essay on remote learning

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Remote Teaching: A Student's Perspective

By a purdue student.

As many teachers are well aware, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 required sudden, drastic changes to course curricula. What they may not be aware of are all of the many ways in which this has affected and complicated students’ learning and their academic experiences. This essay, which is written by a student enrolled in several Spring and Summer 2020 remote courses at Purdue University, describes the firsthand experiences (and those of interviewed peers) of participating in remote courses. The aim of this essay is to make teachers aware of the unexpected challenges that remote learning can pose for students.

Emergency remote teaching differs from well-planned online learning

During the past semester, many students and faculty colloquially referred to their courses as “online classes.” While these courses were being taught online, it is nonetheless helpful to distinguish classes that were deliberately designed to be administered online from courses that suddenly shifted online due to an emergency. Perhaps the most significant difference is that students knowingly register for online courses, whereas the switch to remote teaching in spring 2020 was involuntary (though unavoidable). Additionally, online courses are designed in accordance with theoretical and practical standards for teaching in virtual contexts. By contrast, the short transition timeline for implementing online instruction in spring 2020 made applying these standards and preparing instructors next to impossible. As a result, logistical and technical problems were inevitable. I've listed a few of these below.

"...students knowingly register for online courses, whereas the switch to remote teaching in spring 2020 was involuntary..."

Observed Challenges

When teachers are forced to adjust on short notice, some course components may need to be sacrificed..

Two characteristics of high-quality online classes are that their learning outcomes mirror those of in-person classes and that significant time is devoted to course design prior to the beginning of the course. These characteristics ensure the quality of the student learning experience. However, as both students and faculty were given little chance to prepare for the move to remote teaching in spring 2020, adjustments to their learning outcomes were all but unavoidable. Instructors were required to move their courses to a remote teaching format in the span of little over a week during a time when they, like their students, would normally be on break. It was a monumental challenge and one that university faculty rose to meet spectacularly well. However, many components of courses that were originally designed to be taught in person could not be replicated in a remote learning context. Time for the development of contingency plans was limited, which posed additional challenges for the remainder of the semester.

Students' internet connections play a big role in their ability to participate.

At the start of the remote move, many instructors hoped to continue instruction synchronously, but this quickly became infeasible due to technological and logistical issues (e.g., internet bandwidth, student internet access, and time differences). A large number of my fellow students shared internet with other household members, who were also working remotely and were also reliant on conferencing software for meetings. The full-time job of a parent or sibling may be prioritized over a student’s lecture in limited-bandwidth situations. Worse, students in rural areas may simply not have a strong enough connection to participate in synchronous activities at all. These common realities suggest that less technologically reliant contingency plans are necessary and that course material should be made accessible in multiple formats. For example, in addition to offering a video recorded lecture, instructors could also consider providing notes for their lecture.

"These common realities suggest that less technologically reliant contingency plans are necessary and that course material should be made accessible in multiple formats."

It’s also important to design assignments carefully in online courses. For example, group projects, which can pose challenges even when courses are held in person (e.g., in terms of communication, coordination of responsibilities, and access to needed materials), can nevertheless offer students valuable opportunities for personal growth. However, these challenges only become more significant when group projects must be completed remotely. In these cases, access to secure internet and needed materials becomes critical to student success. Partnered students may be in different time zones or may even have been affected by COVID-19 in a way that hampers their ability to contribute to the project. Therefore, teachers may find it advisable to provide students with the option to complete work that would normally constitute group projects as individual assignments.

Teachers underestimate how much harder it is to focus in online courses.

When students no longer share a single learning environment, environmental diffferences can cause significant differences in their engagement. Students forced to use their home as a mixed work/academic space may encounter distractions that wouldn't be a factor in a traditional classroom. These distractions challenge students’ abilities to focus and self-regulate. The shift to remote leadning may also disrupt students’ academic routines. Experts in educational psychology and learning design and technology I spoke to for this piece argued that students’ abilities to handle this transition is partly age-dependent. Older students may not only have more familiarity with online classes, but also with the sort of self-regulation and planning that is required for academic success in the university. Thus, age and course level should be taken into consideration when devising ways to engage, challenge, and support students in remote learning contexts.

"...age and course level should be taken into consideration when devising ways to engage, challenge, and support students in remote learning contexts."

When students are new to taking classes online, explicit prompting from the instructor can be needed to replicate the missing human interactions that normally spur enagagement in the classroom. Thus, it is especially important that instructors closely monitor online learning spaces like discussion boards, looking for appropriate opportunities to chime in. An expert in learning design and technology I spoke to said that instructors should ideally be in touch with their students twice per week. They should frequently outline course expectations and maintain some availability to answer questions. This is especially true in instances where course expectations change due to the shift to online learning. This expert also noted that it is important that instructors provide timely feedback on assignments and assessments. This communicates to students where they stand in their courses and helps students adjust their study strategies as needed.

Students need opportunities to connect and collaborate.

One of the most special parts about being a student at Purdue University is being part of a single large learning community made up of a spectrum of smaller learning communities. At Purdue, students can form bonds with classmates, neighbors, and roommates with a diverse range of skills and interests. Through these friendships and connections, social networks develop, providing emotional and academic support for the many challenges that our rigorous coursework poses.

The closure of the university's physical classrooms created a barrier to the utilization and maintenance of these networks, and it is important that students still have access to one another even when at a distance. One way in which instructors can support their students in remote learning contexts is to create a student-only discussion board on their course page where students can get to know one another and connect. Students may also have questions related to course content that they may feel uncomfortable asking an instructor but that can be easily answered by a classmate.

Many students are dealing with a time change/difference.

For personal reasons, I finished the spring 2020 semester in Europe. Navigating the time difference while juggling the responsibilities of my job, which required synchronous work, and my coursework was challenging (to say the least). One of my courses had a large group project, which was a significant source of stress this past semester. My partner, like many of my instructors, did not seem to understand the significance of this time difference, which often required me to keep a schedule that made daily life in my time zone difficult. When having to make conference calls at 10:00 p.m. and respond to time-sensitive emails well after midnight, work-life balance is much more difficult to achieve. This was abundently clear to me after dealing with time difference of merely six hours. Keep in mind that some students may be dealing with even greater time differences. Thus, try to provide opportunities for asynchronous participation whenever you can.

"Navigating the time difference while juggling the responsibilities of my job, which required synchronous work, and my coursework was challenging (to say the least)"

While flexibility is necessary, academic integrity is still important.

Both teachers and students in my courses expressed discomfort and concern over issues relating to academic integrity. Some students questioned why lockdown browsers (i.e., special browsers used to prevent students from cheating during exams) were not used. According to a learning design and technology expert I spoke to, the short timeline for the transition to remote teaching and learning made the incorporation of such software infeasible. In addition this software can be incredibly expensive, and many professors do not even know that it exists (much less how to use it effectively).

However, several students I spoke with reported that, in their efforts to maintain academic integrity via exam monitoring, some of their professors mandated that students take exams synchronously. This decision disregarded the potential for technical issues and ignored the time differences many students faced, placing unfair stress on students in faraway countries and those with poor connections. Other faculty took an opposite approach by extending the window of time in which students could take exams. Receiving changing and often unclear instructions led to confusion about what students' instructors expected of them. Incorporating this software more consistently in online or remote courses may be a good way to ensure both students and teachers are familiar with it in the future.

The most difficult part of this pandemic has not been the coursework, nor the transition the remote learning, but instead the many unknowns that have faced students and teachers alike. We at Purdue are lucky that our education has been able to continue relatively unabated, and we can be grateful for that fact that most of our instructors have done their best to support us. This coming fall, nearly 500 courses will be offered as online courses, and many others will be presented in hybrid formats. With more time to prepare, courses this fall can be expected to be of higher quality and to have more student-centered contingency plans. As long as it strives for flexibility and gives consideration to students’ evolving needs, the Purdue educational experience will continue to earn its high-quality reputation.

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Original research article, insights into students’ experiences and perceptions of remote learning methods: from the covid-19 pandemic to best practice for the future.

• 1 Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute, San Francisco, CA, United States
• 2 Ronin Institute for Independent Scholarship, Montclair, NJ, United States
• 3 Department of Physics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

This spring, students across the globe transitioned from in-person classes to remote learning as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This unprecedented change to undergraduate education saw institutions adopting multiple online teaching modalities and instructional platforms. We sought to understand students’ experiences with and perspectives on those methods of remote instruction in order to inform pedagogical decisions during the current pandemic and in future development of online courses and virtual learning experiences. Our survey gathered quantitative and qualitative data regarding students’ experiences with synchronous and asynchronous methods of remote learning and specific pedagogical techniques associated with each. A total of 4,789 undergraduate participants representing institutions across 95 countries were recruited via Instagram. We find that most students prefer synchronous online classes, and students whose primary mode of remote instruction has been synchronous report being more engaged and motivated. Our qualitative data show that students miss the social aspects of learning on campus, and it is possible that synchronous learning helps to mitigate some feelings of isolation. Students whose synchronous classes include active-learning techniques (which are inherently more social) report significantly higher levels of engagement, motivation, enjoyment, and satisfaction with instruction. Respondents’ recommendations for changes emphasize increased engagement, interaction, and student participation. We conclude that active-learning methods, which are known to increase motivation, engagement, and learning in traditional classrooms, also have a positive impact in the remote-learning environment. Integrating these elements into online courses will improve the student experience.

Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the demographics of online students. Previously, almost all students engaged in online learning elected the online format, starting with individual online courses in the mid-1990s through today’s robust online degree and certificate programs. These students prioritize convenience, flexibility and ability to work while studying and are older than traditional college age students ( Harris and Martin, 2012 ; Levitz, 2016 ). These students also find asynchronous elements of a course are more useful than synchronous elements ( Gillingham and Molinari, 2012 ). In contrast, students who chose to take courses in-person prioritize face-to-face instruction and connection with others and skew considerably younger ( Harris and Martin, 2012 ). This leaves open the question of whether students who prefer to learn in-person but are forced to learn remotely will prefer synchronous or asynchronous methods. One study of student preferences following a switch to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic indicates that students enjoy synchronous over asynchronous course elements and find them more effective ( Gillis and Krull, 2020 ). Now that millions of traditional in-person courses have transitioned online, our survey expands the data on student preferences and explores if those preferences align with pedagogical best practices.

An extensive body of research has explored what instructional methods improve student learning outcomes (Fink. 2013). Considerable evidence indicates that active-learning or student-centered approaches result in better learning outcomes than passive-learning or instructor-centered approaches, both in-person and online ( Freeman et al., 2014 ; Chen et al., 2018 ; Davis et al., 2018 ). Active-learning approaches include student activities or discussion in class, whereas passive-learning approaches emphasize extensive exposition by the instructor ( Freeman et al., 2014 ). Constructivist learning theories argue that students must be active participants in creating their own learning, and that listening to expert explanations is seldom sufficient to trigger the neurological changes necessary for learning ( Bostock, 1998 ; Zull, 2002 ). Some studies conclude that, while students learn more via active learning, they may report greater perceptions of their learning and greater enjoyment when passive approaches are used ( Deslauriers et al., 2019 ). We examine student perceptions of remote learning experiences in light of these previous findings.

In this study, we administered a survey focused on student perceptions of remote learning in late May 2020 through the social media account of @unjadedjade to a global population of English speaking undergraduate students representing institutions across 95 countries. We aim to explore how students were being taught, the relationship between pedagogical methods and student perceptions of their experience, and the reasons behind those perceptions. Here we present an initial analysis of the results and share our data set for further inquiry. We find that positive student perceptions correlate with synchronous courses that employ a variety of interactive pedagogical techniques, and that students overwhelmingly suggest behavioral and pedagogical changes that increase social engagement and interaction. We argue that these results support the importance of active learning in an online environment.

Materials and Methods

Participant pool.

Students were recruited through the Instagram account @unjadedjade. This social media platform, run by influencer Jade Bowler, focuses on education, effective study tips, ethical lifestyle, and promotes a positive mindset. For this reason, the audience is presumably academically inclined, and interested in self-improvement. The survey was posted to her account and received 10,563 responses within the first 36 h. Here we analyze the 4,789 of those responses that came from undergraduates. While we did not collect demographic or identifying information, we suspect that women are overrepresented in these data as followers of @unjadedjade are 80% women. A large minority of respondents were from the United Kingdom as Jade Bowler is a British influencer. Specifically, 43.3% of participants attend United Kingdom institutions, followed by 6.7% attending university in the Netherlands, 6.1% in Germany, 5.8% in the United States and 4.2% in Australia. Ninety additional countries are represented in these data (see Supplementary Figure 1 ).

Survey Design

The purpose of this survey is to learn about students’ instructional experiences following the transition to remote learning in the spring of 2020.

This survey was initially created for a student assignment for the undergraduate course Empirical Analysis at Minerva Schools at KGI. That version served as a robust pre-test and allowed for identification of the primary online platforms used, and the four primary modes of learning: synchronous (live) classes, recorded lectures and videos, uploaded or emailed materials, and chat-based communication. We did not adapt any open-ended questions based on the pre-test survey to avoid biasing the results and only corrected language in questions for clarity. We used these data along with an analysis of common practices in online learning to revise the survey. Our revised survey asked students to identify the synchronous and asynchronous pedagogical methods and platforms that they were using for remote learning. Pedagogical methods were drawn from literature assessing active and passive teaching strategies in North American institutions ( Fink, 2013 ; Chen et al., 2018 ; Davis et al., 2018 ). Open-ended questions asked students to describe why they preferred certain modes of learning and how they could improve their learning experience. Students also reported on their affective response to learning and participation using a Likert scale.

The revised survey also asked whether students had responded to the earlier survey. No significant differences were found between responses of those answering for the first and second times (data not shown). See Supplementary Appendix 1 for survey questions. Survey data was collected from 5/21/20 to 5/23/20.

Qualitative Coding

We applied a qualitative coding framework adapted from Gale et al. (2013) to analyze student responses to open-ended questions. Four researchers read several hundred responses and noted themes that surfaced. We then developed a list of themes inductively from the survey data and deductively from the literature on pedagogical practice ( Garrison et al., 1999 ; Zull, 2002 ; Fink, 2013 ; Freeman et al., 2014 ). The initial codebook was revised collaboratively based on feedback from researchers after coding 20–80 qualitative comments each. Before coding their assigned questions, alignment was examined through coding of 20 additional responses. Researchers aligned in identifying the same major themes. Discrepancies in terms identified were resolved through discussion. Researchers continued to meet weekly to discuss progress and alignment. The majority of responses were coded by a single researcher using the final codebook ( Supplementary Table 1 ). All responses to questions 3 (4,318 responses) and 8 (4,704 responses), and 2,512 of 4,776 responses to question 12 were analyzed. Valence was also indicated where necessary (i.e., positive or negative discussion of terms). This paper focuses on the most prevalent themes from our initial analysis of the qualitative responses. The corresponding author reviewed codes to ensure consistency and accuracy of reported data.

Statistical Analysis

The survey included two sets of Likert-scale questions, one consisting of a set of six statements about students’ perceptions of their experiences following the transition to remote learning ( Table 1 ). For each statement, students indicated their level of agreement with the statement on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 5 (“Strongly Agree”). The second set asked the students to respond to the same set of statements, but about their retroactive perceptions of their experiences with in-person instruction before the transition to remote learning. This set was not the subject of our analysis but is present in the published survey results. To explore correlations among student responses, we used CrossCat analysis to calculate the probability of dependence between Likert-scale responses ( Mansinghka et al., 2016 ).

Table 1. Likert-scale questions.

Mean values are calculated based on the numerical scores associated with each response. Measures of statistical significance for comparisons between different subgroups of respondents were calculated using a two-sided Mann-Whitney U -test, and p -values reported here are based on this test statistic. We report effect sizes in pairwise comparisons using the common-language effect size, f , which is the probability that the response from a random sample from subgroup 1 is greater than the response from a random sample from subgroup 2. We also examined the effects of different modes of remote learning and technological platforms using ordinal logistic regression. With the exception of the mean values, all of these analyses treat Likert-scale responses as ordinal-scale, rather than interval-scale data.

Students Prefer Synchronous Class Sessions

Students were asked to identify their primary mode of learning given four categories of remote course design that emerged from the pilot survey and across literature on online teaching: live (synchronous) classes, recorded lectures and videos, emailed or uploaded materials, and chats and discussion forums. While 42.7% ( n = 2,045) students identified live classes as their primary mode of learning, 54.6% ( n = 2613) students preferred this mode ( Figure 1 ). Both recorded lectures and live classes were preferred over uploaded materials (6.22%, n = 298) and chat (3.36%, n = 161).

Figure 1. Actual (A) and preferred (B) primary modes of learning.

In addition to a preference for live classes, students whose primary mode was synchronous were more likely to enjoy the class, feel motivated and engaged, be satisfied with instruction and report higher levels of participation ( Table 2 and Supplementary Figure 2 ). Regardless of primary mode, over two-thirds of students reported they are often distracted during remote courses.

Table 2. The effect of synchronous vs. asynchronous primary modes of learning on student perceptions.

Variation in Pedagogical Techniques for Synchronous Classes Results in More Positive Perceptions of the Student Learning Experience

To survey the use of passive vs. active instructional methods, students reported the pedagogical techniques used in their live classes. Among the synchronous methods, we identify three different categories ( National Research Council, 2000 ; Freeman et al., 2014 ). Passive methods (P) include lectures, presentations, and explanation using diagrams, white boards and/or other media. These methods all rely on instructor delivery rather than student participation. Our next category represents active learning through primarily one-on-one interactions (A). The methods in this group are in-class assessment, question-and-answer (Q&A), and classroom chat. Group interactions (F) included classroom discussions and small-group activities. Given these categories, Mann-Whitney U pairwise comparisons between the 7 possible combinations and Likert scale responses about student experience showed that the use of a variety of methods resulted in higher ratings of experience vs. the use of a single method whether or not that single method was active or passive ( Table 3 ). Indeed, students whose classes used methods from each category (PAF) had higher ratings of enjoyment, motivation, and satisfaction with instruction than those who only chose any single method ( p < 0.0001) and also rated higher rates of participation and engagement compared to students whose only method was passive (P) or active through one-on-one interactions (A) ( p < 0.00001). Student ratings of distraction were not significantly different for any comparison. Given that sets of Likert responses often appeared significant together in these comparisons, we ran a CrossCat analysis to look at the probability of dependence across Likert responses. Responses have a high probability of dependence on each other, limiting what we can claim about any discrete response ( Supplementary Figure 3 ).

Table 3. Comparison of combinations of synchronous methods on student perceptions. Effect size (f).

Mann-Whitney U pairwise comparisons were also used to check if improvement in student experience was associated with the number of methods used vs. the variety of types of methods. For every comparison, we found that more methods resulted in higher scores on all Likert measures except distraction ( Table 4 ). Even comparison between four or fewer methods and greater than four methods resulted in a 59% chance that the latter enjoyed the courses more ( p < 0.00001) and 60% chance that they felt more motivated to learn ( p < 0.00001). Students who selected more than four methods ( n = 417) were also 65.1% ( p < 0.00001), 62.9% ( p < 0.00001) and 64.3% ( p < 0.00001) more satisfied with instruction, engaged, and actively participating, respectfully. Therefore, there was an overlap between how the number and variety of methods influenced students’ experiences. Since the number of techniques per category is 2–3, we cannot fully disentangle the effect of number vs. variety. Pairwise comparisons to look at subsets of data with 2–3 methods from a single group vs. 2–3 methods across groups controlled for this but had low sample numbers in most groups and resulted in no significant findings (data not shown). Therefore, from the data we have in our survey, there seems to be an interdependence between number and variety of methods on students’ learning experiences.

