Enrollment in online courses by public school students could grow by as many as 1,000 students next school year, to 2,500, when the state expands its online Advanced Placement offerings and for the first time provides web-only middle-school classes.

It is the first major expansion in years of the Department of Education’s "e-school" program, and is part of a broader push to improve student access to highly qualified teachers and challenging courses. Officials also see online learning opportunities as an innovative way to extend the school day.

For the effort, the state plans to hire as many as 40 part-time teachers.

Hilary Apana-McKee, administrator of the department’s extended learning opportunities and student support section, said the state will offer about 20 new courses in the coming school year, for a total of about 60 web-based classes. Many of those courses will have multiple sections of 25 students each.

As many as 10 of the new courses will be Advanced Placement, adding to six already offered that give students the chance to earn college credit. Apana-McKee said Chinese, Psychology and Physics are among the AP courses to be added as online offerings.

DOE officials said the expansion is meant to be smart, rather than overly ambitious. Key to the growth, Apana-McKee said, is making sure that students understand the challenges of taking an online course, such as time management, personal responsibility and different ways of learning.

"We’re not trying to expand too quickly," Apana-McKee said. "Phasing it in is the easiest way to do it."

As part of ongoing education reforms, the DOE has pledged to bolster online learning options for remote campuses, which have a difficult time recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers, a technical term in education that means a teacher is fully licensed and has demonstrated subject matter competency.

While the details of future expansions of online learning haven’t been hammered out, the DOE is studying the needs of remote schools, officials said.

The expansion comes after three years of relatively flat enrollment in DOE’s e-school, whose numbers — though expected to grow next year — are far behind ambitious goals made in 2007. By the 2010-11 school year, a DOE task force had hoped that about 10,000 students would be taking at least one online course.

The lower-than-expected growth of online courses is in part due to funding constraints, Apana-McKee said. The new expansion is funded with a $1.9 million federal grant aimed at improving education offerings for military dependents.

The DOE’s e-school program started in 1996, with an enrollment of 128 students. A decade later, enrollment hit 730. And by 2009-10, it was about 1,700. Current enrollment in courses is about 1,500. Students can enroll in multiple courses, but can’t take all courses online since they’re not all offered.

The expansion of Hawaii’s online program comes as many states look to web-based courses as a way to offer more flexible schedules and innovative and diverse courses to students. Some states are seeing big growth in online learning, as students — and teachers — become more comfortable with the format.

David Hughes, a social studies teacher at Maui High who also teaches online courses part time, said online learning is the future and more growth in web-based courses is almost certain. "Internet learning is tailor-made for Hawaii, especially considering that we’re basically a water state," he said. "It’s going to increase."

Online, Hughes teaches courses in Advanced Placement U.S. History and "modern history of Hawaii" along with a professional development class on online teaching. He has been teaching in Hawaii’s e-school for seven years.

Hughes uses an online portal for classes but also holds "office hours," during which students can ask questions, and holds live class discussions, usually at least once a week. He said his students log on from all over the state and many opt for online classes for enrichment or because the courses aren’t offered in their area.

While the e-school is by far the largest initiative offering online courses to students in regular public schools, it isn’t the only one. Some schools use online courses to help students make up credits for courses they’ve failed. Kapolei Middle has an online academy offering all courses online to interested seventh- and eighth-graders, as a way to ease overcrowding and engage tech-savvy students.

And at Wheeler Middle, Principal Brenda Vierra-Chun and her teachers are working to develop an online program aimed at extending the school day, giving students new lessons or certain times to interact with teachers. The program, which could be ready next school year, will be designed for seventh-graders.