As a teacher, I used to think that bypassing the classroom in favor of an online learning environment was something I would never even consider doing. I’ve always been a proponent of the “hands-on, minds-on” approach with lots of manipulatives and activities.
It’s so important for students to work together and interact with their teachers. What if all of that is taken away, and the only thing the student has to work with is a tablet or computer?
Whether we like it or not, that is the situation we are currently facing. It was thrust upon us last spring when schools had no choice but to close and turn to online instruction. But now, a few months later, and a whole lot wiser, I have changed my mind about online learning.
Despite All the Noise, There Is a Bright Side to Online Learning
For one thing, students enjoy technology and feel more engaged when using it. Picture sitting in the classroom, reading from the text and taking “jot notes” versus participating in an online scavenger hunt/race for information.
Or, how about laboring over a page of Math computation problems versus competing in a fast paced online Math computation game? We have been doing these kinds of activities in the classroom and we can easily adapt them to a remote setting.
Making learning more “fun” isn’t the only consideration though. Eventually, our students will be graduating into the world of work.
As we know, to be successful in that arena they will need highly developed technological skills, no matter what job or profession they choose to pursue. Social media posting and video gaming alone can’t prepare them for purposeful online work.
Will We Still Be Able To Reach Students Who Need More?
Not everyone learns at the same pace or in the same exact way. It makes sense to differentiate our instruction.
While we often struggle with this in the classroom, in an online environment, it is easier to accommodate individual students. Students can be working on completely different assignments without anyone even knowing.
The teacher can form small groups for remediation without the stigma of being in the “low” group because no one will even know.
Helping a student who is struggling with a particular assignment is also more effective in an online setting. In the traditional classroom, students are often embarrassed to admit they need help. They feel uncomfortable if the teacher comes to their desk to assist while other students are watching.
But a student who is too uneasy to come to the teacher’s table for extra instruction just might think it’s cool to visit the teacher’s online “office hours” for assistance.
Students don’t have to come to a classroom after school to seek help, (which feels a whole lot like a punishment.) And parents don’t have to worry about arranging for a late pickup.
These are a few of the reasons why I have changed my mind about online learning. But with the opening of school coming so fast, I want to change gears.
In my next post, we’ll consider what we can do to prepare for that all-important first day of online school. Talk soon.