Table 4. Comparison of the number of synchronous methods on student perceptions. Effect size (f).

Variation in Asynchronous Pedagogical Techniques Results in More Positive Perceptions of the Student Learning Experience

Along with synchronous pedagogical methods, students reported the asynchronous methods that were used for their classes. We divided these methods into three main categories and conducted pairwise comparisons. Learning methods include video lectures, video content, and posted study materials. Interacting methods include discussion/chat forums, live office hours, and email Q&A with professors. Testing methods include assignments and exams. Our results again show the importance of variety in students’ perceptions ( Table 5 ). For example, compared to providing learning materials only, providing learning materials, interaction, and testing improved enjoyment ( f = 0.546, p < 0.001), motivation ( f = 0.553, p < 0.0001), satisfaction with instruction ( f = 0.596, p < 0.00001), engagement ( f = 0.572, p < 0.00001) and active participation ( f = 0.563, p < 0.00001) (row 6). Similarly, compared to just being interactive with conversations, the combination of all three methods improved five out of six indicators, except for distraction in class (row 11).

Table 5. Comparison of combinations of asynchronous methods on student perceptions. Effect size (f).

Ordinal logistic regression was used to assess the likelihood that the platforms students used predicted student perceptions ( Supplementary Table 2 ). Platform choices were based on the answers to open-ended questions in the pre-test survey. The synchronous and asynchronous methods used were consistently more predictive of Likert responses than the specific platforms. Likewise, distraction continued to be our outlier with no differences across methods or platforms.

Students Prefer In-Person and Synchronous Online Learning Largely Due to Social-Emotional Reasoning

As expected, 86.1% (4,123) of survey participants report a preference for in-person courses, while 13.9% (666) prefer online courses. When asked to explain the reasons for their preference, students who prefer in-person courses most often mention the importance of social interaction (693 mentions), engagement (639 mentions), and motivation (440 mentions). These students are also more likely to mention a preference for a fixed schedule (185 mentions) vs. a flexible schedule (2 mentions).

In addition to identifying social reasons for their preference for in-person learning, students’ suggestions for improvements in online learning focus primarily on increasing interaction and engagement, with 845 mentions of live classes, 685 mentions of interaction, 126 calls for increased participation and calls for changes related to these topics such as, “Smaller teaching groups for live sessions so that everyone is encouraged to talk as some people don’t say anything and don’t participate in group work,” and “Make it less of the professor reading the pdf that was given to us and more interaction.”

Students who prefer online learning primarily identify independence and flexibility (214 mentions) and reasons related to anxiety and discomfort in in-person settings (41 mentions). Anxiety was only mentioned 12 times in the much larger group that prefers in-person learning.

The preference for synchronous vs. asynchronous modes of learning follows similar trends ( Table 6 ). Students who prefer live classes mention engagement and interaction most often while those who prefer recorded lectures mention flexibility.

Table 6. Most prevalent themes for students based on their preferred mode of remote learning.

Student Perceptions Align With Research on Active Learning

The first, and most robust, conclusion is that incorporation of active-learning methods correlates with more positive student perceptions of affect and engagement. We can see this clearly in the substantial differences on a number of measures, where students whose classes used only passive-learning techniques reported lower levels of engagement, satisfaction, participation, and motivation when compared with students whose classes incorporated at least some active-learning elements. This result is consistent with prior research on the value of active learning ( Freeman et al., 2014 ).

Though research shows that student learning improves in active learning classes, on campus, student perceptions of their learning, enjoyment, and satisfaction with instruction are often lower in active-learning courses ( Deslauriers et al., 2019 ). Our finding that students rate enjoyment and satisfaction with instruction higher for active learning online suggests that the preference for passive lectures on campus relies on elements outside of the lecture itself. That might include the lecture hall environment, the social physical presence of peers, or normalization of passive lectures as the expected mode for on-campus classes. This implies that there may be more buy-in for active learning online vs. in-person.

A second result from our survey is that student perceptions of affect and engagement are associated with students experiencing a greater diversity of learning modalities. We see this in two different results. First, in addition to the fact that classes that include active learning outperform classes that rely solely on passive methods, we find that on all measures besides distraction, the highest student ratings are associated with a combination of active and passive methods. Second, we find that these higher scores are associated with classes that make use of a larger number of different methods.

This second result suggests that students benefit from classes that make use of multiple different techniques, possibly invoking a combination of passive and active methods. However, it is unclear from our data whether this effect is associated specifically with combining active and passive methods, or if it is associated simply with the use of multiple different methods, irrespective of whether those methods are active, passive, or some combination. The problem is that the number of methods used is confounded with the diversity of methods (e.g., it is impossible for a classroom using only one method to use both active and passive methods). In an attempt to address this question, we looked separately at the effect of number and diversity of methods while holding the other constant. Across a large number of such comparisons, we found few statistically significant differences, which may be a consequence of the fact that each comparison focused on a small subset of the data.

Thus, our data suggests that using a greater diversity of learning methods in the classroom may lead to better student outcomes. This is supported by research on student attention span which suggests varying delivery after 10–15 min to retain student’s attention ( Bradbury, 2016 ). It is likely that this is more relevant for online learning where students report high levels of distraction across methods, modalities, and platforms. Given that number and variety are key, and there are few passive learning methods, we can assume that some combination of methods that includes active learning improves student experience. However, it is not clear whether we should predict that this benefit would come simply from increasing the number of different methods used, or if there are benefits specific to combining particular methods. Disentangling these effects would be an interesting avenue for future research.

Students Value Social Presence in Remote Learning

Student responses across our open-ended survey questions show a striking difference in reasons for their preferences compared with traditional online learners who prefer flexibility ( Harris and Martin, 2012 ; Levitz, 2016 ). Students reasons for preferring in-person classes and synchronous remote classes emphasize the desire for social interaction and echo the research on the importance of social presence for learning in online courses.

Short et al. (1976) outlined Social Presence Theory in depicting students’ perceptions of each other as real in different means of telecommunications. These ideas translate directly to questions surrounding online education and pedagogy in regards to educational design in networked learning where connection across learners and instructors improves learning outcomes especially with “Human-Human interaction” ( Goodyear, 2002 , 2005 ; Tu, 2002 ). These ideas play heavily into asynchronous vs. synchronous learning, where Tu reports students having positive responses to both synchronous “real-time discussion in pleasantness, responsiveness and comfort with familiar topics” and real-time discussions edging out asynchronous computer-mediated communications in immediate replies and responsiveness. Tu’s research indicates that students perceive more interaction with synchronous mediums such as discussions because of immediacy which enhances social presence and support the use of active learning techniques ( Gunawardena, 1995 ; Tu, 2002 ). Thus, verbal immediacy and communities with face-to-face interactions, such as those in synchronous learning classrooms, lessen the psychological distance of communicators online and can simultaneously improve instructional satisfaction and reported learning ( Gunawardena and Zittle, 1997 ; Richardson and Swan, 2019 ; Shea et al., 2019 ). While synchronous learning may not be ideal for traditional online students and a subset of our participants, this research suggests that non-traditional online learners are more likely to appreciate the value of social presence.

Social presence also connects to the importance of social connections in learning. Too often, current systems of education emphasize course content in narrow ways that fail to embrace the full humanity of students and instructors ( Gay, 2000 ). With the COVID-19 pandemic leading to further social isolation for many students, the importance of social presence in courses, including live interactions that build social connections with classmates and with instructors, may be increased.

Limitations of These Data

Our undergraduate data consisted of 4,789 responses from 95 different countries, an unprecedented global scale for research on online learning. However, since respondents were followers of @unjadedjade who focuses on learning and wellness, these respondents may not represent the average student. Biases in survey responses are often limited by their recruitment techniques and our bias likely resulted in more robust and thoughtful responses to free-response questions and may have influenced the preference for synchronous classes. It is unlikely that it changed students reporting on remote learning pedagogical methods since those are out of student control.

Though we surveyed a global population, our design was rooted in literature assessing pedagogy in North American institutions. Therefore, our survey may not represent a global array of teaching practices.

This survey was sent out during the initial phase of emergency remote learning for most countries. This has two important implications. First, perceptions of remote learning may be clouded by complications of the pandemic which has increased social, mental, and financial stresses globally. Future research could disaggregate the impact of the pandemic from students’ learning experiences with a more detailed and holistic analysis of the impact of the pandemic on students.

Second, instructors, students and institutions were not able to fully prepare for effective remote education in terms of infrastructure, mentality, curriculum building, and pedagogy. Therefore, student experiences reflect this emergency transition. Single-modality courses may correlate with instructors who lacked the resources or time to learn or integrate more than one modality. Regardless, the main insights of this research align well with the science of teaching and learning and can be used to inform both education during future emergencies and course development for online programs that wish to attract traditional college students.

Global Student Voices Improve Our Understanding of the Experience of Emergency Remote Learning

Our survey shows that global student perspectives on remote learning agree with pedagogical best practices, breaking with the often-found negative reactions of students to these practices in traditional classrooms ( Shekhar et al., 2020 ). Our analysis of open-ended questions and preferences show that a majority of students prefer pedagogical approaches that promote both active learning and social interaction. These results can serve as a guide to instructors as they design online classes, especially for students whose first choice may be in-person learning. Indeed, with the near ubiquitous adoption of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, remote learning may be the default for colleges during temporary emergencies. This has already been used at the K-12 level as snow days become virtual learning days ( Aspergren, 2020 ).

In addition to informing pedagogical decisions, the results of this survey can be used to inform future research. Although we survey a global population, our recruitment method selected for students who are English speakers, likely majority female, and have an interest in self-improvement. Repeating this study with a more diverse and representative sample of university students could improve the generalizability of our findings. While the use of a variety of pedagogical methods is better than a single method, more research is needed to determine what the optimal combinations and implementations are for courses in different disciplines. Though we identified social presence as the major trend in student responses, the over 12,000 open-ended responses from students could be analyzed in greater detail to gain a more nuanced understanding of student preferences and suggestions for improvement. Likewise, outliers could shed light on the diversity of student perspectives that we may encounter in our own classrooms. Beyond this, our findings can inform research that collects demographic data and/or measures learning outcomes to understand the impact of remote learning on different populations.

Importantly, this paper focuses on a subset of responses from the full data set which includes 10,563 students from secondary school, undergraduate, graduate, or professional school and additional questions about in-person learning. Our full data set is available here for anyone to download for continued exploration: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataset.xhtml?persistentId= doi: 10.7910/DVN/2TGOPH .

Data Availability Statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics Statement

Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author Contributions

GS: project lead, survey design, qualitative coding, writing, review, and editing. TN: data analysis, writing, review, and editing. CN and PB: qualitative coding. JW: data analysis, writing, and editing. CS: writing, review, and editing. EV and KL: original survey design and qualitative coding. PP: data analysis. JB: original survey design and survey distribution. HH: data analysis. MP: writing. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

We want to thank Minerva Schools at KGI for providing funding for summer undergraduate research internships. We also want to thank Josh Fost and Christopher V. H.-H. Chen for discussion that helped shape this project.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2021.647986/full#supplementary-material

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Keywords : online learning, COVID-19, active learning, higher education, pedagogy, survey, international

Citation: Nguyen T, Netto CLM, Wilkins JF, Bröker P, Vargas EE, Sealfon CD, Puthipiroj P, Li KS, Bowler JE, Hinson HR, Pujar M and Stein GM (2021) Insights Into Students’ Experiences and Perceptions of Remote Learning Methods: From the COVID-19 Pandemic to Best Practice for the Future. Front. Educ. 6:647986. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2021.647986

Received: 30 December 2020; Accepted: 09 March 2021; Published: 09 April 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Nguyen, Netto, Wilkins, Bröker, Vargas, Sealfon, Puthipiroj, Li, Bowler, Hinson, Pujar and Stein. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Geneva M. Stein, [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

Covid-19 and Beyond: From (Forced) Remote Teaching and Learning to ‘The New Normal’ in Higher Education

What the Covid-19 Pandemic Revealed About Remote School

The unplanned experiment provided clear lessons on the value—and limitations—of online learning. Are educators listening?

Katherine Reynolds Lewis, Undark Magazine

The transition to online learning in the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic was, by many accounts, a failure. While there were some  bright   spots  across the country, the transition was messy and uneven — countless teachers had neither the materials nor training they needed to effectively connect with students remotely, while many of those students   were bored , isolated, and lacked the resources they needed to learn. The results were abysmal: low test scores, fewer children learning at grade level, increased inequity, and teacher burnout. With the public health crisis on top of deaths and job losses in many families, students experienced   increases  in depression, anxiety, and suicide risk.

Yet society very well may face new widespread calamities in the near future, from another pandemic to extreme weather, that will require a similarly quick shift to remote school. Success will hinge on big changes, from infrastructure to teacher training, several experts told Undark. “We absolutely need to invest in ways for schools to run continuously, to pick up where they left off. But man, it’s a tall order,” said Heather L. Schwartz, a senior policy researcher at RAND. “It’s not good enough for teachers to simply refer students to disconnected, stand-alone videos on, say, YouTube. Students need lessons that connect directly to what they were learning before school closed.”

More than three years after U.S. schools shifted to remote instruction on an emergency basis, the education sector is still largely unprepared for another long-term interruption of in-person school. The stakes are highest for those who need it most: low-income children and students of color, who are also most likely to be harmed in a future pandemic or live in communities  most affected  by climate change. But, given the abundance of research on what didn’t work during the pandemic, school leaders may have the opportunity to do things differently next time. Being ready would require strategic planning, rethinking the role of the teacher, and using new technology wisely, experts told Undark. And many problems with remote learning actually trace back not to technology, but to basic instructional quality. Effective remote learning won’t happen if schools aren’t already employing best practices in the physical classroom, such as creating a culture of learning from mistakes, empowering teachers to meet individual student needs, establishing high expectations, and setting clear goals supported by frequent feedback. While it’s ambitious to envision that every school district will create seamless virtual learning platforms — and, for that matter, overcome challenges in education more broadly — the lessons of the pandemic are there to be followed or ignored.

“We haven’t done anywhere near the amount of planning or the development of the instructional infrastructure needed to allow for a smooth transition next time schools need to close for prolonged periods of time,” Schwartz said. “Until we can reach that goal, I don’t have high confidence that the next prolonged school closure will be substantially more successful.”

Before the pandemic,  only 3 percent  of U.S. school districts offered virtual school, mostly for students with unique circumstances, such as a disability or those intensely pursuing a sport or the performing arts, according to a RAND  survey  Schwartz co-authored. For the most part, the educational technology companies and developers creating software for these schools promised to give students a personalized experience. But the research on these programs, which focused on virtual charter schools that only existed online, showed  poor outcomes . Their students were a year behind in math and nearly a half-year behind in reading, and courses offered less direct time with a teacher each week than regular schools have in a day.

The pandemic sparked growth in stand-alone virtual academies, in addition to the emergency remote learning that districts had to adopt in March 2020. Educators’ interest in online instructional materials exploded, too, according to Schwartz, “and it really put the foot on the gas to ramp them up, expand them, and in theory, improve them.” By June 2021, the number of school districts with a stand-alone virtual school rose to 26 percent. Of the remaining districts, another 23 percent were interested in offering an online school, the report found.

But the sheer magnitude of options for online learning didn’t necessarily mean it worked well, Schwartz said: “It’s the quality part that has to come up in order for this to be a really good, viable alternative to in person instruction.” And individualized, self-directed online learning proved to be a pipe dream — especially for younger children who needed support from a parent or other family member even to get online, much less stay focused.

“The notion that students would have personalized playlists and could curate their own education was proven to be problematic on a couple levels, especially for younger and less affluent students,” said Thomas Toch, director of FutureEd, an education think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. “The social and emotional toll that isolation and those traumas took on students suggest that the social dimension of schooling is hugely important and was greatly undervalued, especially by proponents for an increased role of technology.”

Students also often didn’t have the materials they needed for online school, some lacking computers or internet access at home. Teachers didn’t have the right training for  online instruction , which has a unique pedagogy and best practices. As a result, many virtual classrooms attempted to replicate the same lessons over video that would’ve been delivered at school. The results were overwhelmingly bad, research shows. ​​For example, a  2022 study  found six consistent themes about how the pandemic affected learning, including a lack of interaction between students and with teachers, and disproportionate harm to low-income students. Numb from isolation and too many hours in front of a screen, students  failed to engage  in coursework and  suffered emotionally .

After some districts resumed in-person or hybrid instruction in the 2020 fall semester, it became clear that the longer students were remote,  the worse their learning delays . For example, national standardized test scores for the 2020-2021 school year showed that passing rates for math declined about 14 percentage points on average, more than three times the drop seen in districts that returned to in-person instruction the earliest, according to a  2021 National Bureau of Economic Research study . Even after most U.S. districts resumed in-person instruction, students who had been online the longest  continued to lag  behind their peers. The pandemic  hit cities hardest  and the effects disproportionately harmed low-income children and students of color in urban areas.

“What we did during the pandemic is not the optimal use of online learning in education for the future,” said Ashley Jochim, a researcher at the Center on Reinventing Public Education at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. “Online learning is not a full stop substitute for what kids need to thrive and be supported at school.”

Children also largely prefer in-person school. A  2022 Pew Research Center survey  suggested that 65 percent of students would rather be in a classroom, 9 percent would opt for online only, and the rest are unsure or prefer a hybrid model. “For most families and kids, full-time online school is actually not the educational solution they want,” Jochim said.

Virtual school felt meaningless to Abner Magdaleno, a 12th grader in Los Angeles. “I couldn’t really connect with it, because I’m more of, like, a social person. And that was stripped away from me when we went online,” recalled Magdaleno. Mackenzie Sheehy, 19, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, found there were too many distractions at home to learn. Her grades suffered, and she missed the one-on-one time with teachers. (Sheehy graduated from high school in 2022.)

Many teachers feel the same way. “Nothing replaces physical proximity, whatever the age,” said Ana Silva, a New York City English teacher. She enjoyed experimenting with interactive technology during online school, but is grateful to be back in person. “I like the casual way kids can come to my desk and see me. I like the dynamism — seeing kids in the cafeteria. Those interactions are really positive, and they were entirely missing during the online learning.”

During the 2022-2023 school year, many districts  initially planned  to continue online courses for snow days and other building closures. But they found that the teacher instruction, student experience, and demands on families were simply too different for in-person versus remote school, said Liz Kolb, an associate professor in the School of Education at the University of Michigan. “Schools are moving away from that because it’s too difficult to quickly transition and blend back and forth among the two without having strong structures in place,” Kolb said. “Most schools don’t have those strong structures.”

In addition, both families and educators grew sick of their screens. “They’re trying to avoid technology a little bit. There’s this fatigue coming out of remote learning and the pandemic,” said Mingyu Feng, a research director at WestEd, a nonprofit research agency. “If the students are on Zoom every day for like, six hours, that seems to be not quite right.”

Despite the bumpy pandemic rollout, online school can serve an important role in the U.S. education system. For one, online learning is a better alternative for some students. Garvey Mortley, 15, of Bethesda, Maryland, and her two sisters all switched to their district’s virtual academy during the pandemic to protect their own health and their grandmother’s. This year, Mortley’s sisters went back to in-person school, but she chose to stay online. “I love the flexibility about it,” she said, noting that some of her classmates prefer it because they have a disability or have demanding schedules. “I love how I can just roll out of bed in the morning, and I can sit down and do school.” Some educators also prefer teaching online, according to  reports  of virtual schools that were inundated with applications from teachers because they wanted to keep  working from home . Silva, the New York high school English teacher, enjoys online tutoring and academic coaching, because it facilitates one-on-one interaction.

