The Educational Impacts of COVID-19: From Adversity to Innovation
About a month ago, I had noticed a spider in the corner of my bathroom. It was brown, about the size of a quarter, and most importantly- far away enough so I wasn't too concerned in the moment.
The next day, it was still there. I thought to myself: I let you live and you still won't move? But again, I didn't do anything about it.
That night- still no movement.
That's when I realized something.
Was this actually a living spider or had I just been looking at the old skin of a spider that shed its exoskeleton?
Now you might be thinking, what does this have to do with the world of education?
Well, this led me to perform a quick search that not only confirmed my suspicions, but also taught me more about these fascinating 8-legged creatures.
Not only is this a remarkable process (that you can watch a time-lapse of on YouTube), but it also seems to parallel some of the things happening in education right now.
A New Way to Teach
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the administration and leaders at my school created a program that featured the use of Microsoft Teams and The Meeting Owl Pro (a 360- degree camera, microphone, and speaker) to allow students to either learn remotely, attend in-person, or go back and forth between the two.
Teachers were ultimately placed in charge of piloting an unfamiliar instructional model.
A typical day in my third-grade classroom had anywhere between one student and half of the class tuning in from home.
Teachers faced inconsistent engagement and participation from remote students, while simultaneously solving technological difficulties.
As the year went on, some remote students would find creative ways to participate as little as possible, going so far as pretending their microphone was broken by mouthing words (while their dog is heard barking) or changing their background to a picture of them with their head down working.
Other times, remote students would sign on late or disappear before the end of the school day.
It seemed like with each solution, new problems would emerge, and I constantly feared neglecting one of my two groups of students.
Embracing Change
To shed our current “educational exoskeleton,” we must let go of the belief that online learning should only occur in times of emergencies and instead, look towards the broader advantages that technology can offer.
In this post-pandemic era, the benefits of online learning will remain.
Its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and potential for individualization and collaboration are just some of the reasons why schools have already opted to keep remote learning as a choice for students and families.
As a result, there's never been a greater need for meaningful and effective online teaching and learning.
Molting is actually a very dangerous and time-consuming process for spiders.
Not only do they become more vulnerable to attacks by predators, but many also experience difficulty extracting themselves from their old exoskeletons.
While the “predators” that threaten education are less evident, the analogy suggests that periods of growth and change do not come easy.
It may seem like the cause for this problem is the pandemic- but in reality, COVID-19 exposed educators’ lack of training to provide high-quality remote learning. A distinction must be made here between “emergency remote teaching” and “online distance education."
It's perhaps our inadequate preparation for the latter that led to our struggle with the former.
Looking Ahead
We have to let go of the idea that something ought to be abandoned because it didn't go perfectly the first time.
The pandemic can serve as a catalyst for instructional design and provide a tremendous opportunity for online teaching and learning all around the world.
Whether it is hybrid, blended, or e-learning, we must be willing to shed this “educational exoskeleton” and challenge our assumptions to explore an improved learning for all.
Post a comment