Over the past 3 months, I have connected with over 1,000 educators from around the US (and some internationally) to learn about their experiences with distance learning or as many have called it, emergency remote learning. As we have discussed what has worked and what has been challenging, similar themes continue to emerge.  In a previous post, I compiled an overview of successful practices that have emerged and examples that educators have shared those include building relationships, flexibility, choice, feedback, and creativity. 

When I first redesigned my class to move online due COVID-19, I basically transferred my activities and assignments to a virtual world and despite the care and effort I put in to make it work, it didn’t. I heard loud and clear from students that we needed to not only shift to online but reimagine how and what we were learning as well. I heard similar stories and challenges from other educators, students, and families.

It is normal and feels safe to transfer practices that we have used in the classroom to an online or remote model, yet if we substitute classroom practices that are standardized and designed for efficiency in the classroom, we quickly find that these same practices become ineffective and impossible to sustain over time in a way that creates the meaningful impact we desire.

In addition to the successes we had, the challenges faced as we had to redesign on the fly, learn new tools, and navigate the complexity of so many unknowns are helpful to acknowledge to inform how we design learning for the fall and beyond. The top five challenges that I heard from the spring include: 1) Inequitable access to devices or Internet, 2) Lack of authenticity or purpose 3) Too many platforms and tools 4) Focusing on the completion of tasks and assignments over learning 5) Lack of connection and collaboration.

Inequitable access to devices and/or Internet

Not all kids have devices, support, or consistent routines at home and it made connecting and learning based on the expectations of schools challenging. Based on family circumstances there are students that have to be caretakers and can’t always prioritize school. An EdWeek article highlighted these findings, “Among the most significant are gaps between the country’s poorest and wealthiest schools around access to basic technology and live remote instruction, as well as the percentages of students who teachers report are not logging in or making contact.” These inequities have always existed in our schools but the pandemic is exacerbating the inequity of access and opportunities for high-quality learning experiences. 

A response that I saw often in an attempt to alleviate the inequity was to not teach new content or not provide an engaging or authentic learning experience because not all could access it. One concrete example was a teacher who shared that she wanted her students to read novels and discuss them but because there were students who couldn’t access the book, they did not set the expectation for any learners to engage in this rich opportunity to learn and connect with peers. Instead, what if we set high expectations high and then worked to remove barriers and provide access for the few who didn’t have access to the book so that everyone had the expectations, opportunity, and support to engage in the meaningful opportunity? 

Lack of authenticity or purpose 

One of the things that I have heard frequently is that learners don’t know how to learn. More specifically, I hear time and time again, this crisis has highlighted the passivity of some students. During a school day, a teacher can keep most kids on track and effectively move them from activity to activity and ensure assignments are turned in. Closely related to students not knowing how to learn that I am hearing that they aren’t motivated to learn. 

Much of what I have seen in remote learning has been focused on foundational skills and content and while foundational skills are absolutely necessary, when these skills are isolated or learners lack the opportunity to use them in authentic contexts, they can lose a sense of purpose and disengage. While there are many other issues that can cause learners to disengage and prevent access, a sense of purpose is more important than ever for both our academic learning and social-emotional health. If we want learners to be skilled learners and motivated, we would be wise to provide opportunities (and acknowledge the learning they are already doing) that allow them to engage in authentic tasks that foster autonomy, invite the pursuit of mastery, and intrigue them with a sense of purpose. 

Multiple platforms and tools

Keeping track of all the tools, platforms, passwords, meeting times felt like a full-time job! In the first couple of weeks, it was both time consuming and frustrating to login to all the platforms and programs for my kids. Even with wifi, and devices, and the best of intentions, we missed class meetings and check-ins simply because it was hard to keep track of everything and learn new routines, Similarly, I heard from many teachers (and definitely made the same mistake myself) that without a hub to link all resources, expectations, and information it became challenging to manage and keep up with for one child, let alone multiple children when there were multiple platforms and tools being used for learning and communicating. 

A huge need for the fall is to create a learning hub that is consistent across teachers in a school or ideally district to allow for collaboration and codesign of lessons and resources as well as continuity for families to have everything in one place. When there is a consistent structure and simplified tools and resources, it allows the focus to be on the learning not figuring out the tools. 

Focus on the completion of tasks and assignments over learning

If I think of my own teaching as I transitioned from an in-person course to an online course and even with the best of intentions, I still focused more on the content I was teaching than how and what students would be learning. It is easy to get caught in this common teaching trap:  If I didn’t teach it or see them do it, they didn’t learn it. Yet, when we shift our accountability systems from ensuring students completed assignments and spent X amount of hours doing work or being in class and instead hold tight to the evidence of what they learned, we can help learners to understand the goals and where they are in relationship to them so they can better navigate the path. 

We can’t expect all kids to be sitting at a computer for 6 hours and recreate the school day online and each child, family, and circumstance is unique, we have to be compassionate and flexible to allow learners to engage in a variety of ways. This is an opportunity to design experiences that empower learners to practice and develop foundational skills such as reading, writing, and speaking, as they learn to be problem solvers and critical thinkers rather than get through the curriculum or prepare for a test.  

Lack of connection and collaboration 

This quote from a student in NYtimes sums up for many of us why we are so eager to open schools face to face but we also know that in many places it is still not feasible.

“For me, I loved getting to see my friends every day in the school environment. Now that it’s taken away from me, I realize now that school was my main source of communication with people. Now I feel as though I’m losing friendships I had at school since we can’t go anymore.”

Although there were extraordinary efforts made to support the social and emotional health of young people, it is still a major challenge. Teachers shared there were students they never were able to connect with and students missed opportunities to talk with peers and problem solve in small groups.  

Relationships are foundational to learning and what makes school so special. The teacher plays a pivotal role in connecting with individual students and their families, while also creating the community where students develop relationships with one another. This connection to one another and the community is more important than ever for our social emotional well being and academic growth.  

Moving forward

As we prepare for the fall with much uncertainty, it is critical to reflect on what we experienced, what we tried, and what worked so that we can plan and design engaging and effective remote learning strategies that meet the diverse needs of learners. I’d love to hear more examples of what worked, what didn’t, and what you learned to help us all move forward. Please share examples HERE of what has worked for you and stay tuned for the next part on how to move from emergency remote learning to effective learning any time, anywhere.