And in rural districts and those with low enrollment, some access to online learning ensures students can take courses that could otherwise be inaccessible. “Because of the economies of scale in small rural districts, they needed to tap into online and shared service delivery arrangements in order to provide a full complement of coursework at the high school level,” said Jochim. Innovation in these districts, she added, will accelerate: “We’ll continue to see growth, scalability, and improvement in quality.”

There were also some schools that were largely successful at switching to online at the start of the pandemic, such as Vista Unified School District in California, which  pooled and shared innovative ideas  for adapting in March 2020; the school quickly put together an online portal so that principals and teachers could share ideas and the district could allot the necessary resources. Digging into examples like this could point the way to the future of online learning, said Chelsea Waite, a senior researcher at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, who was part of a collaborative project studying 70 schools and districts that pivoted successfully to online learning. The  project found  three factors that made the transition work: a focus on resilience, collaboration, and autonomy for both students and educators; a healthy culture that prioritized relationships; and strong yet flexible systems that were accustomed to adaptation.

“We investigated schools that did seem to be more prepared for the Covid disruption, not just with having devices in students’ hands or having an online curriculum already, but with a learning culture in the school that really prioritized agency and problem solving as skills for students and adults,” Waite said. “In these schools, kids are learning from a very young age to be a little bit more self-directed, to set goals, and pursue them and pivot when they need to.”

Similarly, many of the takeaways from the pandemic trace back to the basics of effective education, not technological innovation. A landmark report by the National Academies of Sciences called “How People Learn,” most recently updated in 2018, synthesized the body of educational research and identified four key features in the most successful learning environments. First, these schools are designed for, and adapt to, the specific students, building on what they bring to the classroom, such as skills and beliefs. Second, successful schools give their students clear goals, showing them what they need to learn and how they can get there. Third, they provide in-the-moment feedback that emphasizes understanding, not memorization. And finally, the most successful schools are community-centered, with a culture of collaboration and acceptance of mistakes.

“We as humans are social learners, yet some of the tech talk is driven by people who are strong individual learners,” said Jeremy Roschelle, executive director of Learning Sciences Research at Digital Promise, a global education nonprofit. “They’re not necessarily thinking about how most people learn, which is very social.”

Another powerful insight from pandemic-era remote schooling involves the evolving role of teachers, said Kim Kelly, a middle school math teacher at Northbridge Middle School in Massachusetts and a K-8 curriculum coach. Historically, a teacher’s role is the keeper of knowledge who delivers instruction. But in recent years, there has been a shift in approach, where teachers think of themselves as coaches who can intervene based on a student’s individual learning progress. Technology that assists with a coach-like role can be effective — but requires educators to be trained and comfortable interpreting data on student needs.

For example, with a digital learning platform called ASSISTments, teachers can assign math problems, students complete them — potentially receiving in-the-moment feedback on steps they’re getting wrong — and then the teachers can use data from individual students and the entire class to plan instruction and see where additional support is needed.

“A big advantage of these computer-driven products is they really try to diagnose where students are, and try to address their needs. It’s very personalized, individualized,” said WestEd’s Feng, who has  evaluated  ASSISTments and other educational technologies. She noted that some teachers feel frustrated “when you expect them to read the data and try to figure out what the students’ needs are.”

Teacher’s colleges don’t typically prepare educators to interpret data and change their practices, said Kelly, whose dissertation focused on self-regulated online learning. But professional development has helped her learn to harness technology to improve teaching and learning. “Schools are in data overload; we are oozing data from every direction, yet none of it is very actionable,” she said. Some technology, she added, provided student data that she could use regularly, which changed how she taught and assigned homework.

When students get feedback from the computer program during a homework session, the whole class doesn’t have to review the homework together, which can save time. Educators can move forward on instruction — or if they see areas of confusion, focus more on those topics. The ability of the programs to detect how well students are learning “is unreal,” said Kelly, “but it really does require teachers to be monitoring that data and interpreting.” She learned to accept that some students could drive their own learning and act on the feedback from homework, while others simply needed more teacher intervention. She now does more assessment at the beginning of a course to better support all students.

At the district or even national level, letting teachers play to their strengths can also help improve how their students learn, Toch, of FutureEd, said. For example, if a teacher is better at delivering instruction, they could give a lesson to a larger group of students online, while another teacher who is more comfortable in the coach role could work in smaller groups or one-on-one.

“One thing we saw during the pandemic are smart strategies for using technology to get outstanding teachers in front of more students,” Toch said, describing one effort that recruited exceptional teachers nationally and built a strong curriculum to be delivered online. “The local educators were providing support for their students in their classrooms.”

Remote schooling requires new technology, and already, educators are swamped with competing platforms and software choices — most of which have  insufficient evidence of efficacy . Traditional independent research on specific technologies is sparse, Roschelle said. Post-pandemic, the field is so diverse and there are so many technologies in use, it’s almost impossible to find a control group to design a randomized control trial, he added. However, there is qualitative research and evidence that give hints about the quality of technology and online learning, such as  case studies  and school recommendations.

Educational leaders should ask three key questions about technology before investing, recommended Ryan Baker, a professor of education at the University of Pennsylvania: Is there evidence it works to improve learning outcomes? Does the vendor provide support and training, or are teachers on their own? And does it work with the same types of students as are in their school or district? In other words, educators must look at a technology’s track record in the context of their own school’s demographics, geography, culture, and challenges. These decisions are complicated by the small universe of researchers and evaluators, who have many overlapping relationships. (Over his career, for example, Baker has worked with or consulted for many of the education technology firms that create the software he studies.)

It may help to broaden the definition of evidence. The Center on Reinventing Public Education launched the  Canopy project  to collect examples of effective educational innovation around the U.S.

“What we wanted to do is build much better and more open and collective knowledge about where schools are challenging old assumptions and redesigning what school is and should be,” she added, noting that these educational leaders are reconceptualizing the skills they want students to attain. “They’re often trying to measure or communicate concepts that we don’t have great measurement tools for yet. So they end up relying on a lot of testimonials and evidence of student work.”

The moment is ripe for innovation in online and in-person education, said Julia Fallon, executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association, since the pandemic accelerated the rollout of devices and needed infrastructure. There’s an  opportunity  and need for technology that empowers teachers to improve learning outcomes and work more efficiently, said Roschelle. Online and hybrid learning are clearly here to stay — and likely will be called upon again during future temporary school closures.

Still, poorly-executed remote learning risks tainting the whole model; parents and students may be unlikely to give it a second chance. The pandemic showed the hard and fast limits on the potential for fully remote learning to be adopted broadly, for one, because in many communities, schools serve more than an educational function — they support children’s mental health, social needs, and nutrition and other physical health needs. The pandemic also highlighted the real challenge in training the entire U.S. teaching corps to be proficient in technology and data analysis. And the lack of a nimble shift to remote learning in an emergency will disproportionately harm low-income children and students of color. So the stakes are high for getting it right, experts told Undark, and summoning the political will.

“There are these benefits in online education, but there are also these real weaknesses we know from prior research and experience,” Jochim said. “So how do we build a system that has online learning as a complement to this other set of supports and experiences that kids benefit from?”

Katherine Reynolds Lewis is an award-winning journalist covering children, race, gender, disability, mental health, social justice, and science.

This article was originally published on Undark . Read the original article .

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Why Are We Turning Our Backs on Remote Learning?

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Remote learning has moved to the top of the school agenda with a vengeance since March of last year. Without it, tens of millions of American students would have been without formal instruction during the pandemic. It’s a big topic moving forward as we think about what schools will look like come September.

A few policymakers are big fans. Take, for example, Eric Adams, one of the front-runners in the race to become New York City’s newest mayor. This February, the former policeman opined at a meeting of the Citizens Budget Commission, “If you do a full-year school year by using the new technology of remote learning, you don’t need children to be in a school building with a number of teachers. It’s just the opposite. You could have one great teacher that’s in one of our specialized high schools to teach three to 400 students.”

But Adams and those who share his view are pushing upstream against a growing consensus that remote learning contributes to “learning loss” and to teacher burnout, while being detrimental to student learning. Increasingly, school districts, as well as state leaders and elected officials, lean toward eliminating remote learning as an educational option for students come September—the current New York City mayor, Bill de Blasio, among them.

Extreme pro- and anti-positions are misbegotten. Advocates need to take care. Ham-fisted mandates banning or requiring remote learning are likely to throw the baby out with the bath water.

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.

Without remote learning this past year, schooling options for students in Joliet Public Schools District 86—which I lead—would have been embarrassingly threadbare. We were largely fully remote for most of the year. We were not fully one-to-one with our devices when the pandemic first shut down schools in March 2020. However, by the middle of May that same year, nearly every student had a device for instruction. The remaining students were provided a device in time to start the 2020-21 school year in August.

We remained fully remote at the beginning of the school year based on our local COVID-19 realities. As we monitored the data, it was necessary for us to remain fully remote until February. We invited small groups of special education students to return to their school buildings one or two days each week. However, many parents declined this opportunity. We invited groups of general education students to return to their school buildings one or two days each week in March. Only about 15 percent of our total student population participated in person, while the remainder continued fully remote. By the end of the year, we had increased our percentage of in-person students to approximately 25 percent.

Mandated in-person state assessments also added to the dilemma of planning for instruction in the spring. Thirty-five percent of our English-language learners participated in their mandated assessment, and approximately 42 percent of students in grades 3-8 participated in the state-mandated assessments. Unfortunately, the time spent ensuring mandated assessments were managed and monitored appropriately took time away from instruction—for students attending in-person and those still fully remote.

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?

We’ve doubtless made mistakes, but using these experiences as a lever for change offers a strategic way forward.

There have been several lessons learned during the past terrible 16 months. The public’s eyes have been opened about how difficult it is to provide a quality education to diverse student populations. We’ve gained some hard-won insights into the challenges and benefits associated with different approaches to helping students succeed. We’ve doubtless made mistakes, but using these experiences as a lever for change offers a strategic way forward.

Let’s be honest. As Gloria Ladson-Billings, a retired tenured faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a former president of the American Educational Research Association, likes to point out, we don’t really want to return to normal because “normal is the place where the problems were.” 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.

It is time for school leaders to stand up and insist that we cannot let the system revert to the status quo ante. It is time for us to stand up for our students and their families by providing them with as many options as we can so that they can be as successful as they want to be and we want them to be. It is time, too, that we stand up for our staff by providing them with all the resources needed to meet the needs of their students.

Above all, it is time my colleagues leading districts large and small across the country work to ensure that every single student in our schools has the learning environment that best fits their individual learning styles. That’s how to get rid of the bath water while protecting the baby.

A version of this article appeared in the July 14, 2021 edition of Education Week as Why Are We Turning Our Backs On Remote Learning?

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Reflections—and Lessons Learned—From Remote Learning

Experiences during remote learning inspire a teacher to reconsider—and refresh—her curriculum for the fall.

Our last day of the school year, three months and a week after we went virtual, brought a strange sadness. After the whirlwind and stress of the last few months, the end felt like a slow exhale instead of a bang—or, as a student said, one of those balloons that float to the ceiling outside your grasp and then slowly deflate on their own. At the end of class, we waved goodbye and said, “Thanks,” and then one by one, my high school students clicked off, leaving me staring at my own face on the screen.

Things moved so quickly since mid-March that it’s been hard to stop and let everything sink in. When I got the results of my first Covid test back negative, it was a poignant reminder that other people in my community—people I know—have not been as lucky. Some have died. As I write this, for the first quiet moment in a while, I have time to feel deeply sad for them.

I imagine it will take a while for teachers, staff, and students to have enough quiet moments to come to terms with all we have experienced (if we ever do), as Covid-19 spikes and virtual learning stretches on. But at the same time, many of us have also found new ways to be flexible, connect, and grapple with the world around us that we might have avoided or skipped over before. Some of these changes or insights I hope to take with me into this coming school year, whatever that may look like.

Creating Time for Civic Engagement

While we were learning from home, we were also alert to events outside our school that prompted students and teachers to engage in a deeper way than the previous flow of the school day provided. The large (masked) gatherings to protest the death of George Floyd and centuries of institutionalized racism were the first time many of us left our homes in New Jersey.

While students and teachers discuss race and equity openly at school, having regular discussions for the entire school had been challenging before, due to our bell schedule, which has no common lunches, along with students’ extracurricular commitments to clubs and teams. Now, we all had time, and our school’s Diversity Alliance club (of which I am a co-advisor) held three open discussions, initiated and led by students. Many students started their own online fundraisers for Covid-19 first responders, and others launched online actions to support Black Lives Matter.

After these experiences, I’m left wondering in what ways the “normal” school day prevents civic engagement and deeper contemplation that help students connect school learning with real life rather than conduct simulations of it in model congresses.

Raising Self-Awareness

A project unique to this time was a “Covid Journal,” in which students tracked the news and their responses to it in an electronic or paper journal. About a month into the project, students asked if they could stop responding to the news and just write, and their entries became more personal.

Reflecting on their journals at the end of the trimester, students said that they noticed a shift in themselves from the initial shock and uncertainty to feelings of resignation or acceptance of their quarantined lives. As the months passed, their journals also became less tethered to the outside world and showed that time had taken on an elastic quality, stretching endlessly in some days or hours, contracting quickly in others. By the end of the project, many noted how their mental well-being coincided with their attention to breaking news, which seemed like a lesson they would take with them.

In recent years, journaling and writing about feelings as a classroom writing strategy has fallen out of favor in the schools I’ve taught in, with focus instead on close reading of challenging texts. But journaling coupled with reflection—especially during times of historic crisis—showed me that this activity can support complexity and has a long tradition for good reason. I plan to continue it next year.

Refresh Your Teaching

After debate among our staff about the merits of synchronous versus asynchronous instruction, I turned the question to my classes in a Google Form, asking about what they preferred. They said they liked synchronous online nonvideo instruction, such as simultaneously chatting and answering broad questions in small-group Google Docs, but were most engaged during video discussions. I ended up balancing both of these every week.

Teaching remotely also made me look at my own content with fresh eyes. After contemplating whether or not to read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with my freshmen this year, I decided to stick with the book and instead change how I taught it. I recorded myself giving a mini-lesson focused on sexism in the 1950s and 1960s, used ads and photos from the time as visuals, and then foregrounded the problems in a way that students could linger with and use later in short papers. I also paired the text with a chapter from Tommy Orange’s There There .

Amid the push for student-driven learning in past years, I have shied away from the stand-and-deliver lecture, but the success of my 15-minute lesson made me realize that more traditional teaching styles still have merit. A few students cited teacher mini-lectures as a driver of learning this year, and There There became a favorite text for a handful. The experience reminded me to reevaluate assumptions to uncover better approaches and to give students the opportunity to weigh in on how they prefer to learn.

Deliberate Connections

In the classroom, I tend to be less of an emotive hugs-and-high-fives teacher and more of a let’s-get-to-work-now kind of teacher. Yet teaching remotely provided a new opportunity to focus on how to carve out time for social and emotional activities with each class in the absence of face-to-face connections. Early on, my students took attendance online by rating their mood, and when our district started allowing us to use video classes, I also checked in by sharing online puzzles to start class or putting students in Zoom breakout rooms with several classmates at random.

Unpredictably, the structure of virtual school gave us more time to talk about connections in our lives and the structures that shape them, which created new affinities among us. Before the final week of school, I met my departing homeroom of seniors over Zoom, and we talked about their plans, their favorite shows, their jobs. My son joined briefly to talk about a recent Avator obsession; our class felt almost like a family. As we move into what is likely a hybrid learning model this fall and can’t check in as easily by noticing a facial expression or posture, I realize that the success of learning depends on consciously building in opportunities for connection, particularly when showing up is literally rolling out of bed and clicking a post.

Whether we are in physical, virtual, or hybrid classes this fall, I plan to be intentionally connecting with students and to the world even more. We have all been through (at least) two major historical ruptures together: a pandemic and a reckoning on racial inequality. To talk about one without the other implies that they are unrelated. But both the racial disparities in Covid-19 deaths and the protests and rallies for racial justice reveal that access to basic privileges—to be healthy, to live—remains unequal. Students realize this, and schools can support young people to go into the world with greater understanding of structures that shape us, not keep them from it.

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General Education

As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, millions of students, parents, and teachers across the world have suddenly experienced remote learning. But what is remote learning? How does it differ from traditional learning, and how does remote learning look for different age groups? This article answers all your questions about remote learning, including how to decide if it's the right choice for you and how you can get the most out of it.

What Is Remote Learning?

Remote learning has existed for decades, but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it became widespread in schools around the world. But what is remote learning? Remote learning, also called distance learning or e-learning, is when a student and an educator are not physically in the same place while the instruction is going on. The teacher might be in the classroom and the student at home, both might be at their own homes, etc. 

Remote learning doesn't occur face-to-face, so some sort of technology is used, whether that's live video learning, pre-recorded lessons, discussion boards, or a combination. There might be video discussions with different students, online assessments, and audio and video included as part of lessons. Sometimes remote learning is preferred over in-person learning because it makes scheduling easier and can accommodate larger class sizes, but other times schools are forced to use remote learning when traditional learning isn't possible. This can be due to scheduling conflicts, illness, geographic distance between the teacher and student(s), and/or major disrupting events, such as the coronavirus pandemic.

What Can You Expect as an E-Learner?

If you're going to be taught through remote learning, what will your experience be like? Each school, each teacher even, handles remote learning differently, but below we've given overviews of typical remote learning experiences. They're organized by age group since remote learning tasks and goals for, say, kindergarteners, is often very different than those of older students.

Preschool/Early Elementary School

Remote learning is often most challenging for this age group. Because they're so young, these students can struggle with maintaining focus when learning is virtual, and they may not feel engaged when they're not in the same room as their teachers and classmates. Remote learning for them is often on a regular schedule, with the teacher speaking directly to the students via video so students can see the teacher's face.

For students in this age group, nearly all lessons are done live and are taught synchronously, which means all the students learn the material at the same time, rather than working on someone on their own. Synchronous learning is often necessary for these students because they're learning lots of new skills, and it's even more critical for remote learning when they don't have a teacher walking around offering help as needed.

Teachers will also provide all or nearly all of the needed materials since students this young usually can't find outside materials on their own. Sometimes parents may be needed to download or print resources, though.

Because social interaction is such an important part of development at this age, a lot of the remote learning will focus on encouraging the students to talk to each other and the teacher and work together on projects. Certain parts of the school day may be purely social so these students can have a break from direct learning.

Late Elementary School/Middle School

At this age group, remote learning is still primarily live and on a regular schedule, with the teacher lecturing students via video. However, there is often more asynchronous learning going on , where students learn at their own pace. For example, a teacher may give a lecture about a book the class read together, then have the students work individually on a worksheet for a half hour or so before bringing the class back together to discuss their answers.

Outside materials, such as websites students must visit, videos students must watch, and books they need to read will also be added to the teaching materials as students in this age group are usually able to manage the internet and online resources well.

Individual group work is often more common at this group, too, because the students can be trusted to manage themselves even when the teacher is not directly supervising.

High School

Online classes have been popular at many colleges for years now. Because many college classes are lecture-focused, they can be adapted fairly easily to remote learning. The professor just needs to record herself giving the lectures, include appropriate slides and graphics, and the course is pretty much set and can be used for multiple semesters/years. 

