders the ability to monitor test scores and class assignments, and enabling students to enroll in online courses, among other uses.

First piloted by the district in the fall of 2001, the "24-7 Learning" system has grown from a three-school pet project to a district-wide resource now used by an estimated 80,000 students, with 18,000 different classes now online.

One of the system's most popular applications, the FCPS Online Campus, lets students take FCPS-approved classes entirely via the internet. Much like the courses taught in traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms, each online course made available through the 24-7 Learning portal meets certain educational needs, including alignment with state Standards of Learning assessments and other district guidelines.

Though students who enroll in these online courses typically only meet with their instructors in person once or twice during the semester, they chat online with them several times a week and are responsible for handing in work and assignments on time via the computer.

To address concerns among parents who fret that these courses might simply be "watered-down" versions of what's being taught in traditional classrooms, FCPS requires parents and their children to attend a face-to-face orientation with the online instructor, during which the teacher goes over the ground rules for the class and tries to alleviate any concerns about the legitimacy of the course or its merits.

While these types of alternative classes typically are used to help struggling students meet certain course requirements, officials say they also are being used increasingly to help sick or bed-ridden students keep up with their classmates and to provide an outlet for exceptionally gifted students who are ready to move beyond what is being offered in the classroom.

Before the online web portal came along, Carson Middle School eighth-grader Alex Godofsky had to get on a bus and travel to a neighboring high school to take Algebra 2 courses. Now, Godofsky says, he takes the courses from Carson's library via an online class offered through the portal.

"At either the beginning of the day, or at the end of the day, they would bus me to Oakton and I would take Algebra 2 there," he said in a video presentation about the program. "Taking it online is a much nicer alternative than having to get up earlier, or get home way later."