Here’s how to talk about remote learning and online schooling

Poorly conceived articles on remote learning continue to be published in major media sources, but at least one opinion column, in Education Week, provides fodder for digital learning advocates.

Let’s start with a recent example of the media’s ongoing inability to distinguish emergency remote learning from well-planned and implemented online learning: “I Taught Online School This Year. It Was a Disgrace.” The title captures the gist of the column well, and there’s not much more to say in response than “No, you didn’t teach online school.”

The article deserves better treatment than the title gives it (and it’s common for the title to be written by the editor, not the writer.) Teacher Lelac Almagor documents issues with technology, inequity, and lack of planning that accurately reflect not only her experience but also the experience of many students and teachers during emergency remote learning. But when she writes of what she believes are “optimal conditions” of online school, she reveals a complete lack of understanding of the instructional strategies of experienced online teachers. Her nod to the fact that virtual learning can work for some students comes across as a throwaway line.

Should a teacher in a brick-and-mortar charter school, in a region with few online learning options, know better? It’s hard to say. But there’s no question that the New York Times editors who presumably shaped this column should have crafted a better article. A few additional sentences to make clear that Almagor was writing about her own experience, and that her experience does not reflect that of online schools and teachers, would have made the article a valuable contribution to the discussion. Instead, the New York Times has added to the evidence that it isn’t trying to learn about a space it clearly doesn’t understand.

If the NYT editors seek to comprehend online learning, they should start with a recent column in Education Week by Superintendent Theresa Rouse of Joliet (IL) Public Schools District 86. Her column, “Why Are We Turning Our Backs on Remote Learning?,” captures a much more nuanced view of both emergency remote learning and how Joliet’s experience over the past year has the district seeking to add new online learning options for its students. A key section could have been referring to many articles in the New York Times, as well as all too many current state policy discussions:

“This entire discussion lacks the proper consideration of the overall benefits and drawbacks of remote learning.

Remote learning has been used in educational settings for many years. There are traditional and virtual schools across the country that do amazing work with their students in fully virtual and hybrid settings. There are also, to be clear, fly-by-night e-operators consuming public dollars with very little public benefit to show for it.

But why are people so interested in removing or banning remote learning from the options we can offer students? Like so many things these days, remote learning feels like a politically charged topic. That’s an unfortunate reality given the benefits that some students find in remote settings.”

[snip]

Was everyone successful in our fully virtual learning environment? No. Some students thrived while others struggled. As an educator, I realize that not every instructional model or strategy works for every student. Therefore, I want options in my toolbox so that I can assist students to be successful.

As a district superintendent, it is essential that I have options to offer families that help place their children in the best learning environments for them. Allowing parents a choice among fully online, hybrid, and in-person learning is the right thing to do as we move into a postpandemic world. Why would we go backward when we can augment our options for students to better ensure their success?”

The entire column is worth reading in full, but if you wish to commit just a few lines to memory to use in policy discussions, these would be a good start:

“We need a new vision that offers parents and students new options. Returning to traditional school settings that look exactly the way they were before would be a waste of everything we’ve learned since COVID-19 shut our school buildings down.”