Distance learning: Not remotely or virtually
the same as the classroom
“Successful strategies that come
from the transition to remote learning won’t be a stop-gap to get us through the current crisis; they will
fundamentally shift how school functions in the future.” XQ[1]
(April 6, 2020)
Last week, part 1: The fun of being
together, the laughter possible when a classroom becomes a safe space, a
community, a setting where we can smile at our foibles—and enjoy a sense of
belonging. Hard to achieve in distance learning, one reason I can’t believe this
crisis will “shift how school functions…”
In part 2 I had planned to write about
“the other side” of the same coin—how that sense of belonging can be equally
important in darker moments too. But I realize you already know this from your
own experience, when the classroom provided consolation and support. I hope so
anyway. So I will merely list a few such moments from my 18 years as a teacher:
after the sudden death of a classmate's parent or a faculty member; after the principal’s year-long
fight with cancer came to an end; after one of their classmates attempted
suicide. After national events that impacted us all (President Reagan being
shot, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, and—most vividly for me, and for
my 7th and 8th graders here in Parker, that morning of
9/11, and in the weeks that followed). Being together – as students and as
teachers – can help us through tough times. Francis Bacon said that friendship
“redoubleth joys and cutteth our griefs in halves.” It rings true for the
classroom as well.
So a simpler purpose now. Sharing the
words from those who articulate so effectively why the “school life” we are
experiencing this spring is not the dawn of a new age, who doubt that “the
silver-lining” of this pandemic is the revelation that technology can save us
time, money, and, most implausibly, create an education that is truly “personalized.”
The voices quoted here: the former U.S. Secretary of Education; the
superintendent in Roaring Fork—an exceptional educator I have been lucky to
know for over 25 years; a teacher—working in a Jefferson County charter school—a
former student of mine!; and others, too. All show us why we must not take the
wrong lesson from this pandemic. Remote learning is not the fix. Technology is
not the fix. Separating ourselves is not the fix.
Being together, you will say, is not a fix either. I agree—but
it is where students begin to join a community. Being together is fundamental
to creating a learning community where teachers know their students
well. Where students feel they belong to a caring community and build
relationships that matter. Where we have the therapy of humor and good fun—and
of being lifted up when times are hard.
Finally, consider what we are hearing so
often these days, from surveys and reports from the field.[2] A heightened need for
social-emotional support of students. Ditto for mental health services. A huge concern
about the impact of isolation on students – a new kind of trauma? A consensus
that the most severe impact of this current situation will fall on our most
vulnerable students, many of whom are now proving among the hardest to reach. The
very students who need a stronger connection, not distant ties, to teachers
and counselors in the school community… A
personal connection, not a virtual one.
Remote learning merely exacerbates the
problems that hinder student success. How foolish to believe that it should be touted
as “the education of the future.” And how good it will be to be back in class.
Quotes
Bold
mine throughout these two pages.
|
From “Schooling in the Era of Covid-19: A Virtual Discussion
with National and Local Education Leaders,” April 15, 2020
Dr.
John King, Former U.S. Secretary of Education, President and CEO of Education
Trust
“The one thing I would implore folks to think about is just the
centrality of relationships and connectedness to school.
“I was a kid ... I lost both my parents when I was a kid. Home was
really hard. The one place that I had structure and support and positive
relationships and a sense of safety was school. It would have been
incredibly hard for me as a kid to be away from school for months… We have to ensure that we don’t lose kids in
this period, and the way to do that is to emphasize connection and
relationship as the primary focus of our energy.
**
*Reports: 1) “Online Summary
Report,” by the Office of Blended and Online Learning, Colorado Department of
Education, Dec. 2019.[3]
2) AV #148, 149, 185, 205.
|
Rob
Stein, Superintendent of Roaring Fork Schools
“The
research on online learning* is not very extensive but what is available says
that it is not very good - and so that’s the bad news. There’s going to be a
lot of lost learning. I don’t think the media or policymakers are paying
enough attention to the actual efficacy of online learning…”
**
From Parker Earnest, a former 7th/8th
grade student of mine, now an elementary teacher (grades 4-6) in Jefferson
County. His email response (April 16, 2020) to last week’s newsletter, AV #208.
