Dr. Rajkumar Singh
The pandemic is giving tech massive insights at scale as to what human development and learning looks like, allowing it to potentially shift from just content dissemination to augmenting relationships with teachers, personalization, and independence. But the way it is has been rolled out—overnight, with no training, and often not sufficient bandwidth—will leave many with a sour taste about the whole exercise. Many people may well continue to associate e-learning with lockdowns, recalling frustrations with trying to log on. But the crisis has cast a bright light on deep inequalities not just in who has devices and bandwidth, which are critically important, but also who has the skills to self-direct their learning, and whose parents have the time to spend helping. It is a stark reminder of the critical importance of school not just as a place of learning, but of socialization, care and coaching, of community and sharing When the storm of the pandemic passes, schools may be revolutionized by this experience. Or, they may revert back to what they know. But the world in which they will exist—one marked by rising unemployment and likely recession—will demand more. Education may be slow to change, but the post-coronavirus economy will demand it.
Global status and class gap
The world’s students online system has starkly exposed deep inequities in the education system, from the shocking number of children who rely on school for food and a safe environment, to a digital divide in which kids without devices or reliable internet connections are cut off from learning completely. According to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data, in Denmark, Slovenia, Norway, Poland, Lithuania, Iceland, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands, over 95% of students reported having a computer to use for their work. Only 34% in Indonesia did. In the US, virtually every 15-year-old from a privileged background said they had a computer to work, but nearly a quarter of those from disadvantaged backgrounds did not. These divides will likely worsen, as staggering job losses and a recession devastate the most marginalized in every society, including all their kids. Schools face a difficult choice: if they don’t teach remotely, all of their students miss out on months of curriculum. If they do, a sizable group of already disadvantaged students will be left out and will fall even farther behind.
The gap between students isn’t limited to internet access; it’s also about the power and privilege of parents. Many of us have no time for homeschool. And not every parent has the level of digital literacy necessary to help their kids shift to online learning. Those from privileged backgrounds will find the tools they need, through parents or tutors or their better-resourced schools. But those from disadvantaged backgrounds will face multiple challenges, from the bottom of Maslow’s hierarchy to the top: food and shelter, which school helped to provide, connections to support children’s learning, and a lack of financial buffers. It is also clear that this will not reach everyone and it’s not just a matter of access to devices, but also of know how to learn on, know how to manage time, intrinsic motivation, and environmental support. The OECD is one of many organizations advocating to increase access to open free, online educational resources and digital learning platforms for teachers and students. For schools to succeed, teachers will also need access to training and support.
Classroom challenges of e-learning
Meanwhile, the crisis is highlighting the role schools play outside of education. At a moment when schools need to adapt how they teach, many are consumed with how to feed their students. In the context, coronavirus offers an opportunity to see clearly all that teachers are asked to do. That includes everything from meeting the latest state standards, implementing district priorities, mastering new technology platforms, and caring for the physical and emotional well being of their students. For this we are bound to liberate teachers to focus on their craft we pay them wages that match the magnitude of their roles they play in our lives. Indeed, the pandemic has woken people up to the challenges of teaching and focused some attention on another equity gap: that of pay for teachers.
Many schools were woefully unprepared to move online overnight. Those that were ready may hold clues for the promise, and pitfalls, of e-learning. The new learning system has allowed us to moved to a more “flipped classroom” in which students do more learning about basic skills and knowledge at home, via videos or platforms, and then come to school online to do work together. That way, when students come into the classroom teachers can work on the higher level skills such as analysis and evaluation. It’s not a new idea at all, but circumstances are forcing for adoption. There is another positive aspect of e-learning is that software like Microsoft Teams allows teachers to see their students as they are writing and it allows them for real-time feedback, rather than waiting for the work to be completed. In it, there is also ways of reaching struggling students. When students are independently researching and creating a presentation, a teacher can call a weaker student and quietly work with them giving them the extra support they need. And some students who shied away from participation are stepping up. In the system more introverted students can participate more because they are not being seen by their peers.
Limited reach of technology
Moving everyone online has had plenty of challenges but also has increased teacher confidence around technology and e-platforms. But there’s a massive energy about how to do this incredibly different and difficult things. Teachers are trying and adjusting and sharing at war speed to know more and more, and every single teacher can see what others are doing. But sadly no such silver linings exist for the millions of students who can’t get online, or whose schools and teachers do not have the resources to even experiment with e-learning and if the pandemic lasts, governments may be forced to find creative ways to get more kids learning. The pandemic will expose how education technology has largely failed to do what would be most powerful: leverage the relationship between teacher and learner. The big question for us is will we develop an education technology solution that capitalizes on the relationship between students and teachers. If we want to give this any chance of success for large numbers of students and learners, the teacher is going to be absolutely key, especially in the younger years such as primary schools. Pair good teachers, who coach and facilitate, with good content and good technology. Adaptive, interactive, science-based learning platforms may start to take hold—especially for those using the opportunity of a crisis. The sky is the limit. |
