Could Internet spell the end of snow days?

Okay, so we know that many of you are enjoying your first days of summer vacation. And probably the last thing on your mind is snow.

But there are reports going around that one of kids’ favorite technological breakthroughs, the Internet, could mean the end of one of kids’ favorite winter traditions: snow days.

Yep, some school districts are experimenting with having students do lessons online during bad weather, allowing classes to go on during even the worst blizzard.

Because schools are required to be in session for a certain number of hours, losing teaching time to winter weather can mean extending the school day or making breaks shorter.

And canceling school in the winter, when some of the most difficult material of the year is covered risks leaving students behind in the spring when they take standardized tests.

Virtual learning, which has been widely used by colleges and universities for years, is becoming more common for younger students as teachers get comfortable with the technology. Online learning also saves money because schools don’t have to pay for buses, electricity and custodians.

But there are obstacles, too. Many families don’t have high-speed Internet access. Families with multiple kids but not multiple computers could find it hard to keep up.

And some people say kids just need an occasional extra day off.

“When deep snow falls, the world becomes quiet and still. And if we listen to our instincts, we settle in and enjoy the pure joy of not doing,” David Santner wrote on the Web site of his son’s middle school in New York, after the school turned to online learning during a series of snowstorms.

For schoolchildren, old-fashioned snow days used to mean hours spent playing outside, watching TV or sipping hot chocolate. But someday, kids who can’t get to the classroom might just sit down with their computers.

At St. Therese School in Missouri, students recently did a virtual makeup day after classes were canceled six times because of weather.

As seventh-grader Cameron Mottet used a computer drawing program to complete an art lesson in her kitchen, she predicted that her classmates would like the system, especially if it means “they don’t have to go to school in June.”

Cameron’s older sister, whose school isn’t making up days virtually, has grumbled that she will be in class while Cameron is free to hang out at the pool.

Seventh-grader Jalisa Rush said she and her friends spent their e-days chatting on Facebook as they did online assignments that included calculating the calories in favorite foods. Because some of the projects were more creative, she didn’t mind them.

“I thought it was really exciting and something new to try, which was really pretty great,” she said. But she added: “It gets a little harder because you didn’t really have the teacher there to explain something if you have a question.”

— Wire reports