In most cases, the student can watch the recorded lectures at their leisure and take online assessments at regular intervals. The lessons will typically consist of a pre-recorded video that shows the lecture slides as the professor speaks about them. There may be additional learning materials, such as outside videos or articles to analyze, as part of the coursework.

College students are often quite tech savvy, so they can manage fully online classes better than younger age groups. For these pre-recorded classes, there may be no interaction at all between classmates, or they may have online group work/be required to post on discussion boards.

With the pandemic, there has been a rise in live remote learning classes out of necessity. These look more like high school remote learning classes where students see each other on the screen and can ask questions and interact with each other in real time. These are used more for smaller classes that are focused more on discussion and group work than straight lectures.

Other Types of School

For other students, such as those attending graduate school, night school, or getting a certificate, online learning is also well established. You can obtain a professional certificate or even a graduate degree completely through online learning. As with colleges, remote learning for them often consists of pre-recorded lectures that students can watch when it works best with their schedule. Learning is primarily asynchronous. Students in these classes might have online discussions, or the class may be entirely self-directed.  

Is Remote Learning Right for You?

How does remote learning compare to in-person and hybrid learning? Below are the major pros and cons of remote learning.

Remote Learning Pros and Cons

Compared to remote learning, in-person learning is often more engaging, enjoyable, and effective for students, especially younger students, because they're in the same room as their instructor and peers. However, in-person learning is not always possible due to extenuating circumstances. Some schools also use hybrid learning, which is a mixture of remote and in-person learning. This can be great for classes that are a mixture of lecture and discussion: the lectures can be remote and listened to at the students' leisure, and then the class can meet in person for an engaging discussion. Some students don't like switching between the different instruction methods though, and they may only really pay attention during the in-person lessons.

Sometimes you don't have a choice as to whether you're learning remotely or not; we saw this happen widely with the pandemic. However, there are other times when you have a choice between in-person or hybrid learning and remote learning. How can you know if distance education is right for you? Ask yourself these three questions:

#1: Are You Generally Self-Motivated?

Many people, even those who are normally excellent students, struggle to feel motivated and engaged during remote learning. This is understandable; you're physically removed from the classroom and are prone to many distractions. So be really honest when you analyze whether you think you're motivated enough to excel at remote learning. 

#2: How Comfortable Do You Feel With the Course Material?

Sometimes knowing whether remote learning is right for you or not really comes down to what you'll be learning. Some people may be fine taking an English class via remote learning but want in-person instruction for a calculus class. Some may like pre-recorded lecture classes but not live discussion-based classes. An online music class might sound less stressful to some people but impossible to do well in for others. Some people have an easier time learning in-person, while others prefer recorded video lessons they can watch as many times as they need. Consider the material you'll be learning, how comfortable you feel with it, and your own learning preferences before deciding.

#3: What Experience Does the Instructor/School Have With Remote Learning?

Your own experiences and strengths aren't the only ones that matter when it comes to making remote learning a success. The instructor's skill at online learning is also key. Remote learning is very different from online learning, and someone who is a great in-person teacher may not necessarily be a great remote instructor. Similarly, a school that doesn't have the technology already set up for online learning may struggle at first to develop smooth and effective distance learning lessons. Look for reviews of the teacher and the school to try to get an idea of how well they manage remote learning.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Distance Education Experience

No doubt about it, remote learning can be challenging. Follow these four tips to have the most beneficial and enjoyable e-learning experience.

#1: Set a Schedule

For some remote learning classes, you need to be online at a certain time each day/week, but for others you're basically allowed to study whenever you want, typically with an online assessment every few weeks to make sure you're on track. It can be very tempting to wait until the last minute and then do all your lessons at once, but cramming is a terrible way to learn. Instead, create a schedule and stick to it. Maybe you'll listen to your lessons every morning, take a break, then do homework in the afternoon, catching up on any material over the weekend. Whatever your schedule looks like, make sure it's one you can stick with. You'll get many benefits from keeping to a schedule. You'll retain the information you learn better, have time to ask for help if you don't understand a lesson, will avoid pulling all-nighters, and will likely end up with better grades because you're completing homework and exams on time.

#2: Remove Distractions

Distractions are one of the biggest obstacles to remote learning. Your phone is probably right next to you, you can easily click over to your favorite website, a family member might have the TV on in the background, etc. These can make remote learning seem more bearable in the moment, but they can seriously impact your long-term learning. You can't learn while you're looking at your phone or surfing the web, and if you're consistently distracted, you'll struggle to learn the material and do well in the class. So, remove the distractions. Keep your phone in a different room entirely during class, take notes with pencil and paper if it keeps you from opening new and unrelated web pages, and try to find a quiet place to learn, without additional noise or interruptions.

#3: Ask for Help When You Need It

Many students are reluctant to ask for help when it involves more than just hanging around after class for a few minutes to ask the teacher a question. When confused during remote learning, students may feel put on the spot when asking a question in front of their classmates, or they may be reluctant to email or schedule a one-on-one video call with their teacher for additional help. However, don't let this reluctance prevent you from asking for help when there's material you're not sure about. It's very easy to get behind during remote learning, and the problem will only snowball the longer you wait.

Many people have a harder time learning concepts during remote learning, so teachers are very understanding of students who need additional explanation. They'll often lay out exactly what steps you should take if you're confused about material, and you should make use of these early and as often as you need to.

#4: Interact With Others When You Can

Remote learning is often a lonely experience, and that can contribute to students feeling disengaged and unmotivated. Do what you can to prevent this by interacting with your instructor and peers whenever you have the opportunity. Set a goal like asking a question or making an observation at least once per class, participate in any discussion boards your instructor has set up, and consider creating virtual study groups so you and your classmates can interact with each other and work through trickier material. All of these actions will help you feel more involved in the class, and that often results in higher grades.

Summary: What Is Remote Learning?

What is distance learning, and what is e-learning? Remote learning, also known as distance or e-learning, is when the student(s) and teacher aren't in the same place during instruction. Remote learning can involve live video classes, pre-recorded lectures, or a combination of the two. It's often used when in-person learning is difficult or impossible to carry out, due to events such as illnesses, schedule conflicts, geographic distance, or disasters.

For younger students, remote learning is generally done live to accommodate shorter attention spans and a need for more interaction. Older students, particularly those in college and beyond, often have more pre-recorded lessons that they can watch whenever works best for your schedule.

Some people are very drawn to remote learning because it seems easier, but remember that you still need to be highly motivated to do well, and you need to be confident you can handle learning material largely on your own. If you do end up doing remote learning, remember to set a schedule for yourself, remove distractions, ask for help, and interact with others.

What's Next?

Undecided whether or not an online high school is right for you? Learn more about  the pros and cons of attending an online high school . 

Thinking about different kinds of alternative schools (other than online)? Check out our guide to alternative schools and how they might be the right fit for you . 

Want an in-depth look at an online school? Read our guide on Stanford online high school, including reviews from current and past students.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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What Have We Learned About Remote Learning?

A new report from bellwether education partners uncovers valuable findings as schools continue to grapple with distance learning..

Laura Zingg

Editorial Project Manager, One Day Studio

When a global pandemic forced school buildings to close abruptly last spring, districts and networks across the country scrambled to continue supporting students’ basic needs while pursuing academic instruction in some form. With a new school year underway, the majority of schools across the U.S. are continuing online.

So what have we learned from this crash course in distance learning? And what promising practices have emerged?

A new report, Promise in the Time of Quarantine , published this week by Bellwether Education Partners and funded by the Cognizant U.S. Foundation , aims to answer these big questions and shine a light on promising practices that could prove useful as schools continue navigating the uncertainty of remote learning in the months ahead.

Researchers Ashley LiBetti, Lynne Graziano, and Jennifer Schiess at Bellwether partnered with Teach For America to engage with twelve schools that reflect a diversity of geographies, student populations, school sizes, and school types. These schools were selected for their strong distance learning strategies, particularly in underserved communities.

The authors set out to uncover how these schools approached remote learning by conducting research, interviews with school leaders, and focus groups with teachers and other academic staff last spring. They found that all twelve schools struggled with the transition to distance learning and lost learning is a big concern. While no school found a perfect model for distance learning, they did develop effective strategies for supporting students.

LiBetti, an associate partner at Bellwether, notes that the headlines we often see about schools failing at remote learning lack nuance and don’t tell the full story.

“It's unfair to expect schools to shift to an entirely different learning environment over 48 hours with a limited foundation of what effective practice looks like,” LiBetti says. “When we think about all of the things that schools were asked to do and all of the things that schools were able to accomplish, saying that they failed doesn't get at everything that happened.”

This report offers a closer look at schools that handled the transition to remote learning successfully and details promising practices that are worth exploring, as well as the hurdles ahead as schools continue to learn and adapt in this uncertain environment.

Schools Prioritized Basic Needs, Technology, Family Engagement

While each of the schools profiled in the report took a different approach to implementing remote learning to meet the needs of students and families in their contexts, researchers uncovered some common themes.

Addressing Students’ Basic Needs Came First

In the immediate aftermath of school building closures, addressing students’ basic health and wellbeing came first. Researchers found that schools made intentional choices to prioritize students’ access to school meals and health services as they figured out plans to adapt rigorous academics to a remote learning environment. While schools are not positioned to provide families with all the services they need, they were able to help families navigate supports outside of the school. Some schools, including Steel City Academy located in Gary, Indiana, used data to keep close tabs on student wellness by tracking “human essentials” metrics, such as whether students had access to two meals a day.

Prioritizing Access to Technology for Continued Learning

Ensuring students had access to the technology necessary to continue learning at home was another top priority for schools. That included triaging students’ technology needs and partnering with internet service and technology providers to provide devices and equipment to students who lacked these at home. Some schools, including Gentry Public Schools in Arkansas, took innovative approaches to bridging the broadband gap and turned school buses into mobile hotspots to reach students in remote areas without wifi.

LiBetti notes that prioritizing access to technology was a key factor among schools making a successful transition to remote learning.

“All of these schools invested in making their instructional model as effective as it could be under the circumstances, but an instructional model doesn't matter if your students can't access it. And so schools made sure that they did what they could to ensure students were able to access distance learning,” LiBetti says.

Student and Family Engagement Was a Key Success Factor

All of the schools that participated in the study invested in strong relationships with students and families as a part of their core practice prior to the pandemic. Not surprisingly, strong family and student engagement was even more important in the context of virtual learning. Some schools leveraged existing teacher-student cohort structures and others created these structures in response to the pandemic. Each school had a different name for their cohort model, such as “pods,” “squads,” or “crews.” Through these cohorts, teachers could support small groups of students, and provide individual academic and social-emotional support through office hours, advisories, and other touchpoints.

“When we think about all of the things that schools were asked to do and all of the things that schools were able to accomplish, saying that they failed doesn't get at everything that happened.”

Ashley LiBetti

Associate Partner, Bellwether Education Partners

School leaders also set an expectation that someone from the school would contact families at least once a week—sometimes daily—to check-in and offer support, especially for students who were absent. As a result of these communication structures, many schools could adjust their remote learning strategies to meet students’ and families’ needs, such as offering additional synchronous learning time.

One teacher from Breakthrough Public Schools in Cleveland, Ohio, noted in the study that the crisis ended up building a stronger community with students and families. “We were so successful with distance learning because of the relationships we had built prior to the pandemic happening. In a weird way, the pandemic brought me closer to parents and families.”

Schools Focused on Pragmatic & Resourceful Approaches to Remote Learning

Adapting in-person instruction to the online environment.

As schools worked to adapt to remote instruction quickly, most schools in this study implemented a distance learning model that reflected their in-person instruction and schedules. To the extent that they could, schools prioritized live online teaching, using breakout rooms for small group work. This meant that schools could preserve some familiarity with the school day structure rather than make a radical change.

“Schools were equipped to translate the work they had done in brick and mortar classrooms into an online environment,” LiBetti says. “And in doing so, it allowed students to have some stability and continuity in a way that I didn't realize was going to be possible given the drastic shift in the environment.”

However, transitioning to the virtual classroom meant schools had to be creative and make the best use of synchronous learning time to avoid so-called “Zoom fatigue.” Some schools, including New York City’s Hamilton Grange School, restructured the virtual classroom to combine students from the same grade level into one class, rather than having multiple periods of the same subject and grade level. Schools supplemented synchronous learning with asynchronous, self-guided work.

Because teachers had limited visibility into how students were engaging in asynchronous learning, teachers had to adapt these lessons as if they were teaching in person, anticipating where students would have questions and providing additional guidance in the recorded lesson.

Leveraging Existing Resources for Distance Learning

Schools were incredibly resourceful in their response to the pandemic. With some schools having as little as a weekend to plan, they reimagined how to leverage existing resources, rather than making major shifts or investing in new resources. School leaders leveraged their teams’ strengths and skills, calling on teachers and support staff to fill new roles and needs that arose during school closures. Teachers with technology expertise produced video lessons and coached others on how to adapt their lessons for the online classroom. Front-office and support staff helped make contact with families.

Schools Struggled to Serve Students With Disabilities

Effectively serving students with disabilities was a primary challenge that all schools in this study faced during the shift to virtual learning. This challenge was exacerbated by the pandemic, especially for students living in remote areas without access to wifi and adaptive technology to continue learning at home.

For students with disabilities who were able to access remote learning, some schools were able to use technology effectively to provide targeted support and skill-building. Other schools found success by connecting disabled students with a paraprofessional teacher who would accompany them during virtual classroom sessions and use these observations to provide targeted support during remote coaching sessions.

However, social distancing rules meant that many students with disabilities could no longer receive in-person support, such as physical therapy. Schools struggled to engage students with disabilities when virtual adaptations fall short of offering the help they need. This group is especially at risk of widening learning gaps. Therefore many schools are prioritizing students with disabilities as one of the first groups to return to in-person learning as soon as it’s safe to do so.

“That's a promising system-level approach,” LiBetti says. “Think about which of your students would benefit most from being in person and prioritize those students when you're considering who is coming back to the physical classroom—students with disabilities are at the top of that list.”

“We were so successful with distance learning because of the relationships we had built prior to the pandemic happening.”

Breakthrough Public Schools

Planning for an Uncertain Future

Last spring, schools were in reactive mode and forced to make decisions with little time to plan. As the pandemic continues to create an uncertain future, schools now need to think about the long-term plan for remote learning.

The report highlights the logistical challenges schools face this year as many schools begin the school year, at least partially, if not entirely, online. As rates of COVID-19 continue to fluctuate in communities, many schools are envisioning how to manage the shift between virtual and hybrid instruction. This school year also presents an additional challenge as schools start the year with new families and don’t already have in-person relationships in place. Schools in this report are thinking creatively about how to engage families remotely by offering virtual field trips, town halls presented in multiple languages, teacher TikTok videos, and online learning parties.

As schools look ahead, the report outlines some of the difficult questions they will have to address, such as how to assess student engagement and progress and provide equitable remote learning for all students. The learning gap may widen for marginalized students—those with disabilities, Black, Indigenous, and students of color, and students from low-income backgrounds. Some schools that participated in this study are analyzing distance learning gaps through a racial equity lens to understand the role that racial bias might play within their systems. Without state assessment data from last year and uncertainty around how to handle assessments this year, the report suggests that schools will need to find ways to gather interim data to inform decisions about learning.

“Schools need to figure out how they're going to measure and then accommodate lost learning,” LiBetti says. “We can't identify gaps in proficiency or growth if we don't measure them, and we can't target scarce resources unless we know who needs them most.”

Considerations for Future Research

Schools will continue to be nimble this year as they respond to changing circumstances and challenges of the pandemic. This report just scratches the surface of what researchers aim to uncover about the pandemic’s impact on education. LiBetti hopes that this is just the beginning of a long term effort to learn and share best practices about distance learning among schools.

“Schools are going to continue navigating really dynamic circumstances throughout the end of this calendar year and likely for the foreseeable future,” LiBetti says. “So it's critical to continue engaging with school and district leaders who are experiencing success and then take the things that they are learning and share those experiences as broadly and as quickly as possible.”

Learn more about Teach For America’s commitment to research and how to partner with us.

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• Camille Sanrey   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3158-1306 1 ,
• Arnaud Stanczak   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2596-1516 2 ,
• Antony Manstead   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7540-2096 3 &
• Céline Darnon   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2613-689X 2  

Nature Human Behaviour volume  5 ,  pages 1273–1281 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced teachers and parents to quickly adapt to a new educational context: distance learning. Teachers developed online academic material while parents taught the exercises and lessons provided by teachers to their children at home. Considering that the use of digital tools in education has dramatically increased during this crisis, and it is set to continue, there is a pressing need to understand the impact of distance learning. Taking a multidisciplinary view, we argue that by making the learning process rely more than ever on families, rather than on teachers, and by getting students to work predominantly via digital resources, school closures exacerbate social class academic disparities. To address this burning issue, we propose an agenda for future research and outline recommendations to help parents, teachers and policymakers to limit the impact of the lockdown on social-class-based academic inequality.

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The widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in 2019–2020 have drastically increased health, social and economic inequalities 1 , 2 . For more than 900 million learners around the world, the pandemic led to the closure of schools and universities 3 . This exceptional situation forced teachers, parents and students to quickly adapt to a new educational context: distance learning. Teachers had to develop online academic materials that could be used at home to ensure educational continuity while ensuring the necessary physical distancing. Primary and secondary school students suddenly had to work with various kinds of support, which were usually provided online by their teachers. For college students, lockdown often entailed returning to their hometowns while staying connected with their teachers and classmates via video conferences, email and other digital tools. Despite the best efforts of educational institutions, parents and teachers to keep all children and students engaged in learning activities, ensuring educational continuity during school closure—something that is difficult for everyone—may pose unique material and psychological challenges for working-class families and students.

Not only did the pandemic lead to the closure of schools in many countries, often for several weeks, it also accelerated the digitalization of education and amplified the role of parental involvement in supporting the schoolwork of their children. Thus, beyond the specific circumstances of the COVID-19 lockdown, we believe that studying the effects of the pandemic on academic inequalities provides a way to more broadly examine the consequences of school closure and related effects (for example, digitalization of education) on social class inequalities. Indeed, bearing in mind that (1) the risk of further pandemics is higher than ever (that is, we are in a ‘pandemic era’ 4 , 5 ) and (2) beyond pandemics, the use of digital tools in education (and therefore the influence of parental involvement) has dramatically increased during this crisis, and is set to continue, there is a pressing need for an integrative and comprehensive model that examines the consequences of distance learning. Here, we propose such an integrative model that helps us to understand the extent to which the school closures associated with the pandemic amplify economic, digital and cultural divides that in turn affect the psychological functioning of parents, students and teachers in a way that amplifies academic inequalities. Bringing together research in social sciences, ranging from economics and sociology to social, cultural, cognitive and educational psychology, we argue that by getting students to work predominantly via digital resources rather than direct interactions with their teachers, and by making the learning process rely more than ever on families rather than teachers, school closures exacerbate social class academic disparities.