“I am hopeful that Khan and remote
learning will not be the norm of the future. Teachers will always be needed
because every child is different in how they learn. Nothing replaces the
ability to be together so a teacher can look in the eye, read the body language
and assess when the time is right to step on the gas, coast or brake in
presenting the lesson.”
**
From Adam Goldstein, “Teacher shares virtual
expertise,” Your Hub, The Denver Post, April 16, 2020.
On Robin
Schuhmacher, a second-grade teacher at Altitude Elementary, a Cherry Creek school.
“I always tell new teachers that innovation
starts from the heart. My son’s favorite thing every day is to have a Zoom with
his classroom and wave to his friends. To see him do that, I remember that it
isn’t always about the tech. It starts with the heart and human connection.”
Missing that daily human connection with
students and colleagues has been difficult for Schumacher. Nothing can fully
replace seeing students in person; no amount of Zoom meetings can be a true
stand-in for connecting and commiserating with colleagues.
“We’re in this profession because we love
working with people. We don’t have that right now,” she said.
Adam
Goldstein is a digital communications specialist for the Cherry Creek School
District.
**
From Robert Pondiscio, “No, this is not the new normal,” Flypaper,
Thomas B. Fordham Institute – April 15, 2020.
“Start with the obvious: To throw all or
even most of our efforts into remote learning is ‘shoe bomber’ planning,
responding to the last attack instead of anticipating the next one. … It is
a fantasy to believe that we can stem the effects of months without real school
by ginning up instructional capacity on the fly in unfamiliar forms in the
midst of a public health crisis. By all means, distribute devices and
attack the digital divide. Signal to apprehensive students and parents that
education must go on, keep kids attached, and strive for normalcy. Schools that
have found ways to continue high-value instruction
deserve attention and praise. But let’s not gull ourselves into
thinking this is some sort of durable solution. It’s an emergency response,
nothing more.”
Robert Pondiscio is senior fellow and vice
president for external affairs at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. He also
teaches civics at Democracy Prep Public Schools, a network of high-performing
charter schools based in Harlem, New York. https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/no-not-new-normal
**
From David Deming, “Online
Learning Should Return to a Supporting Role,” The New York Times, April
9, 2020.
“Winner-take-all economics and cost-cutting
may make many in-person lectures obsolete, but the best education continues
to be intensive, expensive and done in person.
“The personal services provided by educators include tutoring,
individualized feedback and mentoring, and numerous studies, as well as
countless individual experiences, show that such services are essential for
learning.
“It is wonderful that technology has
enabled millions of students to keep learning even when direct contact is impossible.
But once this crisis ends, we will be better off if technology frees up
precious class time so that educators and students can engage deeply with
each other and build personal connections that will last a lifetime.”
David
Deming is the director
of the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/business/online-learning-virus.html?referringSource=articleShare
**
Tsavo
Cole, a freshman at Arvada West High
School, told Nelson Garcia of Channel 9 News:
“…immediate feedback
is one of the most important things missing. ‘The difference here is
you're not able to talk to your friends or talk to the teacher.’"
“How has remote learning been working so far?”
(April 7, 2020)
**
From
Mark Kiszla, “With football also iffy, pray baseball can return,” The Denver
Post, April 26, 2020.
I recently asked Rockies pitching coach Steve Foster what he missed most
about baseball.
“I miss the competition. All of us people that are in professional
sports, we’re wired to compete,” Foster replied. “We thrive on competition, not
unlike any other person. It’s part of who we are. Our everyday existence is
about a win and a loss and risking it all, on being all-in and engaged. It’s
interacting with people and loving and laughing and crying. When you’re a part
of a team, you miss the team.”
[1]
“Early Remote Learning Lessons and the Future of Education,” April 6,
2020.
https://xqsuperschool.org/blog/teaching-strategies/remote-learning-future-of-education-coronavirus/
[2] “Survey: Emotional support, internet access among state students’ top needs,” The Denver Post, April 21, 2020.
https://xqsuperschool.org/blog/teaching-strategies/remote-learning-future-of-education-coronavirus/
[2] “Survey: Emotional support, internet access among state students’ top needs,” The Denver Post, April 21, 2020.
