Although every industry has been affected to some degree by the COVID-19 pandemic, few have been rocked as hard as the education sector.
The pandemic has forced at least 124,000 public and private schools across the nation to close for extended periods, a move that affected at least 55.1 million students. Schools in the majority of states ended their school years early, and with students having never returned to school buildings post-outbreak.
Primary and secondary educators have been shaken to the core, as instruction has shifted from classroom teaching to distance learning. Technology such as Google Classroom, Zoom and Microsoft Teams allows teachers to make and grade assignments, post videos for learning, track attendance and engage with their students; but it comes with challenges.
Not all students have access to computers and the internet, so some schools had to prepare and distribute paper packets with classwork. What’s more is many teachers had never (or seldom) used digital tools to deliver instruction, which created a rush to learn the technology before going live with online teaching.
“For me, as well as my staff, it was overwhelming at first, especially for those who didn’t know how to work on a digital platform,” says Sandra Nelson, an elementary school principal in Broward County, Fla.
Four weeks into online instruction, Nelson says her teachers were getting less calls and emails from parents with questions about assignments and how to help their children, but it was still difficult because “we’re having to deliver the same types of services as you would in the classroom.”
The ripple effects will likely be felt long after schools reopen their doors.
“Every educator in every grade will need to do a certain amount of work in the next school year to correct for this gap of learning,” says Joanne Papadopoulos, a teacher of 15 years and founder and owner of the academic consultancy Teenacers. “Because we don’t know how much students were able to do during the last few months, educators will need to assume that students didn’t have a chance to do the same, or any, online work that’s streamlined or assessed in a standard way across the board. This will mean that students, from grade 1 to grade 12, will [need to] be taught under the assumption that they missed the last quarter of school.”
Colleges and universities are also struggling to adapt to full-time virtual teaching, despite having offered online classes to students for years.
“The impact of the unfolding coronavirus pandemic has been staggering,” says Ralph A. Gigliotti, Ph.D., an associate faculty member at Rutgers University and director of the Rutgers Center for Organizational Leadership. “Immediate reactions to the crisis included the transition to virtual instruction, restrictions on employee and student international travel, and new policies for working from home. Unlike past crises, this one is unique in its ability to so quickly and so dramatically impact all of us in higher education.”
Gigliotti points out that even though lessons are now being offered online, educators aren’t providing true online learning. Instead, they’re converting courses that were meant to be delivered in person, and trying their best to squeeze them into a remote application.
“High-quality online courses require clear, thoughtful and ongoing communication between the teacher and the students, including synchronous and asynchronous conversations, prompt responses to student emails and detailed feedback on student assignments,” he explains. “The big question at the top of mind is what the fall semester will look like for our institutions and for us to consider how we can ensure a high-quality experience for our students and the various stakeholders whom we serve.”
Despite the challenges now and ahead, there are some positives that can be taken from the transition to remote and virtual learning. Nelson anticipates teachers will incorporate more aspects of online instruction into their lesson plans, including those who hadn’t previously used the technology, because it helps facilitate assigning work, grading tests, communicating with parents and tracking grades.
“Schools will embrace aspects of distance learning in regards to assigning tasks that can be completed at home by students working independently,” adds Papadopoulos. “Lectures, PowerPoints, reading assignments and tutorials will be mostly completed by students at home. By doing this, students use class time to actually talk with their teacher one on one, have classroom discussions and group collaboration, and build relationships.”
At the collegiate level, Dr. Gigliotti believes the crisis “could provide a valuable opportunity to reimagine our work in higher education. I suspect we’ll see a more robust emphasis on training and development in the area of crisis leadership across our institutions, a more purposeful focus on the design and delivery of high-quality online instruction, and a desire for entrepreneurial practices in all that we do.”
One thing that educators across the board are certain of, however, is that technology can’t — and won’t — completely replace learning that’s delivered in-person.
“Classroom learning is about inquiry, exploration and discovery of knowledge — of self and of others,” Papadopoulos says. “Humans do not grow or learn in isolation. If students are not in an environment where they’re collaborating, learning from one another and overcoming social challenges in groups or independently, it limits their depth and understanding of their own knowledge and the ability to challenge the views of others; thinking critically does not happen in a vacuum.
“We will definitely use this crisis to learn a lot about our students, educators, school systems, priorities and how we can make this sustainable in the long run, but one thing I know for sure: What happens in a classroom cannot be replicated in isolation — it takes a village.”
