With the lovey visitation of COVID-19 (coronavirus), our world has been turned upside down. Some of the United States have been affected by this since late-January. Other parts of the United States didn’t feel the repercussions until around March. Although many states have shut down, most states reopened around late May/early June.

Impact on the Educational Industry

One of the biggest impacted areas has been education. Around March, nationwide schools shut down to prevent the spread of COVID. Given so many unknowns, even to this day, it was the safest thing to do. Districts nationwide readjusted or extended their Spring Break to figure out how the rest of the year would be handled. Many districts took the situation week-by-week.

The Start to Virtual Learning Outside of College

One of the go-to options was digital/virtual learning. Even so, many districts were ill-prepared for the last-minute changes. Many families didn’t have Internet access, technology, time, the ability, or much else to handle virtual learning. Internet providers stepped up and provided discounted or free service for a short time to help students learn. Some districts provided technology to students, but quickly ran out. Parents/guardians were temporarily on hold with their lives, but lacked the teaching credentials to properly help their child. When they returned to work, they weren’t around to ensure students completed their work.

When summer hit, many schools canceled summer school. However, with school starting again – now what!?

The Return to School 2020-2021

Summer Training

Teachers around the world, especially in the United States, have spent their summer preparing for the return to school in various ways. Much of their professional development was focused on virtual incorporation and/or whole-hearted online learning. Teachers discovered tools like Flipgrid to connect students from around the world, Nearpod to help students complete teacher-led or student-led lessons, PlayPosit to help students stay engaged with YouTube videos, and many other online learning tools.

In addition to virtual teaching strategies, tools, and techniques, teachers also had professional development on their normal blood-borne pathogens, suicide awareness, mental health, FERPA, and more. This year was even more affected by the additional COVID-19 training campuses had to complete (signs, symptoms, cleaning procedures, how to handle, how to social distance in a classroom, etc.).

Questions

In addition to their regular and virtual training, teachers also had to figure out much of their future for themselves. What masks work? Would they wear a mask all day (yes, we found out)? How do you social distance 25-35 kids in a classroom the size of a standard American kitchen? What happens if someone gets COVID-19 in the building? Where do they find sanitizer that doesn’t smell like tequila? Where do they find wipes for their desks, handles, and other surfaces? How do they handle small group instruction? How do they lend out books for students to read? How do they lend out supplies for those who can’t afford it (CDC states no communal supplies, so that solved that concern)?

Teachers were left with a million questions and received a lot of “we’re not sure.” With so much uncertainty, many teachers opted to leave the profession or retire, leaving an already short-staffed profession even more understaffed.

What’s the News?

School districts around the world are still unsure about the status of COVID-19. There is a lot of debate on whether students can or cannot transfer it to adults, each other, etc. As a result, many school districts gave parents/guardians the option of online or virtual learning. Some districts delayed school; some still have plans in the air; and some are deciding to open. The one trend I keep seeing, though, is that virtual learning is here to stay regardless of COVID-19.

Many people are not happy about this trend. They have many of the same concerns as in March-June (lack of technology, slow or no Internet, no time at home, and more). However, I think a lot of society is missing the good in the situation.

The Good in Virtual Learning

With life in the digital world, there is no doubt that the upcoming generation needs to be more technologically prepared than ever before. We aren’t talking about Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat integration, but about true digital needs such as Microsoft Office, G Suite, digital design, writing, and much more.

Many students in a classroom throughout high school have no idea how to format a paper properly, on their own, to write a college-level entrance essay. That’s a problem! Students can take this opportunity to learn so many beneficial aspects of virtual learning.

Repetition

When teachers record lessons in their classroom or at home, students can rewatch them as many times as needed. A student who may be 504, Dyslexic, Special Education, Emotionally Disturbed, or have other (dis)abilities can rewatch it several times for clarification. Students may be able to pause and take notes instead of trying to focus in class while writing. Even if the teacher provided notes online, students could underline, highlight, or take additional notes during the virtual lesson.

Scheduling

If they’re unable to watch the lesson from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, when class is, they can find the recording later in the day and still be held responsible for the content presented during the lesson. This is a great planning tool for entrepreneurs, college preparation, job scheduling, and more. Maybe the student is a night owl and works better in the afternoon than in the morning. This will give those students an opportunity to focus better. This is also great if they have a parent who works from home and needs to use the computer/Internet during the day for business. The student can spend the afternoon completing their work.

Responsibility, Team Work & Work Ethic

One of the biggest benefits is teaching students responsibility, teamwork, and a work ethic. Through online learning, even in elementary school, students develop a sense of responsibility. They are responsible for completing their work and turning it in. Just like an in-person classroom, they are responsible for completing and turning in their work. However, this puts more pressure on a student because they don’t have someone reminding them constantly throughout the day to complete and turn in their work.

This is also a great way for students to learn true teamwork. With programs like Microsoft Office and G Suite, students can collaborate with each other remotely. Depending on how the teachers set up the assignment, students will be able to work virtually with one another. With many careers requiring collaboration within their network, it is important to instill this, whether in person or virtually. So many tools are available for students to collaborate on documents or videos!

It is so incredibly easy to cheat with virtual learning. However, there is a lot of risk, as it becomes easier to copy and paste a handwritten response. Virtual learning puts a bit of pressure on students to ensure they’re not plagiarizing, sharing answers, or Googling them. It’s acceptable to use Google as a research tool, or in our case a way to look information up we may not know, but it’s not okay to use it as a copy and paste skill.

College Prep

America is one of the countries that may have all the greatness, but we severely lack in college preparation – whether it be academics, life skills, social interactions, or financial responsibility. We need to do a better job of preparing these students for college, and virtual learning is no exception.

Many colleges use virtual learning in some aspect of their students’ education. Even in-person lessons have a virtual component so students can submit work (papers, presentations, designs, analyses, financial literacy breakdowns, etc.). By introducing some of these minimal modalities (such as papers and presentations), students will be prepared not only to format them but also to write and submit them. Although the college may use a different eLearning platform, they will still be able to get an idea of where to submit and/or learn faster on the new platform.

Although that may seem minor in terms of benefits for virtual learning, it is extremely impactful when discussing the preparation of students for post-secondary learning. Our nation has become one in which having a Bachelor’s degree is no longer sufficient for education. The competition for employment is astronomical! When given the tools in advance, students can better focus on classes that are more relevant to real-life experience and internships.