No one came out of a year of online learning unscathed , but as the great Albert Einstein once said , “ In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity .”
The past two years brought about changes to every element of our lives , forcing us into a new reality . Educators , students , and parents across the globe scrambled to reinvent the school day — what was once a reliable constant in our daily lives . Parents adjusted work schedules to act as a teacher ’ s helper , they set up mini classrooms in a corner of their homes to create a workspace that was adequate for their children to learn , and tried providing a sense of normalcy in what was a far-from-normal time .
Students of all ages learned a digital way to communicate with their peers and their teachers , blowing the screen time recommendation limit out of the water with daylong online learning . Teachers reinvented ways to connect with their students , recreating a classroom in their own home , working tirelessly to develop ways to not only educate , but entertain students who struggled with online learning .
No one came out of a year of online learning unscathed , but as the great Albert Einstein once said , “ In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity .” The education system across the world is rethinking the way students learn . While it is undoubtable that most students learn best in person , benefiting from both social interactions and one-on-one attention , there is a desire to continue optional virtual learning . In many instances , virtual learning meets a need for students with certain medical conditions , others who may have transportation challenges , or those who simply prefer to learn virtually .
What the entire education community learned through a global pandemic is that change is possible . Some changes came out of necessity and fell flat , while others proved to be a beneficial addition to the way students learn and teachers teach .
Where Virtual Learning Falls Short
Technology-forward schools likely saw an easier transition to virtual learning simply because students already had the technology they needed . A computer or tablet and reliable internet are two things many students only have while they are in the classroom . The pandemic brought to light the inequities between socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged schools based on access to technology . Even families in advantaged schools struggled with the ability to provide multiple children the resources needed to all be online at the same time .
Increasing access for students in need was also slow on the uptake . Many teachers turned to their own resources to aid students when and where possible . Yet , even as students received access to adequate technology , there was a learning curve for students , teachers , and parents alike . Teachers needed to quickly learn how to adapt lesson plans to an online platform , while learning the new technology themselves . On the other end of the computer screen , students and parents scrambled to install learning platforms , locate the mute / unmute button , and learn best practices on how and when to use the camera .
It was almost overnight that virtual learning was adopted and considered the way for the near-term future . While many schools returned to hybrid or in-person learning , there are still challenges that schools are addressing for technology and the future of education .
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