First, we review research showing that social class is associated with unequal access to digital tools, unequal familiarity with digital skills and unequal uses of such tools for learning purposes 6 , 7 . We then review research documenting how unequal familiarity with school culture, knowledge and skills can also contribute to the accentuation of academic inequalities 8 , 9 . Next, we present the results of surveys conducted during the 2020 lockdown showing that the quality and quantity of pedagogical support received from schools varied according to the social class of families (for examples, see refs. 10 , 11 , 12 ). We then argue that these digital, cultural and structural divides represent barriers to the ability of parents to provide appropriate support for children during distance learning (Fig. 1 ). These divides also alter the levels of self-efficacy of parents and children, thereby affecting their engagement in learning activities 13 , 14 . In the final section, we review preliminary evidence for the hypothesis that distance learning widens the social class achievement gap and we propose an agenda for future research. In addition, we outline recommendations that should help parents, teachers and policymakers to use social science research to limit the impact of school closure and distance learning on the social class achievement gap.

Economic, structural, digital and cultural divides influence the psychological functioning of parents and students in a way that amplify inequalities.

The digital divide

Unequal access to digital resources.

Although the use of digital technologies is almost ubiquitous in developed nations, there is a digital divide such that some people are more likely than others to be numerically excluded 15 (Fig. 1 ). Social class is a strong predictor of digital disparities, including the quality of hardware, software and Internet access 16 , 17 , 18 . For example, in 2019, in France, around 1 in 5 working-class families did not have personal access to the Internet compared with less than 1 in 20 of the most privileged families 19 . Similarly, in 2020, in the United Kingdom, 20% of children who were eligible for free school meals did not have access to a computer at home compared with 7% of other children 20 . In 2021, in the United States, 41% of working-class families do not own a laptop or desktop computer and 43% do not have broadband compared with 8% and 7%, respectively, of upper/middle-class Americans 21 . A similar digital gap is also evident between lower-income and higher-income countries 22 .

Second, simply having access to a computer and an Internet connection does not ensure effective distance learning. For example, many of the educational resources sent by teachers need to be printed, thereby requiring access to printers. Moreover, distance learning is more difficult in households with only one shared computer compared with those where each family member has their own 23 . Furthermore, upper/middle-class families are more likely to be able to guarantee a suitable workspace for each child than their working-class counterparts 24 .

In the context of school closures, such disparities are likely to have important consequences for educational continuity. In line with this idea, a survey of approximately 4,000 parents in the United Kingdom confirmed that during lockdown, more than half of primary school children from the poorest families did not have access to their own study space and were less well equipped for distance learning than higher-income families 10 . Similarly, a survey of around 1,300 parents in the Netherlands found that during lockdown, children from working-class families had fewer computers at home and less room to study than upper/middle-class children 11 .

Data from non-Western countries highlight a more general digital divide, showing that developing countries have poorer access to digital equipment. For example, in India in 2018, only 10.7% of households possessed a digital device 25 , while in Pakistan in 2020, 31% of higher-education teachers did not have Internet access and 68.4% did not have a laptop 26 . In general, developing countries lack access to digital technologies 27 , 28 , and these difficulties of access are even greater in rural areas (for example, see ref. 29 ). Consequently, school closures have huge repercussions for the continuity of learning in these countries. For example, in India in 2018, only 11% of the rural and 40% of the urban population above 14 years old could use a computer and access the Internet 25 . Time spent on education during school closure decreased by 80% in Bangladesh 30 . A similar trend was observed in other countries 31 , with only 22% of children engaging in remote learning in Kenya 32 and 50% in Burkina Faso 33 . In Ghana, 26–32% of children spent no time at all on learning during the pandemic 34 . Beyond the overall digital divide, social class disparities are also evident in developing countries, with lower access to digital resources among households in which parental educational levels were low (versus households in which parental educational levels were high; for example, see ref. 35 for Nigeria and ref. 31 for Ecuador).

Unequal digital skills

In addition to unequal access to digital tools, there are also systematic variations in digital skills 36 , 37 (Fig. 1 ). Upper/middle-class families are more familiar with digital tools and resources and are therefore more likely to have the digital skills needed for distance learning 38 , 39 , 40 . These digital skills are particularly useful during school closures, both for students and for parents, for organizing, retrieving and correctly using the resources provided by the teachers (for example, sending or receiving documents by email, printing documents or using word processors).

Social class disparities in digital skills can be explained in part by the fact that children from upper/middle-class families have the opportunity to develop digital skills earlier than working-class families 41 . In member countries of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), only 23% of working-class children had started using a computer at the age of 6 years or earlier compared with 43% of upper/middle-class children 42 . Moreover, because working-class people tend to persist less than upper/middle-class people when confronted with digital difficulties 23 , the use of digital tools and resources for distance learning may interfere with the ability of parents to help children with their schoolwork.

Unequal use of digital tools

A third level of digital divide concerns variations in digital tool use 18 , 43 (Fig. 1 ). Upper/middle-class families are more likely to use digital resources for work and education 6 , 41 , 44 , whereas working-class families are more likely to use these resources for entertainment, such as electronic games or social media 6 , 45 . This divide is also observed among students, whereby working-class students tend to use digital technologies for leisure activities, whereas their upper/middle-class peers are more likely to use them for academic activities 46 and to consider that computers and the Internet provide an opportunity for education and training 23 . Furthermore, working-class families appear to regulate the digital practices of their children less 47 and are more likely to allow screens in the bedrooms of children and teenagers without setting limits on times or practices 48 .

In sum, inequalities in terms of digital resources, skills and use have strong implications for distance learning. This is because they make working-class students and parents particularly vulnerable when learning relies on extensive use of digital devices rather than on face-to-face interaction with teachers.

The cultural divide

Even if all three levels of digital divide were closed, upper/middle-class families would still be better prepared than working-class families to ensure educational continuity for their children. Upper/middle-class families are more familiar with the academic knowledge and skills that are expected and valued in educational settings, as well as with the independent, autonomous way of learning that is valued in the school culture and becomes even more important during school closure (Fig. 1 ).

Unequal familiarity with academic knowledge and skills

According to classical social reproduction theory 8 , 49 , school is not a neutral place in which all forms of language and knowledge are equally valued. Academic contexts expect and value culture-specific and taken-for-granted forms of knowledge, skills and ways of being, thinking and speaking that are more in tune with those developed through upper/middle-class socialization (that is, ‘cultural capital’ 8 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ). For instance, academic contexts value interest in the arts, museums and literature 54 , 55 , a type of interest that is more likely to develop through socialization in upper/middle-class families than in working-class socialization 54 , 56 . Indeed, upper/middle-class parents are more likely than working-class parents to engage in activities that develop this cultural capital. For example, they possess more books and cultural objects at home, read more stories to their children and visit museums and libraries more often (for examples, see refs. 51 , 54 , 55 ). Upper/middle-class children are also more involved in extra-curricular activities (for example, playing a musical instrument) than working-class children 55 , 56 , 57 .

Beyond this implicit familiarization with the school curriculum, upper/middle-class parents more often organize educational activities that are explicitly designed to develop academic skills of their children 57 , 58 , 59 . For example, they are more likely to monitor and re-explain lessons or use games and textbooks to develop and reinforce academic skills (for example, labelling numbers, letters or colours 57 , 60 ). Upper/middle-class parents also provide higher levels of support and spend more time helping children with homework than working-class parents (for examples, see refs. 61 , 62 ). Thus, even if all parents are committed to the academic success of their children, working-class parents have fewer chances to provide the help that children need to complete homework 63 , and homework is more beneficial for children from upper-middle class families than for children from working-class families 64 , 65 .

School closures amplify the impact of cultural inequalities

The trends described above have been observed in ‘normal’ times when schools are open. School closures, by making learning rely more strongly on practices implemented at home (rather than at school), are likely to amplify the impact of these disparities. Consistent with this idea, research has shown that the social class achievement gap usually greatly widens during school breaks—a phenomenon described as ‘summer learning loss’ or ‘summer setback’ 66 , 67 , 68 . During holidays, the learning by children tends to decline, and this is particularly pronounced in children from working-class families. Consequently, the social class achievement gap grows more rapidly during the summer months than it does in the rest of the year. This phenomenon is partly explained by the fact that during the break from school, social class disparities in investment in activities that are beneficial for academic achievement (for example, reading, travelling to a foreign country or museum visits) are more pronounced.

Therefore, when they are out of school, children from upper/middle-class backgrounds may continue to develop academic skills unlike their working-class counterparts, who may stagnate or even regress. Research also indicates that learning loss during school breaks tends to be cumulative 66 . Thus, repeated episodes of school closure are likely to have profound consequences for the social class achievement gap. Consistent with the idea that school closures could lead to similar processes as those identified during summer breaks, a recent survey indicated that during the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom, children from upper/middle-class families spent more time on educational activities (5.8 h per day) than those from working-class families (4.5 h per day) 7 , 69 .

Unequal dispositions for autonomy and self-regulation

School closures have encouraged autonomous work among students. This ‘independent’ way of studying is compatible with the family socialization of upper/middle-class students, but does not match the interdependent norms more commonly associated with working-class contexts 9 . Upper/middle-class contexts tend to promote cultural norms of independence whereby individuals perceive themselves as autonomous actors, independent of other individuals and of the social context, able to pursue their own goals 70 . For example, upper/middle-class parents tend to invite children to express their interests, preferences and opinions during the various activities of everyday life 54 , 55 . Conversely, in working-class contexts characterized by low economic resources and where life is more uncertain, individuals tend to perceive themselves as interdependent, connected to others and members of social groups 53 , 70 , 71 . This interdependent self-construal fits less well with the independent culture of academic contexts. This cultural mismatch between interdependent self-construal common in working-class students and the independent norms of the educational institution has negative consequences for academic performance 9 .

Once again, the impact of these differences is likely to be amplified during school closures, when being able to work alone and autonomously is especially useful. The requirement to work alone is more likely to match the independent self-construal of upper/middle-class students than the interdependent self-construal of working-class students. In the case of working-class students, this mismatch is likely to increase their difficulties in working alone at home. Supporting our argument, recent research has shown that working-class students tend to underachieve in contexts where students work individually compared with contexts where students work with others 72 . Similarly, during school closures, high self-regulation skills (for example, setting goals, selecting appropriate learning strategies and maintaining motivation 73 ) are required to maintain study activities and are likely to be especially useful for using digital resources efficiently. Research has shown that students from working-class backgrounds typically develop their self-regulation skills to a lesser extent than those from upper/middle-class backgrounds 74 , 75 , 76 .

Interestingly, some authors have suggested that independent (versus interdependent) self-construal may also affect communication with teachers 77 . Indeed, in the context of distance learning, working-class families are less likely to respond to the communication of teachers because their ‘interdependent’ self leads them to respect hierarchies, and thus perceive teachers as an expert who ‘can be trusted to make the right decisions for learning’. Upper/middle class families, relying on ‘independent’ self-construal, are more inclined to seek individualized feedback, and therefore tend to participate to a greater extent in exchanges with teachers. Such cultural differences are important because they can also contribute to the difficulties encountered by working-class families.

The structural divide: unequal support from schools

The issues reviewed thus far all increase the vulnerability of children and students from underprivileged backgrounds when schools are closed. To offset these disadvantages, it might be expected that the school should increase its support by providing additional resources for working-class students. However, recent data suggest that differences in the material and human resources invested in providing educational support for children during periods of school closure were—paradoxically—in favour of upper/middle-class students (Fig. 1 ). In England, for example, upper/middle-class parents reported benefiting from online classes and video-conferencing with teachers more often than working-class parents 10 . Furthermore, active help from school (for example, online teaching, private tutoring or chats with teachers) occurred more frequently in the richest households (64% of the richest households declared having received help from school) than in the poorest households (47%). Another survey found that in the United Kingdom, upper/middle-class children were more likely to take online lessons every day (30%) than working-class students (16%) 12 . This substantial difference might be due, at least in part, to the fact that private schools are better equipped in terms of online platforms (60% of schools have at least one online platform) than state schools (37%, and 23% in the most deprived schools) and were more likely to organize daily online lessons. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, in schools with a high proportion of students eligible for free school meals, teachers were less inclined to broadcast an online lesson for their pupils 78 . Interestingly, 58% of teachers in the wealthiest areas reported having messaged their students or their students’ parents during lockdown compared with 47% in the most deprived schools. In addition, the probability of children receiving technical support from the school (for example, by providing pupils with laptops or other devices) is, surprisingly, higher in the most advantaged schools than in the most deprived 78 .

In addition to social class disparities, there has been less support from schools for African-American and Latinx students. During school closures in the United States, 40% of African-American students and 30% of Latinx students received no online teaching compared with 10% of white students 79 . Another source of inequality is that the probability of school closure was correlated with social class and race. In the United States, for example, school closures from September to December 2020 were more common in schools with a high proportion of racial/ethnic minority students, who experience homelessness and are eligible for free/discounted school meals 80 .

Similarly, access to educational resources and support was lower in poorer (compared with richer) countries 81 . In sub-Saharan Africa, during lockdown, 45% of children had no exposure at all to any type of remote learning. Of those who did, the medium was mostly radio, television or paper rather than digital. In African countries, at most 10% of children received some material through the Internet. In Latin America, 90% of children received some remote learning, but less than half of that was through the internet—the remainder being via radio and television 81 . In Ecuador, high-school students from the lowest wealth quartile had fewer remote-learning opportunities, such as Google class/Zoom, than students from the highest wealth quartile 31 .

Thus, the achievement gap and its accentuation during lockdown are due not only to the cultural and digital disadvantages of working-class families but also to unequal support from schools. This inequality in school support is not due to teachers being indifferent to or even supportive of social stratification. Rather, we believe that these effects are fundamentally structural. In many countries, schools located in upper/middle-class neighbourhoods have more money than those in the poorest neighbourhoods. Moreover, upper/middle-class parents invest more in the schools of their children than working-class parents (for example, see ref. 82 ), and schools have an interest in catering more for upper/middle-class families than for working-class families 83 . Additionally, the expectation of teachers may be lower for working-class children 84 . For example, they tend to estimate that working-class students invest less effort in learning than their upper/middle-class counterparts 85 . These differences in perception may have influenced the behaviour of teachers during school closure, such that teachers in privileged neighbourhoods provided more information to students because they expected more from them in term of effort and achievement. The fact that upper/middle-class parents are better able than working-class parents to comply with the expectations of teachers (for examples, see refs. 55 , 86 ) may have reinforced this phenomenon. These discrepancies echo data showing that working-class students tend to request less help in their schoolwork than upper/middle-class ones 87 , and they may even avoid asking for help because they believe that such requests could lead to reprimands 88 . During school closures, these students (and their families) may in consequence have been less likely to ask for help and resources. Jointly, these phenomena have resulted in upper/middle-class families receiving more support from schools during lockdown than their working-class counterparts.

Psychological effects of digital, cultural and structural divides

Despite being strongly influenced by social class, differences in academic achievement are often interpreted by parents, teachers and students as reflecting differences in ability 89 . As a result, upper/middle-class students are usually perceived—and perceive themselves—as smarter than working-class students, who are perceived—and perceive themselves—as less intelligent 90 , 91 , 92 or less able to succeed 93 . Working-class students also worry more about the fact that they might perform more poorly than upper/middle-class students 94 , 95 . These fears influence academic learning in important ways. In particular, they can consume cognitive resources when children and students work on academic tasks 96 , 97 . Self-efficacy also plays a key role in engaging in learning and perseverance in the face of difficulties 13 , 98 . In addition, working-class students are those for whom the fear of being outperformed by others is the most negatively related to academic performance 99 .

The fact that working-class children and students are less familiar with the tasks set by teachers, and less well equipped and supported, makes them more likely to experience feelings of incompetence (Fig. 1 ). Working-class parents are also more likely than their upper/middle-class counterparts to feel unable to help their children with schoolwork. Consistent with this, research has shown that both working-class students and parents have lower feelings of academic self-efficacy than their upper/middle-class counterparts 100 , 101 . These differences have been documented under ‘normal’ conditions but are likely to be exacerbated during distance learning. Recent surveys conducted during the school closures have confirmed that upper/middle-class families felt better able to support their children in distance learning than did working-class families 10 and that upper/middle-class parents helped their children more and felt more capable to do so 11 , 12 .

Pandemic disparity, future directions and recommendations

The research reviewed thus far suggests that children and their families are highly unequal with respect to digital access, skills and use. It also shows that upper/middle-class students are more likely to be supported in their homework (by their parents and teachers) than working-class students, and that upper/middle-class students and parents will probably feel better able than working-class ones to adapt to the context of distance learning. For all these reasons, we anticipate that as a result of school closures, the COVID-19 pandemic will substantially increase the social class achievement gap. Because school closures are a recent occurrence, it is too early to measure with precision their effects on the widening of the achievement gap. However, some recent data are consistent with this idea.

Evidence for a widening gap during the pandemic

Comparing academic achievement in 2020 with previous years provides an early indication of the effects of school closures during the pandemic. In France, for example, first and second graders take national evaluations at the beginning of the school year. Initial comparisons of the results for 2020 with those from previous years revealed that the gap between schools classified as ‘priority schools’ (those in low-income urban areas) and schools in higher-income neighbourhoods—a gap observed every year—was particularly pronounced in 2020 in both French and mathematics 102 .

Similarly, in the Netherlands, national assessments take place twice a year. In 2020, they took place both before and after school closures. A recent analysis compared progress during this period in 2020 in mathematics/arithmetic, spelling and reading comprehension for 7–11-year-old students within the same period in the three previous years 103 . Results indicated a general learning loss in 2020. More importantly, for the 8% of working-class children, the losses were 40% greater than they were for upper/middle-class children.

Similar results were observed in Belgium among students attending the final year of primary school. Compared with students from previous cohorts, students affected by school closures experienced a substantial decrease in their mathematics and language scores, with children from more disadvantaged backgrounds experiencing greater learning losses 104 . Likewise, oral reading assessments in more than 100 school districts in the United States showed that the development of this skill among children in second and third grade significantly slowed between Spring and Autumn 2020, but this slowdown was more pronounced in schools from lower-achieving districts 105 .

It is likely that school closures have also amplified racial disparities in learning and achievement. For example, in the United States, after the first lockdown, students of colour lost the equivalent of 3–5 months of learning, whereas white students were about 1–3 months behind. Moreover, in the Autumn, when some students started to return to classrooms, African-American and Latinx students were more likely to continue distance learning, despite being less likely to have access to the digital tools, Internet access and live contact with teachers 106 .

In some African countries (for example, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda), the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in learning loss ranging from 6 months to more 1 year 107 , and this learning loss appears to be greater for working-class children (that is, those attending no-fee schools) than for upper/middle-class children 108 .

These findings show that school closures have exacerbated achievement gaps linked to social class and ethnicity. However, more research is needed to address the question of whether school closures differentially affect the learning of students from working- and upper/middle-class families.

Future directions

First, to assess the specific and unique impact of school closures on student learning, longitudinal research should compare student achievement at different times of the year, before, during and after school closures, as has been done to document the summer learning loss 66 , 109 . In the coming months, alternating periods of school closure and opening may occur, thereby presenting opportunities to do such research. This would also make it possible to examine whether the gap diminishes a few weeks after children return to in-school learning or whether, conversely, it increases with time because the foundations have not been sufficiently acquired to facilitate further learning 110 .

Second, the mechanisms underlying the increase in social class disparities during school closures should be examined. As discussed above, school closures result in situations for which students are unevenly prepared and supported. It would be appropriate to seek to quantify the contribution of each of the factors that might be responsible for accentuating the social class achievement gap. In particular, distinguishing between factors that are relatively ‘controllable’ (for example, resources made available to pupils) and those that are more difficult to control (for example, the self-efficacy of parents in supporting the schoolwork of their children) is essential to inform public policy and teaching practices.

