they need is paid for by taxpayers. good morning, everybody. reporter: about 90 miles from christina s house in los angeles, lisa begins the first day of algebra class from her home in lake ellsinore, california. i am one of the three algebra 2 teachers. reporter: christina s other teachers are spread across the state. as for the students, watch the map light up when she asks algebra students to mark where they live with a star. we have a lot of southern california student students. reporter: christina is one of 200 students in class. she teaches using a combination of her voice, powerpoint-type graphics and this cyber chalk board which students see on her screen. you can put quizzes inside of your presentation. reporter: students can ask questions through a chat panel the teacher sees on her screen.
through a chat panel the teacher sees on her screen. they can get extra help knew e-mail and phone calls. lessons are recorded for students to watch when they want, which is what jonathan is doing with this spanish class. and one. up. reporter: jonathan is a competitive ice skater, practicing for two hours a day every morning, going to school online allows him to pursue his skating. he s also an advanced student. an 11-year-old freshman in high school, which online school also caters to. it allows you to work at your own pace. so if you can do the math problems in 20 minutes rather than waiting for the whole class to finish, it really works well. reporter: but it doesn t work without a parent or someone supervising. jonathan, for instance, likes to play video games. so mom usually camps out close enough so she can see his computer. across the country, 27 states currently offer some level of full-time online public schools. critics say kids miss out on the social aspects of go