WIMMERA Virtual School project officer Gary Schultz will use a $10,000 scholarship to research the program's effectiveness and look at further improvement.
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Mr Schultz, who works for the Education Department in Horsham, won the Country Education Project's second Baillieu Myer Rural Education Leadership Award for outstanding achievement and leadership in Victorian rural education.
Dimboola Memorial Secondary College nominated Mr Schultz. He taught at the college for 26 years before taking on the project officer role.
He said in his application he outlined his achievements in the past 12 months as project officer and his plans for the Wimmera Virtual School.
The virtual school program allows Wimmera secondary schools to teach VCE classes via the internet.
Mr Schultz said the school had grown from seven classes in 2009 to 16 classes in 2010.
He said schools in Birchip, Kaniva, Edenhope, Casterton, Beaufort, Horsham and Murtoa participated in the program, allowing them to offer an increased VCE curriculum.
"I want to use the money to look back and see how effective the program has been in terms of providing for the students," he said.
"I also want to look at what we can offer in vocational education in a virtual medium."
Mr Schultz said he planned to visit other states and countries, such as New Zealand, to see examples of virtual learning and how he could apply ideas to the Wimmera Virtual School.
"I will look at how they are teaching the classes and how they are rolling out their program so our schools are better informed to make decisions," he said.
Mr Schultz said the $10,000 scholarship would allow research to help expand the pilot project.
"It will better inform the Education Department to hopefully support a further roll-out across the state," he said.