THE EVOLUTION OF LEARNING AND THE FOUR IMPACTS ON EDUCATION AMIDST THE CHANGES BROUGHT BY COVID-19
by Bill Crouch , CEO & Founder of BrightDot , and Mike Carter , an educator , author and academic executive
COVID-19 resulted in significant changes in the education landscape , some of which were not previously seen . Education delivery and strategies are being reexamined across the country as a result of this paradigm shift to online and remote learning .
Schools across the First Coast Region have responded with creativity and innovation . Despite this , emotional and stress-related factors have added an additional layer of challenges to stakeholders in the education system . This new level of emotional stress is creating a challenge that is continuing and is unlike other forms of emotional stress within a school setting .
As the Delta and Omicron variants have demonstrated , life during a pandemic is anything but predictable . Change , adaptation , mandatory adjustments , new policy mandates , re-assessment of prior policies , workplace shifts and the overall re-thinking of previously held viewpoints are common terms and phrases used to describe how life has changed amidst a global pandemic .
Virologists believe that our post-pandemic world may need to always be prepared for a new variant . Given this warning , now is the time to realize that changes due to COVID will need to be incorporated into our longer-term planning .
So far , what have we learned and what might we anticipate as a
result of our experience with the pandemic ?
First , some of our previous beliefs that were seen as a “ must ” for “ good ” education should be re-examined . These include the notion that location and / or environment are necessary for specific sorts of educational practice , select events , chosen pedagogies and other educational ideologies . When forced to make changes , our educational systems have had to adapt , despite the fact that previous methods , techniques , environments and other approaches are not invalid .
Changes have revealed the resilience and creativity of school systems , administrators , faculty and students . Great concern exists for the loss of certain types of classroom learning , but innovation and new learning can allow us to build on various models we now know can be effective .
Second , the need for highly qualified teachers , instructors and school social workers and counselors will be even more of a reality . The pandemic has accelerated shortages of personnel and with the stress factors now being felt by those who are in the system , it will be a challenge to make sure vital services are covered . Innovations will help to strengthen our ability to meet the psycho-social needs of our students .
Third , the question of educational quality is also being
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