Could the Internet mean the end of snow days? Some schools think so, and they are experimenting with ways for students to do lessons online during bad weather, potentially allowing classes to go on during even the worst blizzard. “Virtual snow days” would help ease pressure on school calendars. Because districts are required to be in session for a certain number of hours or days, losing teaching time to winter weather can mean extending the school day or cutting short spring break or summer vacation.

網路是否意味著下雪天停課將從此走入歷史？有些學校的確這麼認為，他們正在試驗各種方法，天氣惡劣時讓學生上線做功課，希望在最惡劣的暴風雪天仍可繼續上課。「下雪天虛擬上課」將有助於減輕學校行事曆的壓力。由於各學區規定必須上完一定的數時或天數，因冬季天候惡劣而流失的教學時間，可能意味著得延長上課日或縮短春假或暑假。

And canceling school in the winter, when some of the most difficult material of the year is covered, risks leaving students with a learning deficit heading into the spring, when many states administer standardized tests. “Even if you can't continue on at the same pace, being able to keep students on track can make a huge difference,” said Doug Levin, executive director of the nonprofit State Educational Technology Directors Association.

至於冬天停課，如果正好教到這學年最困難的教材，將使學生在春季班開學時冒學習不足的風險，因為很多州在春季考基測。非營利的美國教育科技主管協會行政總監李文說：「即使不能繼續同步教學，讓學生能跟上進度攸關重要。」

But there are obstacles, too. Many families don't have Internet access with speeds that would support complex classroom-style work, especially in rural areas and impoverished inner cities. Families with multiple children — without multiple computers — could be hard-pressed to keep up. And some people say kids just need an occasional extra day off in the depths of winter. “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 website for the Poughkeepsie Day School in New York, where his son is a middle schooler, after the school turned to online learning during a spate of winter storms.

但這也不是毫無障礙：許多家庭上網速度無法支持學校複雜的上課方式和作業，在農村和城市貧民區尤其如此。子女多的家庭，如果沒有多台電腦，可能很難跟上進度。有些人則說，在嚴冬酷寒中，孩子偶爾也需要額外的休息日。桑特納在紐約波基普西學校網站上說：「當積雪很深時，世界寂寥靜止，如果我們隨興而作，就可以靜下心來，享受無所事事的樂趣。」他兒子是這所學校的高中生，該校在冬天接連發生暴風雪時決定讓學生上網上課。

For schoolchildren, old-fashioned snow days used to mean languorous hours spent playing outside in the drifts, watching television or sipping hot chocolate. But someday, kids who can't get to the classroom might just sit down with their computers. Josie Holford, head of the Poughkeepsie school, which had six snow days and four late starts this past winter, said it's possible to enjoy the outdoors and keep learning. “We are in a completely different landscape, and that learning really isn't confined to a textbook or a teacher anymore,” Holford said. “We all have to be learning all the time. Why should a snow day stop the progress of learning?”

學齡兒童過去下雪天停課時，多半無精打采地虛耗幾個鐘頭在屋外大雪紛飛中戲耍、看電視或喝熱巧克力。但有朝一日，當孩子無法上學時，可能只能坐在電腦前。波基普西中學在剛過去的冬天就碰到6天暴風雪停課和4天延遲上課，校長喬西．何福德表示，是有可能同時享受戶外活動，又不用中斷教學。何福德說：「我們今天處境完全不同，學習已經真的不再局限於課本或老師了。我們隨時都要學習，為什麼下雪天教學進度就得受阻？」

At St. Therese School in the Kansas City suburb of Parkville, students recently did a virtual make-up day after classes were canceled six times because of weather. As she used a computer drawing program to complete an art lesson in her kitchen, seventh-grader Cameron Mottet predicted her classmates would embrace 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.

堪薩斯市郊區帕克維爾的聖德蘭教會學校，因天候惡劣停課6次後，學生最近虛擬補課一天。當用電腦繪圖程式在廚房上完藝術課時，七年級同學卡梅倫．莫特（見圖／美聯社）認為，她的同學都能接受這套運作方式，尤其如果這意味著「他們6月不用去上學的話」。卡梅倫的姊姊所上的學校並未上網補課，她抱怨說，當卡梅倫自由自在地到游泳池玩水時，她得乖乖坐在教室裡。

The first experiments with virtual snow days began a few years ago as individual teachers started logging on during poor weather to drill older students. Since then, entire schools and districts have joined in, using websites such as Skype and YouTube to keep students as young as kindergarten studying during storms.

第一個下雪天虛擬上課實驗始於幾年前，當時有幾個老師開始在惡劣天候中上網教高年級學生。從那時起，所有學校和學區紛紛加入，利用Skype和YouTube等網站讓小至幼稚園的學童，都可以在暴風雪時繼續上課。

In one school, younger students were directed to a website to play online money games, while older students in another school completed a simulation program to test how the angle of a baseball pitch affects the distance a ball is thrown. The experiments appear to be the most prevalent in affluent private schools like Cameron's, where only three of 643 students lacked a home computer.

在一所學校中，低年級學生被引導到一個網站，玩網路理財遊戲，高年級學生則在另一所學校完成虛擬程式，測試棒球投球角度如何影響投球距離。這類實驗在像卡梅倫上的有錢私立學校較普遍，該校643名學生只有3人家裡沒有電腦。

But the efforts aren't limited to wealthy, private schools. The Mississinawa Valley district on the Indiana-Ohio state line has led Ohio's push for virtual snow days. Fifty-two percent of the district's 700 students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. Since Mississinawa got permission last fall to make up two snow days electronically, four other Ohio districts joined the pilot program.

但這項計畫並不限於富有的私立學校。在印第安納州和俄亥俄州州界上的密西西納瓦谷學區，已率先推動俄州下雪天虛擬上課計畫。該學區700名學生中有52%可吃免費或優惠午餐。自去年秋天開始，密西西納瓦谷學區得到許可，2個下雪天可電子補課，俄州另外4個學區也加入試點方案。

However, Ohio lawmakers have thrown out a provision allowing the practice, citing concerns that poor students without home computers and rural students without Internet access could be at a disadvantage. Lawmakers continue to debate the issue.

但俄州州議員已拋出一條允許這種做法的規定，主要擔心這可能對家裡沒有電腦的貧困學生，和不能上網的農村學生不利。議員將繼續辯論這個問題。