Third, existing studies are based on general comparisons and very few provide insights into the actual practices that took place in families during school closure and how these practices affected the achievement gap. For example, research has documented that parents from working-class backgrounds are likely to find it more difficult to help their children to complete homework and to provide constructive feedback 63 , 111 , something that could in turn have a negative impact on the continuity of learning of their children. In addition, it seems reasonable to assume that during lockdown, parents from upper/middle-class backgrounds encouraged their children to engage in practices that, even if not explicitly requested by teachers, would be beneficial to learning (for example, creative activities or reading). Identifying the practices that best predict the maintenance or decline of educational achievement during school closures would help identify levers for intervention.

Finally, it would be interesting to investigate teaching practices during school closures. The lockdown in the spring of 2020 was sudden and unexpected. Within a few days, teachers had to find a way to compensate for the school closure, which led to highly variable practices. Some teachers posted schoolwork on platforms, others sent it by email, some set work on a weekly basis while others set it day by day. Some teachers also set up live sessions in large or small groups, providing remote meetings for questions and support. There have also been variations in the type of feedback given to students, notably through the monitoring and correcting of work. Future studies should examine in more detail what practices schools and teachers used to compensate for the school closures and their effects on widening, maintaining or even reducing the gap, as has been done for certain specific literacy programmes 112 as well as specific instruction topics (for example, ecology and evolution 113 ).

Practical recommendations

We are aware of the debate about whether social science research on COVID-19 is suitable for making policy decisions 114 , and we draw attention to the fact that some of our recommendations (Table 1 ) are based on evidence from experiments or interventions carried out pre-COVID while others are more speculative. In any case, we emphasize that these suggestions should be viewed with caution and be tested in future research. Some of our recommendations could be implemented in the event of new school closures, others only when schools re-open. We also acknowledge that while these recommendations are intended for parents and teachers, their implementation largely depends on the adoption of structural policies. Importantly, given all the issues discussed above, we emphasize the importance of prioritizing, wherever possible, in-person learning over remote learning 115 and where this is not possible, of implementing strong policies to support distance learning, especially for disadvantaged families.

Where face-to face teaching is not possible and teachers are responsible for implementing distance learning, it will be important to make them aware of the factors that can exacerbate inequalities during lockdown and to provide them with guidance about practices that would reduce these inequalities. Thus, there is an urgent need for interventions aimed at making teachers aware of the impact of the social class of children and families on the following factors: (1) access to, familiarity with and use of digital devices; (2) familiarity with academic knowledge and skills; and (3) preparedness to work autonomously. Increasing awareness of the material, cultural and psychological barriers that working-class children and families face during lockdown should increase the quality and quantity of the support provided by teachers and thereby positively affect the achievements of working-class students.

In addition to increasing the awareness of teachers of these barriers, teachers should be encouraged to adjust the way they communicate with working-class families due to differences in self-construal compared with upper/middle-class families 77 . For example, questions about family (rather than personal) well-being would be congruent with interdependent self-construals. This should contribute to better communication and help keep a better track of the progress of students during distance learning.

It is also necessary to help teachers to engage in practices that have a chance of reducing inequalities 53 , 116 . Particularly important is that teachers and schools ensure that homework can be done by all children, for example, by setting up organizations that would help children whose parents are not in a position to monitor or assist with the homework of their children. Options include homework help groups and tutoring by teachers after class. When schools are open, the growing tendency to set homework through digital media should be resisted as far as possible given the evidence we have reviewed above. Moreover, previous research has underscored the importance of homework feedback provided by teachers, which is positively related to the amount of homework completed and predictive of academic performance 117 . Where homework is web-based, it has also been shown that feedback on web-based homework enhances the learning of students 118 . It therefore seems reasonable to predict that the social class achievement gap will increase more slowly (or even remain constant or be reversed) in schools that establish individualized monitoring of students, by means of regular calls and feedback on homework, compared with schools where the support provided to pupils is more generic.

Given that learning during lockdown has increasingly taken place in family settings, we believe that interventions involving the family are also likely to be effective 119 , 120 , 121 . Simply providing families with suitable material equipment may be insufficient. Families should be given training in the efficient use of digital technology and pedagogical support. This would increase the self-efficacy of parents and students, with positive consequences for achievement. Ideally, such training would be delivered in person to avoid problems arising from the digital divide. Where this is not possible, individualized online tutoring should be provided. For example, studies conducted during the lockdown in Botswana and Italy have shown that individual online tutoring directly targeting either parents or students in middle school has a positive impact on the achievement of students, particularly for working-class students 122 , 123 .

Interventions targeting families should also address the psychological barriers faced by working-class families and children. Some interventions have already been designed and been shown to be effective in reducing the social class achievement gap, particularly in mathematics and language 124 , 125 , 126 . For example, research showed that an intervention designed to train low-income parents in how to support the mathematical development of their pre-kindergarten children (including classes and access to a library of kits to use at home) increased the quality of support provided by the parents, with a corresponding impact on the development of mathematical knowledge of their children. Such interventions should be particularly beneficial in the context of school closure.

Beyond its impact on academic performance and inequalities, the COVID-19 crisis has shaken the economies of countries around the world, casting millions of families around the world into poverty 127 , 128 , 129 . As noted earlier, there has been a marked increase in economic inequalities, bringing with it all the psychological and social problems that such inequalities create 130 , 131 , especially for people who live in scarcity 132 . The increase in educational inequalities is just one facet of the many difficulties that working-class families will encounter in the coming years, but it is one that could seriously limit the chances of their children escaping from poverty by reducing their opportunities for upward mobility. In this context, it should be a priority to concentrate resources on the most deprived students. A large proportion of the poorest households do not own a computer and do not have personal access to the Internet, which has important consequences for distance learning. During school closures, it is therefore imperative to provide such families with adequate equipment and Internet service, as was done in some countries in spring 2020. Even if the provision of such equipment is not in itself sufficient, it is a necessary condition for ensuring pedagogical continuity during lockdown.

Finally, after prolonged periods of school closure, many students may not have acquired the skills needed to pursue their education. A possible consequence would be an increase in the number of students for whom teachers recommend class repetitions. Class repetitions are contentious. On the one hand, class repetition more frequently affects working-class children and is not efficient in terms of learning improvement 133 . On the other hand, accepting lower standards of academic achievement or even suspending the practice of repeating a class could lead to pupils pursuing their education without mastering the key abilities needed at higher grades. This could create difficulties in subsequent years and, in this sense, be counterproductive. We therefore believe that the most appropriate way to limit the damage of the pandemic would be to help children catch up rather than allowing them to continue without mastering the necessary skills. As is being done in some countries, systematic remedial courses (for example, summer learning programmes) should be organized and financially supported following periods of school closure, with priority given to pupils from working-class families. Such interventions have genuine potential in that research has shown that participation in remedial summer programmes is effective in reducing learning loss during the summer break 134 , 135 , 136 . For example, in one study 137 , 438 students from high-poverty schools were offered a multiyear summer school programme that included various pedagogical and enrichment activities (for example, science investigation and music) and were compared with a ‘no-treatment’ control group. Students who participated in the summer programme progressed more than students in the control group. A meta-analysis 138 of 41 summer learning programmes (that is, classroom- and home-based summer interventions) involving children from kindergarten to grade 8 showed that these programmes had significantly larger benefits for children from working-class families. Although such measures are costly, the cost is small compared to the price of failing to fulfil the academic potential of many students simply because they were not born into upper/middle-class families.

The unprecedented nature of the current pandemic means that we lack strong data on what the school closure period is likely to produce in terms of learning deficits and the reproduction of social inequalities. However, the research discussed in this article suggests that there are good reasons to predict that this period of school closures will accelerate the reproduction of social inequalities in educational achievement.

By making school learning less dependent on teachers and more dependent on families and digital tools and resources, school closures are likely to greatly amplify social class inequalities. At a time when many countries are experiencing second, third or fourth waves of the pandemic, resulting in fresh periods of local or general lockdowns, systematic efforts to test these predictions are urgently needed along with steps to reduce the impact of school closures on the social class achievement gap.

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We thank G. Reis for editing the figure. The writing of this manuscript was supported by grant ANR-19-CE28-0007–PRESCHOOL from the French National Research Agency (S.G.).

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Goudeau, S., Sanrey, C., Stanczak, A. et al. Why lockdown and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to increase the social class achievement gap. Nat Hum Behav 5 , 1273–1281 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01212-7

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Online Education and the Rise of Remote Learning

Did you know that in 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, over 1.6 billion students worldwide found themselves thrust into the world of remote learning? This seismic shift was more than just a response to a global crisis; it was a glimpse into the future of education. As the world continues to grapple with unprecedented challenges, online education has emerged as a force of transformation, offering students, professionals, and lifelong learners access to a world of knowledge from the comfort of their homes.

Short Description

In this insightful article, our paper writing services will delve into the remote learning meaning and the transformative landscape of online education. You'll discover the wide array of online education degrees and courses and understand the growing opportunities in learning and development jobs in a remote work environment. Learn where to find quality education in remote learning schools and gain valuable insights into effective strategies for success. Whether you're a student, professional, or lifelong learner, this article offers a comprehensive look at the ever-evolving realm of online education.

The Importance of Online Education in Today's World

So, what is remote learning exactly? In today's fast-paced and interconnected world, online education, much like the concept of education 4.0 , has risen to prominence as a crucial catalyst for personal and professional growth. Its significance goes beyond mere convenience; it's about providing access to education for people from all walks of life, regardless of their geographical location. This means that, with an internet connection, individuals worldwide can embark on a journey of learning, enhancing their skills, and obtaining qualifications.

Online education's importance becomes particularly evident when considering its adaptability and resilience. It has demonstrated its capacity to adapt to a variety of circumstances, ensuring that learning remains uninterrupted. The beauty of this adaptability lies in its ability to democratize education, making it accessible to individuals who may have faced barriers to traditional learning environments.

Moreover, online education offers a unique avenue for career advancement and personal development. It accommodates diverse lifestyles and schedules, making it a valuable option for professionals seeking to expand their skill sets, single parents juggling family and work, or anyone with an appetite for new knowledge.

Remote Learning and Online Education Degrees

The realm of online classes is experiencing an unprecedented surge in popularity, driven in part by the accessibility and flexibility of online education degrees. These degrees are not merely an alternative to traditional classroom learning; they represent a profound shift in the way we perceive and access education.

Imagine a single parent working full-time but with the ambition to pursue a Bachelor degree in education online. Traditional campus-based programs might pose an insurmountable challenge, but an online education degree empowers them to take control of their learning schedule. This flexibility is a game-changer, enabling individuals from all walks of life to earn a degree while meeting their personal and professional commitments.

One exciting development in this realm is the proliferation of renowned universities and colleges offering online education degrees that meet the same rigorous standards as their on-campus counterparts. This ensures that students receive a high-quality education and relevant skills that are in demand in today's ever-evolving job market.

Consider the impact of online Masters of Education programs. This advanced degree not only expands career opportunities but also fosters leadership in the field of education. Educators can specialize in areas like curriculum development, educational leadership, or special education, providing them with a platform to drive change and innovation in their schools and communities.

Online Education Courses: A Comprehensive Overview

In the realm of distance learning, courses are the building blocks that construct a dynamic learning environment, offering students a diverse array of subjects and fields to explore. They represent the heart of online education, providing a flexible and adaptable means to acquire new skills, knowledge, and qualifications. Here, we embark on a comprehensive journey to explore online education courses and their evolving role in today's academic landscape.

• The Diversity of Online Courses: One of the most striking features of online education is the sheer diversity of courses available. Whether you're interested in the arts, sciences, business, or technology, there's a course for you. From mastering a new language to exploring advanced calculus, online courses cover an extensive range of subjects, making it possible for individuals to tailor their education to their passions and career goals.
• Structure and Delivery: Understanding how online courses are structured and delivered is essential. These courses often employ a combination of video lectures, reading materials, assignments, quizzes, and discussion forums. This blend of multimedia and interactive components provides a well-rounded learning experience, allowing students to engage with the material and interact with instructors and peers in a virtual space.
• Benefits of Online Courses: Online education courses offer numerous benefits. They provide the flexibility to learn at one's own pace and on one's own schedule, making education accessible to individuals with busy lives or other commitments. Moreover, the absence of geographical constraints means you can enroll in courses offered by institutions from around the world. This global reach opens up an unprecedented variety of perspectives and expertise.
• The Evolving Landscape: The landscape of online education courses is continually evolving, spurred on by advancements in technology and the increasing demand for accessible education. In recent years, we've witnessed a rise in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that provide free or low-cost access to high-quality content. The future promises even greater interactivity, personalization, and innovation in online learning, ensuring that the world of online courses remains vibrant and ever-expanding, including the importance of studying abroad .

The Expanding Landscape of Learning and Development Jobs in a Remote World

In an evolving global landscape, the field of learning and development is undergoing a remarkable transformation. The demand for professionals who specialize in this domain has surged. Remote work and remote classes are now integral parts of the working world, and professionals in learning and development are at the forefront of crafting and delivering remote training experiences.

• Key Skills and Qualifications: Learning and development professionals require expertise in instructional design, adult learning principles, and the adept use of technology for training. Strong communication, adaptability, and the ability to evaluate training programs are vital.
• Diversity of Opportunities: These professionals aren't limited to one industry. They can find roles in various sectors, such as corporate, government, healthcare, and non-profits. Job titles include training managers, instructional designers, e-learning developers, and organizational development consultants.
• Remote Work's Impact: Learning and development jobs remote have broadened the horizons for these professionals, enabling global collaboration and a more diverse and interconnected work environment.

Remote Learning Schools: Where to Find Quality Education

Remote learning schools, also known as online education providers, have emerged as key players in this educational transformation. They offer learners diverse opportunities and have been instrumental in extending the reach of education to a global audience. In this exploration, we will uncover where to find these higher education institutions, what makes them stand out, and how they are shaping the future of education.

• Harvard University Extension School: More than half of Harvard's extensive course offerings are available online, ensuring students worldwide can access the prestigious Harvard education remotely.
• Stanford Online: Stanford University provides online courses, degrees, and professional certificates, allowing learners to benefit from the institution's academic excellence from a distance.
• Coursera: Coursera is an online learning platform that partners with universities and colleges worldwide, offering a vast array of courses and degrees, including programs from institutions like the University of Michigan and the University of London.
• edX: Similar to Coursera, edX collaborates with universities and colleges to deliver a wide variety of online courses and degrees. It includes offerings from institutions such as MIT, Harvard, and UC Berkeley.
• University of Phoenix: A well-established online institution, the University of Phoenix specializes in providing remote learning opportunities for a broad range of degree programs.
• Southern New Hampshire University Online: SNHU Online offers a diverse set of online degree programs, including bachelor's and master's degrees, known for its focus on student support and flexibility.
• Arizona State University Online: ASU Online provides a wide selection of online undergraduate and graduate programs, with a strong emphasis on innovation and accessible education.
• University of Maryland Global Campus: UMGC specializes in online and distance education, offering various degree programs and certificates for college students seeking flexible learning options.

These are just a few examples of the many remote educational institutions that have emerged as prominent players in the realm of online higher education, each with its unique strengths and offerings. As the world of remote learning continues to expand, these institutions play a pivotal role in making quality education accessible to a global audience.

Effective Tips for Students Engaged in Remote Learning

Excelling in online learning, much like mastering how to master virtual networking , requires a unique set of strategies and self-discipline. Here are some effective tips for students engaged in remote learning:

• Interactive Note-Taking: Take digital notes or use note-taking apps that allow you to incorporate multimedia elements like audio recordings, images, and hyperlinks. This approach can make your notes more engaging and memorable.
• The Pomodoro Technique: Break your study sessions into focused, 25-minute intervals with short breaks in between. This time management method can enhance concentration and prevent burnout.
• Self-Testing: Test your understanding of the material by creating your quizzes or flashcards. Self-quizzing reinforces your memory and helps identify areas that require more attention.
• Visual Mind Mapping: Use mind mapping software to create visual representations of complex topics. Mind maps can help you grasp the relationships between concepts and enhance your comprehension.
• Peer Accountability: Partner with a classmate for mutual accountability. Share goals, deadlines, and study schedules to motivate each other and stay on track.
• Ergonomic Workspace: Pay special attention to ergonomics in your study space. Invest in an ergonomic chair, keyboard, and monitor to ensure physical comfort during long study sessions.
• Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Incorporate mindfulness and relaxation exercises into your routine, such as deep breathing or short meditation breaks. These practices can help reduce stress and improve focus.

Final Thoughts

In the ever-evolving landscape of remote learning, success hinges on the ability to adapt, engage, and maintain discipline. By applying these effective tips, you can not only navigate the challenges but also harness the opportunities that are offered by learning remote. Remember, the key to thriving in virtual classrooms is proactive self-management and a commitment to your educational goals. Here's to your continued success in your remote learning process.

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Impact of Remote Learning on College Students: A Statistical Analysis

What is remote learning? Remote learning involves the absence of physical presence between students and educators in a traditional classroom setting. Instead, information is conveyed through technological means like discussion boards, video conferencing, and online assessments. 

According to Delvin Peck's research , 63% of students choose to study online because it is flexible and can benefit their life goals. This learning approach can be synchronous, involving real-time interaction, or asynchronous, allowing for self-paced learning independently of the instructor. 

The remote learning meaning stands for a mode of education where students and instructors are not physically present in a traditional classroom setting. Instead, education is facilitated through various online platforms, video conferencing, and digital resources. It encompasses diverse formats and methods, primarily occurring online, offering various options for communication, assignment submission, and educational material distribution.

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With an expert writing service, you can boost your learning-from-home experience even further. 

Remote Learning vs. Online Learning vs. Distance Learning  

Remote learning, online learning, and distance learning are often used interchangeably, but they have nuanced differences:

Remote Learning:

• Nature: Remote learning can take place anywhere, not necessarily far from the institution, and may involve synchronous or asynchronous methods.
• Context: Often associated with situations where physical attendance is disrupted, such as during emergencies or unexpected events.
• Flexibility: May offer more flexibility than traditional in-person learning but may still involve scheduled sessions.

Online Learning:

• Nature: What is online learning? This method of learning occurs entirely over the Internet, and students can access course materials, participate in discussions, and submit assignments digitally.
• Context: Not restricted to a specific location; students can engage from anywhere with an internet connection.
• Flexibility: Typically offers a high degree of flexibility, allowing students to learn at their own pace.

Distance Learning:

• Nature: Distance learning implies physical separation between the student and the educational institution. It can be facilitated through various means, including mail correspondence or online platforms.
• Context: Historically associated with learning from a distance without regular on-site attendance.
• Flexibility: Like online learning, distance learning often provides flexibility in terms of when and where students engage with course materials.

While there is overlap, the terms are often used based on the level of physical proximity, the mode of content delivery, and the historical context in which the learning occurs. But despite the chosen learning method, custom essay writers are those whom students contact in case of workload hurdles. 

Key Remote Learning Statistics in 2023

The rise of online learning is evident, and its popularity continues to grow, with the global e-learning industry projected to achieve a valuation of $1 trillion by 2027 . A diverse range of students, including graduate students and adult learners seeking to enhance their skills and advance their careers, are increasingly turning to online learning platforms. Over the past decade, enrollment in online courses has consistently climbed, experiencing a substantial surge during the Covid-19 pandemic. The prevailing e-learning statistics suggest a sustained presence, making it imperative to delve into the key aspects of e-learning in 2023.

