While not specifically related to K-12 distance, online, and blended learning, this item scrolled through my Twitter feed a couple of days ago.
https://twitter.com/CUP_PoliSci/status/1329344673983442945
So these are articles written by political scientists about transitioning their teaching to a remote format over the past few months. Given that my undergraduate degree was in political science, I was curious to see what was written. The first thing that caught my attention as I read through the different articles was the considerable overlap in the struggles and decision making between a group of political scientists (i.e., university faculty who have a Ph.D. in political science, but in most cases no education or pedagogical training at all) and what teachers (i.e., those that have been specifically trained to be effective teachers) faced. The implicit message or take away that I had upon reflection is that while education has been pushing technology integration and blended learning since the early 1980s, teachers were no better prepared for this pandemic pedagogy than folks that had no training and little experience.
Additionally, there was one article that caught my particular attention. A doctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa, Michael Murphy, had published an article entitled “Concluding Thoughts: What Can(’t) we Research About Emergency e-Learning?” that I thought included some especially poignant reflections. Murphy begins the article with this paragraph:
The interventions in this spotlight draw attention to various ways that political science and international relations experienced the emergency e-learning transition in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By way of conclusion, I turn to the questions still to be asked about pandemic pedagogy and what lessons it might hold for teaching and learning. Although thought-provoking and productive for our present reality, the norm/exception logic embedded in analysis of pandemic pedagogy risks overemphasizing the emergency. In its least harmful form, attention to the emergency nostalgizes the norm; at worst, overemphasis of deficiencies in the emergency crowd out space in which those in the normal condition might be expressed. The tightrope to be walked in researching pandemic pedagogy is that careful examination is necessary but may blind our analysis to important elements.
He continues by suggesting that issues around the scholarship of teaching and learning (SOTL) or the examination of one’s own teaching is an appropriate avenue; as well as an analysis of the barriers to access and other unequal experiences of emergency e-learning, the mental health impacts of COVID-19 and emergency e-learning, and the effectiveness of a collaborative vs. an institution-by-institution response to COVID-19 emergency e-learning. Murphy concludes be stating:
Increasing the attention to the exceptionality of emergency e-learning, however, comes at a cost. Examining the deficiencies, inequalities, and barriers of emergency e-learning as exceptional experiences obscures the deficiencies, inequalities, and barriers that exist in the normal arrangements of educational systems (Murphy 2020, 502). Despite specific attention being warranted to this exceptional experience of emergency e-learning, it is important that its difference from the normal condition not be overstated. The digital divide, racial inequality, policy coordination, and other issues are not limited to the case of COVID-19 responses. It is our hope that this spotlight’s presentation of various perspectives will provide insights as professors and administrators prepare for an uncertain future of COVID-19. We also hope that it sparks a broader conversation and research project into the politics of the classroom, in both exceptional and normal times.
Wise words indeed!
Be sure to follow the link at and check out all of the articles:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/ps-political-science-and-politics/firstview
Today, NCES released Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B:16/20): A First Look at the 2020 Experiences of 2015–16 College Graduates During the COVID-19 Pandemic, which presents the experiences of 2015–16 bachelor’s degree earners during the COVID-19 pandemic, 4 years after graduation. Tables in the report include information on professional and personal experiences, federal student loan repayment, employment status and characteristics, changes to work arrangements, and unemployment compensation.
A new NCES report, Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B:16/20): A First Look at the 2020 Employment and Education Experiences of 2015–16 College Graduates, presents outcomes of 2015–16 bachelor’s degree earners 4 years after graduation. The report uses data from the 2016/20 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:16/20). Tables in the report include information on enrollment and employment status, federal student loan debt and repayment, earnings and other job characteristics, financial well-being, and teaching status.
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