Increasingly, we read that our lives will be changed forever in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost certainly, in some respects, that’s true. But what about our schools? Is online instruction really going to be an important part of the new normal? Let’s stipulate that there are some advantages to online instruction. Students can take advantage of lectures by some the world’s best teachers and professors. They can take classes in subjects not offered at their own schools. But think about what is lost in a world of distance learning: Peer learning and camaraderie—an extremely important component of a student’s education—practically disappears. And as learning becomes increasingly a one-on-one proposition (a student sitting alone in front of his/her computer screen) student body diversity becomes largely irrelevant from a pedagogical perspective. Gone will be the serendipitous discoveries in the library stacks. No more school clubs. Yearbooks will become largely superfluous. Sports? Student-teacher mentoring? Time spent in science labs? Countless school rituals? All the out-of-classroom experiences like field trips and expeditions to capital cities, cultural sites, and outdoor discovery centers? Gone. And the list goes on.
Distance learning may be necessary right now. It’s certainly better than nothing. But as Ross Baker, a distinguished professor of political science at Rutgers University (New Jersey, U.S.A.), recently wrote in an opinion piece in USA Today on the subject,
“I have found that lecturing on Zoom or Webex is like lecturing through an N-95 face mask. Perhaps if I taught seminars with fewer than a dozen students the task might be manageable, but you can’t effectively teach to a screen with 88 faces on it. At least I can’t. I draw my energy from being in the presence of live students — even the ones barricaded behind their laptops taking notes or, more likely, doodling with Instagram or TikTok…. Distance learning is an inferior pedagogy. It is disembodied, soulless, and quirky.”
Many other teaching professionals would no doubt nod their heads in agreement. And so would a lot of students. Let’s hope that when it’s safe to gather again on campuses, get back on jetliners, take class trips to museums, and go back on the water in small boats, people will realize how important it is to learn and do things together, side by side, in the real world. With that in mind, teens who are considering an online university education ought seriously to consider packing their high-school years with enrichment experiences. It could be their last chance before they head out into the workplace.
UPDATE: And then there’s this from The New York Times (Monday, June 8, 2020):
Distance learning isn’t working
Education experts believe that distance learning in most school districts is not working and that students are falling behind at alarming rates. “We know this isn’t a good way to teach,” a seventh-grade teacher in Colorado said. Black, Hispanic and low-income students are falling behind the fastest, research suggests.