• The number of online learning users is expected to reach 57 million by 2027 .
• 70% of students agree that online classes are better than traditional classroom settings.
• E-learning can help students retain between 25% and 60% more information.
• Distance learning uses 90% less energy and 85% fewer CO2 emissions per student compared to campus-based learning.
• E-learning has helped to increase income for 42% of US organizations.
• Since 2020, 98% of universities moved their classes online.
• 95% of online students said they would recommend online education to others.
• Approximately 62% of students taking online courses are female.
• Online learning requires 40-60% less time than traditional learning.
• The majority of the Global eLearning Industry is in the US and Europe.
• 63% of educational institutions made substantial investments in supporting online learning.

Decoding the Remote Learning Experience 

The success of remote learning is heavily dependent on the structure implemented, considering the potential stress during such periods. To maximize effectiveness, a well-defined structure must be in place to support a comprehensive instructional plan.

The key elements for successful remote learning include time, communication, technology, and lesson design. Clearly defining these components upfront is crucial for removing distractions from the learning process.

Setting expectations for both students and teachers regarding the start and duration of the school day is essential. Teachers should establish designated "classroom hours" for student availability, incorporating real-time interactions through video conferencing, chat, or phone calls. Students must be informed about the time required for assignments and any regular check-ins.

Communication

Among the major pros and cons of remote learning, there’s establishing clear communication channels is vital. Guidelines should specify how and when students should communicate with teachers, including preferred methods like email or online chat. Contingency plans for communication tools not working should be outlined in advance. Expectations for teacher-student communication frequency should also be communicated.

Technology availability can vary, and schools need to adapt to different scenarios. Some students may have devices provided by schools, while others might need alternative methods, such as paper packets. Clear instructions on accessing online platforms, technical support availability, and troubleshooting procedures should be provided.

Lesson Design

Designing remote lessons requires additional consideration for a potential lack of understanding. A comprehensive lesson might involve:

• Setting the Lesson: Providing context and linking to previous or future lessons.
• Defining Lesson Objectives: Clearly stating objectives with emphasized action words.
• Assessing Current Understanding: Using polls or checklists for students to self-assess.
• Introducing Content: Utilizing multimedia resources and synchronous presentations.
• Assigning Application Activity: Engaging students in practical activities related to the lesson.
• Assessing Mastery: Incorporating quizzes or assessments to gauge understanding.

By focusing on these components, educators can create a structured remote learning environment conducive to effective teaching and learning.

Effects of Remote Learning on the Mental and Emotional State

Remote learning has emerged as a significant component of the educational landscape, particularly due to the widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift to virtual classrooms, online assignments, and redefined digital transformation in higher education brings both benefits and distinct effects of remote learning on mental health and academic performance.

Social Isolation and Loneliness

The most pronounced consequence of remote learning is the potential rise in social isolation and loneliness. Unlike traditional classrooms that foster peer interaction, group activities, and face-to-face teacher conversations, remote learning often diminishes these essential social aspects. Despite video calls and online forums, the absence of physical presence can lead to feelings of isolation, ultimately contributing to loneliness, linked to mental health issues like depression and anxiety.

Stress and Anxiety

Remote learning introduces additional stress and anxiety stemming from technical difficulties, time management struggles, and adaptation to new learning methods. This proves challenging for students requiring hands-on or personalized instruction. The broader uncertainty and disruptions caused by the pandemic further exacerbate stress levels, creating a significant impact of distance learning on students' mental health.

Decreased Motivation and Engagement

Some students experience decreased motivation and engagement in a remote learning setting. Without the traditional classroom structure and immediate teacher and peer presence, maintaining focus becomes challenging. The passive nature of certain online learning activities further complicates deep engagement with the material.

Accessibility and Equity Issues

The issue of accessibility is crucial, as not all students have equal access to reliable internet or suitable devices for online learning. Additionally, disparities in home environments, such as the lack of a quiet and comfortable workspace, significantly affect participation in remote learning and subsequent academic performance.

However, it's important to acknowledge the positive impact of remote learning on academic performance for certain students. Self-directed learners may thrive in an online environment that allows for personalized pacing, and the flexibility of remote learning benefits those juggling work or family responsibilities.

Potential Benefits of Remote Learning for Students

Despite the challenges, there have been instances of families thriving under remote learning conditions. Specific demographics, such as low-income, less educated, disabled, and minority families, faced negative impacts, but some families reported positive outcomes. Younger children adapted better to closures and lockdowns, while males demonstrated resistance to mental health decline compared to females. Some families saw the lockdown as an opportunity to build connections, spend more time together, and prioritize health and safety. School connectedness emerged as a protective factor, with virtual schooling providing access to mental health services, resulting in lower anxiety and depression scores.

Impact on Student Motivation and Engagement

According to a study published in the Journal of Education and Teaching Methods , there are both positive and negative effects of remote learning on high school students, including their engagement and academic performance. On the positive side, it offers students enhanced flexibility, online resource accessibility, and opportunities for personalized learning. Conversely, challenges arise, including the absence of face-to-face interaction, digital distractions, and limited technology and internet access. 

These hurdles disproportionately impact students from low-income backgrounds, contributing to exacerbated achievement gaps during the pandemic. Furthermore, teachers encounter difficulties in adjusting instructional strategies to remote environments, posing challenges to sustaining student engagement.

• Research indicates that remote learning offers a flexible and personalized experience but may exacerbate existing inequalities, impacting motivation, social interaction, and mental health.
• Students, educators, and families encountered challenges, including limited access to technology, inadequate internet connectivity, and insufficient training for online instructions.
• The remote learning environment introduced obstacles to student engagement and academic performance, with studies showing declines in motivation, social interaction, and mental well-being.
• The widespread adoption of digital tools has the potential to revolutionize teaching and learning, providing more personalized, flexible, and accessible educational experiences.
• The effects of remote learning on engagement and performance vary globally, with developed countries experiencing a smoother transition due to technology access and familiarity.
• Europe has seen varied responses, with countries like Finland and Estonia praised for effective adaptation to online education.
• In Asia, rapid growth and digitalization have facilitated widespread adoption, leveraging technological advancements for large-scale online education.
• Africa faces unique challenges with limited technology access, insufficient infrastructure, and inadequate resources for online education.
• In the USA, remote learning provides opportunities for personalized learning but can lead to isolation, reduced social interaction, and decreased motivation.
• Students in remote learning experienced decreased engagement levels compared to face-to-face instruction.
• Researchers suggest providing technological resources, mental support, and fostering community to improve engagement in remote learning.
• The sudden transition to off-classroom studying led to a negative impact of distance learning on students academic performance, with some experiencing improved grades due to flexibility while others struggled with self-discipline and time management.

Socialization and Its Impact on Well-Being

The impact of distance learning on students represents a significant lifestyle shift, providing parents and students with remarkable flexibility in crafting study schedules that align with their routines. Socialization in online schools requires intentional efforts, and quality institutions offer various opportunities like school trips, museum visits, sports, dance, and music lessons, all tailored to accommodate individual schedules. Virtual activities such as reading clubs, quiz competitions, and storytelling challenges further facilitate student connections and foster a sense of community.

Mental health conditions impact over 25% of individuals across their lifespan, constituting approximately 10% of global health issues and ranking among the leading causes of severe illness and persistent disability in students.

So, how does virtual learning affect students? While there was already an urgent need to address the mental health of young individuals, research indicates a surge in mental health conditions across all age groups due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a potential increase in acute issues among children and adolescents in low-income contexts. Stress is another issue of concern, which can nevertheless be effectively managed by using a paper writing service to prevent deadline anxiety and overworking. 

Lockdowns and periods of remote learning have particularly affected young people, especially the vulnerable ones, leading to lower levels of help-seeking, diminished social and educational engagement, and reduced overall well-being.

Remote learning periods have also impacted the social skills and connectedness of young individuals, with disruptions in community health and interactions due to social distancing measures, track and trace protocols, and restricted relationships.

In response to school closures during COVID-19, students adopted various coping strategies, including participation in online classes, self-study, increased internet use through social media, online gaming, and smartphone activities. 

Remote Learning for Teachers: Statistical Analysis of Challenges and Relationships with Students

As per a report from PR Newswire , the digital education industry is expected to experience a substantial growth of nearly 11% by 2025 , showing a projected increase of 10.85% from its pre-COVID value of $171 billion in 2019.  

Alternative projections suggest an even more significant growth of 14.6% from 2019 to 2026, foreseeing the industry's value to soar to an impressive $374.3 billion.  

Despite the increasing vaccination rates and easing restrictions on public gatherings, the demand for digital education is likely to persist, driven by factors such as “enhanced government support,” “heightened corporate demand for advanced learning techniques,” and the “continued surge in smartphone and internet usage.”

What are the challenges faced by teachers in distance education, and more importantly, how can these challenges be overcome? Statistics reveal that a significant portion of college students, over 48%, feel they lack sufficient time for coursework. However, time management isn't solely a concern for students – it's also a major challenge for teachers in online distance learning. While teaching from home eliminates commuting and offers greater flexibility, online educators may find themselves juggling additional tasks, such as moderating discussion boards, managing notifications, updating class websites, sharing resources, and responding to an increased volume of emails.

In a virtual classroom, communication often occurs asynchronously through structured platforms like email or message boards, lacking the immediacy and spontaneity of traditional classroom interaction. Digital instructors miss the benefits of observing body language, non-verbal cues, or snippets of conversation that provide valuable insights into students' feelings and progress. Technical issues, like unreliable Wi-Fi or poor audio quality, can exacerbate these challenges by hindering teachers' understanding and response to students' questions and concerns.

Providing efficient yet meaningful feedback is another hurdle in online education for teachers, primarily due to the absence of non-verbal cues and synchronous communication found in traditional classrooms. Without clear and timely feedback, students may become uncertain about their performance or project criteria, resulting in diminished confidence, weakened student-teacher communication, and lower academic performance. Addressing time management is crucial to maintaining the quality of instructor feedback.

Teachers often grapple with heavy workloads that can become unmanageable without an organized schedule. For those looking for time management tips , utilizing various apps and websites designed to enhance workflow, task delegation, and productivity can be beneficial. Examples include Slack, Trello, Todoist, Google Drive, Focus Keeper, and Evernote.

Live, real-time communication is vital for student success, allowing them to voice concerns, seek clarification on grading criteria, and assess their mastery of the material accurately. Educational technology, or "ed-tech," offers numerous solutions to asynchronous communication challenges, ensuring effective interaction in online learning environments.

Statistics on the Role of Parents in Remote Learning

Parental involvement and support play a crucial role in facilitating children's education, especially in remote learning environments. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the significance of parental engagement in ensuring students' academic success. A 2020 study in the United States conducted by Garbe et al. investigated the impact of parental involvement on remote learning, revealing that students with higher levels of parental support were more likely to stay engaged and perform better academically.

Similarly, a study in Spain by Rodríguez-García et al. in 2020 emphasized the role of parental involvement in adapting to remote learning challenges. Students with engaged and supportive parents demonstrated better academic performance. The study recommended fostering strong partnerships between schools and families to enhance student success in remote learning environments.

In Germany, a 2020 research study by Eickelmann et al. delved into the impact of parental involvement on remote learning. Active parental support correlated with increased success in terms of both engagement and academic performance. The researchers advocated for close collaboration between educational institutions and parents, providing resources, training, and guidance to effectively support children's remote learning.

Pros and Cons of Distance Learning

What is distance learning? It is a mode of education where students and instructors are physically separated and engage in learning activities through various digital technologies and communication tools. This form of education allows individuals to pursue their studies from any location, eliminating the need for a traditional physical classroom.

Advantages of Distance Learning:

• Flexibility: Learners have the flexibility to study at their own pace, accommodating various schedules and commitments. Using a thesis writing service to aid with a capstone or dissertation also adds to the flexibility of learning. 
• Accessibility: Provides education opportunities to individuals who are geographically distant or have limited access to traditional educational institutions.
• Cost Savings: Reduces expenses related to commuting, accommodation, and physical learning materials.
• Diverse Learning Resources: Utilizes a variety of online resources, multimedia, and interactive tools to cater to different learning styles.
• Self-Paced Learning: Allows students to progress through materials at a pace that suits their individual learning preferences.
• Global Reach: Enables collaboration and learning among students from different parts of the world, fostering a global perspective.

Disadvantages of Distance Learning:

• Limited Social Interaction: Lack of face-to-face interaction may lead to feelings of isolation and hinder the development of social skills.
• Technology Requirements: Access to reliable internet, appropriate devices, and digital literacy skills are necessary, which may pose barriers for some learners.
• Self-Motivation: Requires a high level of self-discipline and motivation as learners are responsible for managing their own study schedules.
• Quality of Instruction: The effectiveness of distance learning depends on the quality of instructional design, materials, and the ability of instructors to engage students remotely.
• Limited Hands-On Experience: Practical subjects or those requiring hands-on experience may be challenging to teach or learn in a distance learning format.
• Dependence on Technology: Technical issues, such as connectivity problems or software malfunctions, can disrupt the learning process.

Remote Learning in the Post-Covid-19 Era

The higher education sector grappled with unprecedented challenges amid the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the closure of university campuses and a swift transition from traditional face-to-face teaching to an online format. A substantial majority of students expressed positive views on online open-book assessments, indicating a willingness to adopt this format in the future. 

Many students reported encountering no technical issues, signaling overall satisfaction with reliable internet connectivity. The shift to remote learning and online classrooms brought to the surface conflicting preferences among students. Despite a shared desire for more interactive lectures, only half of the students felt comfortable engaging through video cameras.  

• The online learning in higher education market faces increased competitiveness with the integration of distance and open education models in the post-COVID-19 era.
• Pre-pandemic, universities anticipated reduced revenue due to demographic shifts and a decline in the number of students of university age.
• Sudden drops in international student numbers could lead to financial insecurity for many institutions.
• Student recruitment and retention have become more crucial amid the pandemic to sustain the traditional university model, emphasizing the importance of high student satisfaction rates.
• Despite challenges, education continues its day-to-day activities, with online contingency plans facilitating teaching and assessment through digital interfaces.
• Many universities have already adopted practices to make education delivery flexible and accessible, including blended learning and hybrid models.
• The Hyflex model allows students to choose their mode of participation, offering sessions in person, synchronously online, and asynchronously online.
• During the pandemic, 84.8% of students did not experience COVID-19 symptoms, with limited access to testing facilities impacting symptom confirmation.
• Some students (13.2%) displayed symptoms but did not confirm them via a test, while 9.9% had family members confirmed to have COVID-19.
• Study environments during lockdown varied, with 71% reporting having a quiet place to study, while 33% faced challenges such as noise and inadequate lighting.
• The majority (83%) reported good internet connectivity, and 93% increased their use of social media during lockdown.
• Pre-lockdown, 74% of students were satisfied with their feelings of health, dropping to 59% during lockdown.
• Concentration issues increased from 32% pre-lockdown to 71% during lockdown.
• Satisfaction with access to healthcare declined, with 23% reporting dissatisfaction during lockdown compared to 5% pre-lockdown. 

Online Learning Growth in Numbers

• The online education market is projected to achieve a revenue of $166.60 billion in 2023.
• An anticipated annual growth rate (CAGR 2023-2028) of 9.12% is expected, resulting in a market volume of $257.70 billion by 2028.
• Online university education is foreseen to be the largest segment, with a projected market volume of $103.80 billion in 2023.
• The United States is expected to lead in global revenue generation, reaching $74,800.00 million in 2023.
• The average revenue per user (ARPU) in the Online Education market is estimated to be $0.21k in 2023.
• The global eLearning market is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2032.
• 73% of students in the United States express a desire to continue taking online classes post-pandemic.
• Digital learning is provided by 90% of companies to their employees in some form.
• 68% of employees prefer learning while at work.
• Coursera has experienced a 438% increase in registered learners over 5 years.
• The European eLearning market is anticipated to grow by $147.7 billion between 2021 and 2025.
• The eLearning market in India is forecasted to reach $8.6 billion by 2026.

Remote Learning Trends 2023

Rise of AI in eLearning (2023): AI-driven remote learning gains momentum, employing chatbots, personalized learning, and adaptive tools like Grammarly and Duolingo. Students benefit from tailored experiences, 24/7 chatbot support, fostering self-driven improvement.

VR/AR Integration in eLearning: Virtual and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) usage expands, offering immersive, interactive learning. Affordable VR and AR tech enhances realism in simulations and overlays digital content in real-world contexts. Expect widespread adoption in eLearning courses for highly engaging experiences by 2023.

Focus on Continuous Learning Investment: Companies prioritize continuous learning to retain and attract talent. Empowering employees with upskilling and reskilling opportunities, including technical skills, leadership development, and diversity training, fosters a culture of growth and performance.

Nanolearning Emergence: Nanolearning gains traction for its concise, easily digestible format – ideal for the digital age. Short texts, videos, and sound bites cater to Gen Z's shorter attention spans. This trend, emphasizing efficient training delivery, is set to grow in 2023.

Expanded Gamification in eLearning: Gamification enhances learning engagement and interaction. Adopting game elements in training strategies boosts employee engagement and retention. Studies show increased enjoyment and improved outcomes, with platforms like Khan Academy and Duolingo utilizing gamified approaches.

Well-Being Training Priority: Organizations prioritize employee well-being with training on mental, physical, and financial health. Programs address burnout, work-life balance, and financial wellness, incorporating personal development topics like mindfulness and stress reduction.

Continued Growth of Mobile Learning: Mobile learning, propelled by busy schedules and the pandemic, is evolving further. Advancements focus on compatibility and responsiveness, ensuring a seamless user experience and minimizing compatibility issues.

Outsourcing eLearning Content Development: Recognizing the importance of effective eLearning content, companies turn to outsourcing. Experts curate relevant, engaging content and employ various formats, enhancing training quality. Well-planned assessments provide immediate feedback, optimizing the learning experience. 

How Many Students Are Engaged in Remote Learning

• Throughout the pandemic, UNESCO's summary statistics revealed that schools were shuttered in over 90% of countries worldwide, impacting around 1.6 billion students.
• Since Spring 2020, 90% of U.S. higher education institutions have shifted to emergency remote teaching due to COVID-19.
• On a daily basis, 63% of students in the United States participate in online learning activities.
• Before the pandemic, 51% were very satisfied with their courses.
• After the transition to online learning, only 19% reported the same level of satisfaction.
• 57% found it challenging to maintain interest in the course material.
• 65% claimed they had fewer opportunities to collaborate with peers.
• 42% experienced difficulties in staying motivated during online learning.
• According to in-person vs online learning statistics by Pew Research, a substantial majority of students, accounting for 65% , favored in-person learning over hybrid or remote options. 
• 61% of students use research paper writing services when studying remotely.  
• Variations were observed among ethnic groups, with a narrower majority of Black students expressing a preference for in-person learning. 
• 45% of students reported feeling a stronger connection to their parents or guardians compared to the period before the pandemic.

Effectiveness of Remote Learning

• Studies indicate that well-executed online courses can be as impactful as traditional face-to-face classes.
• Online learning has demonstrated an enhancement in information retention, reaching levels of 25% to 60% when completed online, in contrast to 8% to 10% with in-person methods. 
• The efficacy of online education is credited to its heightened flexibility.  
• Remote learning grants students the freedom to acquire knowledge from any location, empowering parents to provide support. 
• It facilitates independent learning for students seeking enrichment opportunities. 
• Remote learning establishes diverse avenues for collaborative efforts between teachers and students, fostering an environment where young individuals can attain their academic objectives. 
• Remote learning enables students to absorb nearly five times more material than traditional methods, maintaining the same training duration. 
• Online education has seen a rise, with 42% of online college students and 30% of undergraduates favoring virtual learning over in-classroom instruction.
• Learners retain 25% to 60% more information compared to the 8% to 10% retention rate in traditional classrooms. 
• However, there's a concerning trend of a 30% increase in D and F grades among some middle school students in online learning environments, with certain regions experiencing a staggering 70% surge in failing grades for online education.

