There was a time when I thought it would be great if everyone was aware of online learning and the impact it can have. How quality online learning gives students access to programs they need and want that are not available to them locally. Fast forward to 2020, and schools are forced to find the quickest emergency remote solution possible and implement it in a day! Because so many had bad experiences with the emergency remote solutions schools were forced to put in place, most people think they know what remote learning (and online learning as a whole) looks like. As a result, I spend much of my time explaining that what folks have seen over the past 18 months was not designed to foster a collaborative online classroom environment. There is a huge difference in the teaching and learning experiences when the curriculum is designed, and technology used to create a true virtual community for students and teachers.
We all know students and teachers who’ve used emergency remote learning over the past year. There have been mixed results. Some students had trouble finding quiet, uninterrupted learning from home, some were not engaged and fell behind, and some teachers had difficulties with this emergency education model, despite the best efforts of schools and educators. Several months into the 2020-21 school year, a survey suggested that many educators were still struggling to teach students online, Education Week reports.
What’s most frustrating to me is that I know a type of distance education that works well, because I’ve lived it and breathed, it, for more than twenty years. Back then, our goal at VHS, Inc. (now VHS Learning) was to discover if online learning could provide high school students regardless of their economic circumstance or geography, with equal access to education programs that prepare them for careers, college, and life. (Hint: yes it can!). Now, more than 700 high schools use the VHS Learning program to help provide expert training to local teachers, give their students access to a teacher-led, engaging, small online classroom experience, and help their students interact with their peers worldwide, taking subjects in all disciplines.
To continue reading, visit https://vhslearning.org/many-pandemic-learning-was-worst-remote-learning
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