Online learning – whether one chooses to describe it
as a-synchronous, synchronous, or hybrid learning – is
not a new concept. Instructors at P-12 institutions and
institutions of higher learning have been assigning
materials to students for review or research or
comment upon since at least the advent of the Internet.
What has changed is the percentage of instructors – at
P-12 and institutions of higher learning – who are
actually engaged with online learning initiatives.
This change, mind you, was not one of whole-hearted embrace: it was the consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. With public health policies forcing a move toward isolation, public and private institutions across the P-20 spectrum had to rethink their business model. Were they to close until it was safe to return to a public setting, or were they to continue to offer instruction remotely? With significant federal supplements and private revenue – not to mention long-term effects on student learning and progress – at stake, P-20 institutions decided to find the middle ground: engage online learning initiatives to keep students engaged and the doors open.
The consequence was instruction by “Zoom,” Teams, or some other video-teleconferencing medium – which meant, for the most part, that instructors simply threw whatever instructional materials they had presented in lectures prior to the pandemic on-screen. The Internet became, again for the most part, simply a new vehicle for old habits: the instructor stood before the class to lecture “at” students, as though the medium of glass was no different than the medium of air. But of course, the difference really didn’t matter despite evidence to suggest that online pedagogy and the results gained thereby differed significantly from in-person instruction. Instructors assumed that a vaccine or some other means would return things to normal in short order, and thus the time spent learning new practices would be wasted because – in their mind – nothing transmits knowledge to students as well as a teacher who solely holds the keys to understanding.
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