What Type of Learning Students Prefer in 2023

• Online learning has seen a remarkable surge in student preference, experiencing a substantial increase of 220% since the pre-pandemic era.
• The Time for Class 2023 survey , encompassing 2,048 students, 1,748 instructors, and 306 administrators, uncovered that 31% of students favor face-to-face instruction, while the remaining 69% lean towards fully online, hybrid, or blended learning options. 
• Interestingly, students exhibit greater enthusiasm for online or hybrid instruction compared to their instructors. 
• 55% of instructors express a preference for the benefits of in person learning.
• However, persistent challenges related to technology and internet access persist, as highlighted by 22% of students reporting inconsistent computer access and 40% facing unstable internet connections. 
• Despite these challenges, a substantial 70% of students concur that online classes surpass traditional classroom settings in terms of preference.

Remote Learning Costs Analysis

• Private institutions charge $60,593 on average for an online degree, compared to $185,252 for an in-person degree.
• Commuting students for in-person classes incur $1,360 per year in transportation costs, which online students avoid.
• In-person attendees pay $600 more for a campus meal plan than meals prepared at home for the entire year.
• The cost of an online degree, based on tuition from a public university, is approximately $54,183 , while in-person tuition is $85,348 for the same degree.
• The average per-credit-hour, in-state tuition rate for in-person instruction at public schools in the US is $711.00 .
• The average per-credit-hour, in-state tuition rate for online instruction at public schools in the US is $333.00 .
• The average per-credit-hour, in-state tuition rate for in-person instruction at private schools in the US is $1,240.00 .
• The average per-credit-hour, in-state tuition rate for online instruction at private schools in the US is $488.050 .

Remote Learning Statistics by Country 

• Education technology investment in the U.S. has surpassed $13 billion.
• The virtual K-12 school sector in the U.S. includes 500 virtual schools with approximately 300,000 students.
• The U.S. remote learning market grew to $6.22 billion between 2017 and 2022.
• 67% of American college students use mobile devices for course-related activities.
• Top investors in online education include the United States, India, China, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Côte d'Ivoire.
• 52% of U.S. graduate students prefer online education for a better learning experience.
• Germany leads the online market in the European Union, growing at 8.5% annually.
• The European Higher Education Area aims to enhance traditional education with digital learning.
• The world's top three online education brands are Chinese University MOOC/iCourse (14%), Zhihuishu (9%), and BYJU’S (2%).
• An estimated 1 billion online students globally are expected in 2027.
• Denmark ranks highest for online learning conditions, surpassing Norway.
• Ireland , despite a significant portion taking online courses, is the least-equipped country for online learning.
• Iceland has the highest percentage of individuals participating in online learning in the EU.
• Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Turkey have the lowest percentages of people learning new subjects through online courses.

Remote Learning in Higher Education Analysis 

• Nearly 4,000 American post-secondary institutions transitioned to online learning .
• 63% of higher educational institutions made substantial investments in supporting online learning.
• 75% of US colleges planned to operate entirely online.
• Approximately 33% of college students choose online courses.
• 40% of US undergraduate students used their phones or tablets for most course-related activities.
• 63% of educational institutions invested significantly in remote learning.
• 75% of US schools planned to operate fully online.
• 33% of college students prefer online courses.

Most Popular Remote Learning Platforms

• FlipGrid: Facilitates video-sharing discussions for students and teachers. User-friendly guides and webinars are available for easy adoption.
• Bloomz: Enhances communication between parents and teachers. Offers parent-teacher conversations, class updates, and behavior tracking. The translation is available in 100+ languages for accessibility.
• ClassDojo: Allows parents to join classes via any device. Provides a platform for students to receive praise and parents to share classroom moments.
• Prodigy Math Game: Adaptive, game-based learning platform. Challenges students with curriculum-aligned questions in a fun and interactive way.
• EssayPro: One of the most popular platforms for students to buy essay .
• Gimkit: Clever educational content with a self-paced answering approach. Rewards students with in-game cash for correct answers.
• Quizlet: Utilizes flashcards and games for enjoyable learning. Offers study modes and sets tailored to each student's learning style.
• Google Classroom: Enables easy communication, teamwork, and file sharing. Allows the creation of class websites for additional resources.
• Buncee: Fun tool for creating course materials, presentations, and stories. Provides over 2,000 templates for visual art creations.
•   EdModo: Global Learning Management System connecting teachers, students, and parents. Supports collaboration, quizzes, assignments, and messaging.
•  Edulastic: Online education tool for assessments and progress tracking. Offers Google Classroom synchronization for seamless use.
•   Eduplanet21: Provides a free subscription platform for educators. Offers resources, webinars, and a "Lesson Planner" module for remote learning.
•   ClassMax: Online tool for setting up classrooms, behavior monitoring, and progress tracking.
•   3P Learning: Blended software for mathematics and literacy with gaming elements. Geared towards students aged 3-16.
•   Dialpad: A cloud-based phone system creating a virtual campus for online classes.
•   Docebo: Collaborative learning platform for student interaction and content management.
•   Habyts: Platform for teachers and parents to control students' screen time and promote focused learning.
•   Coursera: Offers certificates, degree programs, and general courses from top institutions. Affordable options include free courses and professional certificates.
•   MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses): Provides free and affordable online courses in various fields for career transformation.
•   Udemy: Low-cost platform with over 155,000 courses in design, web development, marketing, etc.
•   EDx: Offers affordable degree programs from respected institutions like Harvard and MIT.

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Impact of Remote Learning in 2023

After experiencing significant growth from 2020 to 2022, remote learning is poised to maintain its relevance in 2023 and beyond. Educational and training organizations have embraced remote learning, shifting their entire or partial curriculum to this approach. The surge in organizations offering remote learning, whether as an alternative or through blended experiences, has been remarkable. While the extraordinary performance seen in the past may not continue at the same pace, remote learning is expected to sustain momentum.

The adoption of remote learning is driven by the need for backup plans in the face of potential crises and a commitment to providing an inclusive and immersive learning experience. Affordability and accessibility are key considerations, with remote learning removing unnecessary restrictions and making education more attainable globally. Additionally, it offers a way to future-proof curricula, enhancing sustainability and resilience.

Despite its advantages, remote learning is not positioned to replace traditional learning in the near future. The human desire for personal social interaction and the need for a global shift in perception toward remote learning are significant factors. Remote learning will continue to serve as a lifeline during crises and an alternative during peaceful times, excelling in niche use cases where traditional methods may fall short.

An interesting point is that remote learning demonstrates a higher retention rate of knowledge, attributed to more frequent and detailed 1-to-1 interactions between students and teachers. The flexibility and scheduling freedom for teacher consultations outside the virtual class contribute to a stronger teacher-student bond, increased curiosity, and dedicated educational support. 

Future of Remote Learning

The future of remote learning holds transformative possibilities driven by technological advancements and evolving educational paradigms. As we move forward, remote learning will likely become more immersive, engaging, and tailored to individual needs. Virtual and augmented reality technologies may play a pivotal role, providing students with virtual classrooms and hands-on experiences, transcending the limitations of traditional online platforms.

Adaptive learning systems powered by artificial intelligence will gain prominence, offering personalized learning paths based on individual strengths and weaknesses. These systems can dynamically adjust content, pacing, and assessments to optimize students' understanding and retention.

Collaborative tools and platforms will be further refined, fostering real-time interaction and group work in virtual spaces. This shift aims to recreate the collaborative aspects of physical classrooms, enabling students to engage meaningfully with peers and educators.

The future will likely see an increased focus on skills development that aligns with the demands of the digital economy. Online platforms will offer a diverse array of courses, micro-credentials, and certifications, allowing learners to acquire specific competencies efficiently. Lifelong learning will become a norm, with professionals upskilling and reskilling throughout their careers.

While the future of remote learning promises innovation and accessibility, it also necessitates addressing challenges such as the digital divide to ensure equitable access to educational resources. Striking a balance between technology and human-centric approaches will be crucial, emphasizing the importance of educators in guiding and mentoring students in this evolving landscape. As remote learning continues to shape the future of education, a flexible, inclusive, and tech-savvy approach will be essential to harness its full potential.

Final Points

The evidence from e-learning statistics regarding the impact of online learning on students is unequivocal: the future of education is online. A growing number of educational institutions are continually making the shift to online learning, and this momentum shows no signs of slowing – backed by compelling facts and stats.

There are several key benefits of online learning over traditional education methods:

• Versatility for Any Lifestyle: Online learning adapts seamlessly to diverse lifestyles, offering flexibility that traditional education often lacks.
• Affordability: It is significantly more cost-effective than a traditional university education, making quality learning more accessible.
• Expert Instruction: Courses are often taught by industry experts, providing learners with insights from professionals in the field.
• Self-Paced Study: Learners have the freedom to study at their own pace, accommodating varied learning speeds and schedules.
• Community of Mentors and Peers: Online learning provides access to a supportive community of mentors and like-minded peers, fostering collaborative learning.

Whether you are a recent high school graduate seeking alternatives to traditional education or a working professional preparing for career advancements, online learning emerges as an ideal choice.

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Student Opinion

Is Online Learning Effective?

A new report found that the heavy dependence on technology during the pandemic caused “staggering” education inequality. What was your experience?

By Natalie Proulx

During the coronavirus pandemic, many schools moved classes online. Was your school one of them? If so, what was it like to attend school online? Did you enjoy it? Did it work for you?

In “ Dependence on Tech Caused ‘Staggering’ Education Inequality, U.N. Agency Says ,” Natasha Singer writes:

In early 2020, as the coronavirus spread, schools around the world abruptly halted in-person education. To many governments and parents, moving classes online seemed the obvious stopgap solution. In the United States, school districts scrambled to secure digital devices for students. Almost overnight, videoconferencing software like Zoom became the main platform teachers used to deliver real-time instruction to students at home. Now a report from UNESCO , the United Nations’ educational and cultural organization, says that overreliance on remote learning technology during the pandemic led to “staggering” education inequality around the world. It was, according to a 655-page report that UNESCO released on Wednesday, a worldwide “ed-tech tragedy.” The report, from UNESCO’s Future of Education division, is likely to add fuel to the debate over how governments and local school districts handled pandemic restrictions, and whether it would have been better for some countries to reopen schools for in-person instruction sooner. The UNESCO researchers argued in the report that “unprecedented” dependence on technology — intended to ensure that children could continue their schooling — worsened disparities and learning loss for hundreds of millions of students around the world, including in Kenya, Brazil, Britain and the United States. The promotion of remote online learning as the primary solution for pandemic schooling also hindered public discussion of more equitable, lower-tech alternatives, such as regularly providing schoolwork packets for every student, delivering school lessons by radio or television — and reopening schools sooner for in-person classes, the researchers said. “Available evidence strongly indicates that the bright spots of the ed-tech experiences during the pandemic, while important and deserving of attention, were vastly eclipsed by failure,” the UNESCO report said. The UNESCO researchers recommended that education officials prioritize in-person instruction with teachers, not online platforms, as the primary driver of student learning. And they encouraged schools to ensure that emerging technologies like A.I. chatbots concretely benefited students before introducing them for educational use. Education and industry experts welcomed the report, saying more research on the effects of pandemic learning was needed. “The report’s conclusion — that societies must be vigilant about the ways digital tools are reshaping education — is incredibly important,” said Paul Lekas, the head of global public policy for the Software & Information Industry Association, a group whose members include Amazon, Apple and Google. “There are lots of lessons that can be learned from how digital education occurred during the pandemic and ways in which to lessen the digital divide. ” Jean-Claude Brizard, the chief executive of Digital Promise, a nonprofit education group that has received funding from Google, HP and Verizon, acknowledged that “technology is not a cure-all.” But he also said that while school systems were largely unprepared for the pandemic, online education tools helped foster “more individualized, enhanced learning experiences as schools shifted to virtual classrooms.” ​Education International, an umbrella organization for about 380 teachers’ unions and 32 million teachers worldwide, said the UNESCO report underlined the importance of in-person, face-to-face teaching. “The report tells us definitively what we already know to be true, a place called school matters,” said Haldis Holst, the group’s deputy general secretary. “Education is not transactional nor is it simply content delivery. It is relational. It is social. It is human at its core.”

Students, read the entire article and then tell us:

What findings from the report, if any, surprised you? If you participated in online learning during the pandemic, what in the report reflected your experience? If the researchers had asked you about what remote learning was like for you, what would you have told them?

At this point, most schools have returned to in-person teaching, but many still use technology in the classroom. How much tech is involved in your day-to-day education? Does this method of learning work well for you? If you had a say, would you want to spend more or less time online while in school?

What are some of the biggest benefits you have seen from technology when it comes to your education? What are some of the biggest drawbacks?

Haldis Holst, UNESCO’s deputy general secretary, said: “The report tells us definitively what we already know to be true, a place called school matters. Education is not transactional nor is it simply content delivery. It is relational. It is social. It is human at its core.” What is your reaction to that statement? Do you agree? Why or why not?

As a student, what advice would you give to schools that are already using or are considering using educational technology?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Natalie Proulx joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2017 after working as an English language arts teacher and curriculum writer. More about Natalie Proulx

Other Papers Say: Face up to tech in education

The following editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times:

The latest large-scale analysis of remote learning and its effects on student achievement underscores what every parent saw with devastating clarity during the pandemic: Children need human connection to thrive.

In fact, according to a recent New York Times investigation, attending school through a computer screen during the COVID-19 crisis was as deleterious to learning as growing up in poverty.

The takeaway should not be more finger-pointing and blame for officials who kept schools closed. That advances nothing. But a muscular and forward-looking confrontation with questions around technology in education is sorely needed.

One reason is that kids will likely face future emergencies that necessitate remote learning, so it’s imperative to get better at delivering education this way. But even now, with students back in class, the same technology that hijacked their attention at home remains present — cellphones. Before the pandemic, these handheld screens were not a ubiquitous force in every classroom. Now, teachers appear powerless against them.

Seattle Public Schools attempted to take a stand by filing a lawsuit against the social media companies running Facebook, TikTok and the like. That is hardly the most direct approach.

Better to do like the Reardan-Edwall district in Eastern Washington, which this year prohibited younger students from possessing cellphones during the school day. Or the Peninsula and Aberdeen school districts, which also have strict anti-cellphone policies.

“We’re having actual, human conversations again,” said a relieved Eric Sobotta, superintendent of the Reardan-Edwall schools, “and we’ve seen a dramatic reduction in bullying.”

Taking responsibility this way puts these districts in Washington’s vanguard. Technology has enormous power, and its potential in education — for good or ill — must be addressed head-on at the state level, not with limp demurrals about local control.

Rep. Stephanie McClintock, R-Vancouver, attempted to get a law passed during this year’s legislative session that would have restricted cellphone use in Washington schools. Her bill never made it out of committee, but she plans to reintroduce it next year.

A study from the London School of Economics found that the mere presence of a phone in class can hamper student achievement, especially for kids who are already struggling.

Earlier this year, state Superintendent Chris Reykdal issued guidance on using artificial intelligence in classrooms, urging teachers to embrace it as a tool to power human inquiry.

That’s a welcome step forward. But it’s just a beginning. To protect kids’ developing brains and capitalize on technology’s undeniable promise, all of Washington’s education leaders need to get a lot smarter about managing these tools — fast. The future is not coming at us; it’s already here.

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Remote Learning and Work in the UAE During COVID-19 Essay (Article)

In the face of what is quickly becoming the global CoronaVirus (COVID-19) health crisis, the UAE Government has been a reassuring presence to many; ensuring that the country’s economy is impacted as little as possible and that even with the newly implemented remote-working policy, that professionals have their working and learning needs met as well. I have experienced this first-hand, being part of the country’s workforce that has been mandated to work remotely during the period of quarantine and social distancing that has been recommended by the state in a bid to stop the transmission of COVID-19.

It all started in the November-December period of 2019 when the very first cases of infection of a new strain of the Coronavirus were reported in China. At the time, I was going about my routine work duties and obligations, like most of the world, completely unaware of the impact that this virus would soon have on our world. The virus was thereafter named the SARS-CoV-2, with the resultant illness widely identified as COVID-19. What followed was a health and economic nightmare, as infection rates skyrocketed worldwide, quarantines were quickly implemented in many countries, and global leaders were strategizing on how to minimize the effect of the would-be pandemic on their populations and their economies.

The UAE, under Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Monarch of the Emirate of Dubai was no different. Given the infectious nature of the disease, the government quickly implemented preventative and precautionary measures to the country’s workforce. I remember attending several briefings, called by our managerial teams on the COVID-19 crisis and how office etiquette and interactions had to change.

Alcohol-based sanitizers and handwash were distributed in strategic places throughout the office, the frequency of disinfection cleaning increased dramatically, and I would pass a few people wearing masks on my way to and from my workplace. The UAE cabinet then formed a committee aimed at handling the negative impacts of COVID-19 on the national economy, which would have been reasonably expected, given the adverse impact of the disease on the working and investing population.

Eventually, the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation issued a directive that no more than 30% of a private company’s workforce should physically report to offices. This effectively led to much of the country’s workforce, myself included, having to readjust to working and learning right from our homes.

I am particularly thankful for this remote-working directive, which shows the lengths to which the UAE government is willing to go to protect its workforce, and its population in general. It has, however, changed a lot of how organizations work. For many of us, starting March 29th, 2020, remote working has become our new reality, and organizational leaders and managers are dedicated to ensuring that the transition is smooth and supported by good work practices. I firmly believe that this is an effective course of action. Furthermore, I am willing to wholly develop and maintain a regular work routine and embrace the flexibility that comes with working from home, with my family and loved ones. If this is done, it may be enough to implement the remote-working system successfully.

The infrastructure that is being implemented by both private organizations and the government to support the remote-working system has also provided an opportunity for professionals to learn. There is an increased uptake of technology-adoption programs, as well as managerial classes. As a result, there is a lot of professional development currently ongoing, as members of the workforce are picking up new and innovative skills in modern technology. Of course, the government has shown its willingness to implement the smooth transition of the country’s workforce to a remote-working setting. This has been shown with the remote-working system being adopted with the support and coordination from the competent National Emergency, Crisis, and Disaster Management Authority.

I do believe that this would highly contribute to breaking the virus’ transmission chains, which is the entire logic behind transitioning into a remote-working system. Interpersonal contact is being kept to a bare minimum, and therefore the opportunity to spread is severely limited. The Economics committee will also be regularly monitoring the negative impacts of the implementation of remote-working, and giving suggestions on how to stimulate the economy and mitigate the adverse effects to the government. While this may be one of the most devastating pandemics in the modern age, We, as a people, are capable of so much, and as a nation, we will undoubtedly persevere through this crisis.

• Chicago (A-D)
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IvyPanda. (2022, February 12). Remote Learning and Work in the UAE During COVID-19. https://ivypanda.com/essays/remote-learning-and-work-in-the-uae-during-covid-19/

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IvyPanda . 2022. "Remote Learning and Work in the UAE During COVID-19." February 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/remote-learning-and-work-in-the-uae-during-covid-19/.

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Remote Learning and Work in the UAE During COVID-19." February 12, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/remote-learning-and-work-in-the-uae-during-covid-19/.

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