The next few weeks are going to be a tremendous learning curve for schools around the nation. Although teachers have already begun incorporating digital technology into their lessons in recent years, many have not been trained to create online lessons until this past week. Of course it will be tough, for the teachers, the schools, the parents, and the students. However, I suspect that, given the proper support and resources, many of the schools will be successful in their attempts to continue teaching their students.
People have, in little ways, been preparing themselves to learn online. Between various educational apps, informative videos, and many easily accessible articles, many have taken to the internet to learn for both necessity and for the simple joy of learning. For instance, Duolingo, the popular language-learning app, has 30 million users regularly completing exercises. Websites like Khan Academy provides free educational resources, servicing approximately 18 million. Many people have already taken online classes. I, myself, have taken two online classes in high school and one in college. It’s different, certainly, but an appropriately structured class can be just as successful as the typical classroom setting.
In the upcoming weeks, students will be expected to engage with their education through a digital medium, and there are going to be so many problems. There will be schools that fail to create and follow through with a plan to alter their style of teaching, parents who do not ensure that their child does their schoolwork, and homes without access to computers or the internet. It will not be pretty or easy, and some students will suffer for it. Even so, I believe that people have been training themselves to learn online and many of the efforts for national online education will succeed because of it.
3 replies on “Will National Online Education Succeed”
I do believe that most of us have the background to make it through this online transition, but I find myself still struggling with this transition. My struggle isn’t from lack of technological ability, but my preference of in person interaction. I have always enjoyed creating projects online, but I enjoyed talking to my classmates about it or meeting with my professor to get suggestions. I really think they routine and lifestyle is just entirely different, which will be a struggle for all of us to adjust to.
The struggle is also mental. Classwork, at least to me, creates a different environment compared to working from home. In class, class is the only thing that matters. When I am at home, there are a lot more distractions, and a lot more things that I want to be doing at any given time.
Now, will there be a working transition to online education? I believe so. However, it will not be an easy one, or one without significant roadbumps.
I think that this quarantine has pushed people to use online resources in ways they would have not previously. This is my first experience with online schooling, something I would have not done otherwise. I find myself distracted at home, with more difficulty focusing on schoolwork when there are other things to attend to.
I am glad that there are steps to be taken. I have used Duolingo and Khan Academy before, as a supplement to regular schooling only.
For things like online forums to become a primary method of schooling will take a great mental shift in people, in how they think about learning as a whole. Part of it is the time and space dedicated to schooling that online schooling lacks. People will have to create things for themselves, with less of an immediate reward in sight.