Distance Learning during a pandemic: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.....
March 18, 2020, the state of Alabama closed all schools in response to the Coronavirus
pandemic. The seriousness of the situation could be felt all around the world and here in
Alabama. Principals, university and college deans, and teachers were scrambling to figure out
what to do about instruction. Parents were scrambling to figure out what to do about
childcare and work responsibilities. They predicted that the schools would reopen on April 6,
2020. As we all know, that didn’t happen. Instead, spring break became the end of the 2019-
2020 school year.
As we reflect, we realized that there were lessons learned, knowledge gained, and families
devastated. There were recognizable elements in the experience good, bad, and ugly.
The Good
Virtual learning and distance education became a household word. Necessary changes presented themselves, such as newly developed district ran virtual schools and other virtual learning academies. It became necessary to accommodate students who had opted for virtual learning. The video below discusses how a school district has now begun to investigate the possibility of incorporating virtual learning into its curriculum. They plan on getting input from stakeholders to see if this is indeed possible.
Meanwhile, the company View Board provided detailed advantages to distance learning. The video below demonstrates their product and some of the positive elements that their Viewboard offers to help with student and teacher interactions. This was most definitely needed during the state-mandated school shutdown.
Real-time collaboration
Instant sharing
Saved lessons that enable the students to go back later and review.
QR codes that act as login components.
How would you organize a school for the first two weeks of in-person instruction?
What have you learned from distance learning that you want to incorporate when students return?
How has this year changed your view of students, teaching, and yourself as a teacher?
Simonson et al. (2015) reported that according to the United States Department of Education, “ online learning students achieved better than traditional students because they tended to allocate more time to their studies” (p. 7).
The Bad
The pandemic caused a lot of issues with education, employment, and just fundamental general societal concerns. St.George et al. (2021) stated that “It was not just the move from classrooms to computer screens. It tested basic ideas about instruction, attendance, testing, funding, the role of technology, and the human connections that hold it all together”. There were new demands elements and that was introduced quickly and without training.
Teachers had to use video conferencing tools to do face-to-face daily classroom instruction.
Parents and guardians had to figure out how to help their children with school assignments.
School districts had to figure out how to provide internet access to all students and teachers.
Students had to become self-starters.
Parents and guardians had to figure out how they would financially support their families.
Business owners and entrepreneurs had to rethink their business models or close up their businesses.
Medical staff and hospitals were unprepared for the large influx of positive cases.
There were many other unanswered questions after the school year ended. How will the students bounce back from this, would there be significant learning gaps? Will there be mental and social issues that arise during the quarantine? Will the schools reopen in the fall of 2020? What will education and schools look like in the fall? The video below describes some additional issues and concerns that teachers had.
The Ugly
Parents and teachers had to adjust their expectations for this school year.
Students developed gaps in their learning that they could not regain in just one year, especially during a pandemic that has been going on for 14 months.
Parents had to learn that Zoom was live video conferencing, and walking by in the nude would be a definite distraction.
Teachers learned that they were not digital natives and need training on the different tech tools that can help with distance learning.
Parents realized that for more than 6 hours a day, their child was taught, disciplined, and fed all while under the safe watch of a teacher, and it’s not an easy task. The funny video below shows a parent praying as she is in quarantine with her children and trying to help with their school work.
Edsource (2021, March 30). Teachers reimagine schools and themselves, post covid.
[Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/92XZkvhRdng
Fensterwald, J. (2021, March 30). Teachers on Covid: lessons learned and advice to pass along. Edsource. https://edsource.org/2021/teachers-on-covid-lessons-learned-and-advice-to-pass-along/652202
Fox 5 Washington DC (2020, May 7). Mom’s hilarious prayer for heavenly help in homeschooling amid COVID-19 is every parent right now. [Video].
YouTube. https://youtu.be/-r0tCZzcIjo
MyViewBoard (2020, March 13). Distance Learning - Live Teacher-Student Interaction. [Video]. YouTube.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxsLWphb5I0
NewsWest 9 (2021, February 2). Education after Covid-19 pandemic. [Video].
YouTube.https://youtu.be/Bjs_rOjJhVo
[Photo]. Giphy. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://giphy.com/gifs/cbc-funny-comedy-3ohc19HprYBej5YDKM
[Photo]. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v555nCIY_E8/maxresdefault.jpg
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., & Zvacek, S. (2015). Teaching and learning at a distance:
foundations of distance education. Information Age Publishing.
St.George, D., Strauss, V., Meckler, L., Heim, J., & Natanson, H. (2021). How the pandemic is
reshaping education. Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/03/15/pandemic-school-year-changes/
I think we (teachers, parents, students, administrators, random Joe Schmoe who has access to social media) learned a lot from teaching through a pandemic. One thing Simonson et al. (2015) said was, “The critical job of the educator, especially the designer of distance education materials, is to be only as realistic as needed in order for learning to effectively occur.” What the expectations were initially and what they became changed because we saw what online learning was really like. Teachers were having to learn how to recreate and curate their lessons into online versions that would effectively teach the materials. While many are quick to criticize how online learning went, I think we also learned a lot for future use in the process. Students could often work on their own time (often better than early in the morning when most students don’t function well), there was an advancement in technological innovation and knowledge growth, and we were made aware of and able to combat some socio-economic issues that created technology gaps (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2020). I think when it comes down to the good, the bad, and the ugly, even with the bad and the ugly we will still come out of this in a good place for online learning. I think it will cause us to rethink a lot of parts of it because we have all realized it is here to stay.
ReplyDeleteReferences
Adedoyin, O. & Soykan, E. (2020) Covid-19 pandemic and online learning: the challenges and opportunities. Interactive Learning Environments. DOI: 10.1080/10494820.2020.1813180
Simonson, M., Zvacek, S., Smaldino, S. (2019). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (7thed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
Johanna,
ReplyDeleteSchools honestly did the best they could in a situation that no one was prepared to handle. Black (2020) indicated that while "teachers deserve high praise for their rapid response, the educational outcomes were unsatisfying" (para. 1). I will continue value the resilience educators have shown through one of the hardest years imaginable. But at the same time, the pandemic created an overwhelming amount of extra work teacher were prepared to handle. The path forward need to be razor focused and attempting to not go back to the same structure. We know better so now we can do better. Designing internet-based courses that might be "labor-intensive to develop, requiring time and personnel resources not available to many instructors" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 107). I hope moving forward more emphasis is placed on the need to provide support to teacher in the area of instructional technology.
References
Black, E., Ferdig, R., & Thompson, L. A. (2021). K-12 Virtual Schooling, COVID-19, and Student Success. JAMA Pediatrics, 175(2), 119. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.3800
Simonson, M., Zvacek, S., Smaldino, S. (2019). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (7thed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
REPLY
Johanna,
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the one video had teachers concerned with social and emotional well-being when students return to school. This is something that is very important to adolescents that a lot of people are ignoring. That is something that must be considered when thinking about distance learning in the future. I know the pandemic threw everyone for a loop but we have to learn now that communication and interaction is essential in distance learning. Simonson et. al (2019) says, “communication occurs when two or more individuals wish to share ideas.” (p. 78). As the teacher, we can provide support for interaction between students by simply setting up discussion groups or having synchronous meetings via video conferencing. It would take only a few minutes and very little effort to help them with this. Just something to remember for the future.
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S. E., & Zvacek, S. (2019). Teaching and learning at a distance: foundations of distance education. Information Age Publishing, Inc.