I have been doing a little opinionizing this week, and in an effort to underpin that with actual facts, I've done a bit of research and also a good deal of introspect examination based on my own experiences teaching for 25 years. In my 25th, I hope to keep racking up those years. My prospects of doing so, however, are looking less hopeful by the day this week.
The new administration, which I supported with my vote and with my modest social media presence, is not helping. I think that is likely a result of its own pining to return to education "the way we've always done it" (the most harmful words in our cultural phrasebook, in my humble opinion).
I wrote something:
The Case for Real Virtual Learning
By Scott Merrick
January 23, 2021
The context in which I write is Covid-19 and its growing army of
mutations, and the hold the pandemic has on how we learn and teach. Legions of
politicians and pundits cry out for the re-opening of school buildings. The
topic has become ridiculously political. Welcome to America in 2021, where an
issue of life and death can be divisive.
It is time we stopped talking about "the way things were"
and look these times square in the eyes. We must tell these times, and forcefully,
that it they are not going to let our children down. We are not going to
let our children down.
Before moving on, please take a look at the heat map image published by Nashville's WKRN on January 22, 2021 from https://www.wkrn.com/community/health/coronavirus/heatmaps-show-higher-concentration-of-covid-19-cases-in-downtown-nashville/.
So. The stats go up and up and down and up and up and
down and and down and up and down, but the facts are clear. Covid is here. The experts,
from the President to the local health department, tell us that the pandemic is
here to stay for the foreseeable future. Here is one optimistic (everything in
place and functioning optimally) prediction:
“Let’s say we get 75 percent, 80 percent of the population
vaccinated,” Fauci said. “If we do that, if we do it efficiently enough over
the second quarter of 2021, by the time we get to the end of the summer, i.e.,
the third quarter, we may actually have enough herd immunity protecting our
society that as we get to the end of 2021, we can approach very much some
degree of normality that is close to where we were before.”
The interpretation of Dr. Fauci’s statement is a bit elusive due
to its subtlety. The effect of understanding it is inevitable: We cannot allow
ourselves to so pine for “where we were before” that we fail to focus on
improving the way things are. I repeat that the above is an optimistic
prediction. What if the troubles that plague (sorry) vaccination roll-out in
the United States persist? When can we realistically expect that we will
“actually have enough herd immunity” to actually “approach very much some
degree” (what does that even mean, really?) of “the way we have always done it?”
The responsibility of our educational leadership to focus on
making things better given the realities we face, and which we will
predictably face for at least a good long while, if not forever.
In doing so, we must stop characterizing student progress in the
frame of what was. Among other things, we must rethink learning and establish realistic
policies that both support progressive student learning and reward some of the
non-academic learning children are gaining during this unique period in
history. We cannot judge/assess students by how they were expected to progress
in conditions which are no longer present. We must judge/assess student
progress given the conditions which are. We absolutely must develop online learning
environments which can, at a distance, encourage our children to learn, support
them in their learning, and reward them for learning. We must stop focusing on what
inapplicable data tells us about what they are “losing” and turn our complete
focus on what we can help them learn.
Theresa Thayer Snyder, former superintendent of the Voorheesville
district in upstate New York, wrote (and I really think these words belong here
in their entirety, so please do read),
Dear Friends and Colleagues:
I am writing today about the
children of this pandemic. After a lifetime of working among the young, I feel
compelled to address the concerns that are being expressed by so many of my
peers about the deficits the children will demonstrate when they finally return
to school. My goodness, what a disconcerting thing to be concerned about in the
face of a pandemic which is affecting millions of people around the country and
the world. It speaks to one of my biggest fears for the children when they
return. In our determination to “catch them up,” I fear that we will lose who
they are and what they have learned during this unprecedented era. What on
earth are we trying to catch them up on? The models no longer apply, the
benchmarks are no longer valid, the trend analyses have been interrupted. We
must not forget that those arbitrary measures were established by people, not
ordained by God. We can make those invalid measures as obsolete as a crank up
telephone! They simply do not apply.
When the children return to school,
they will have returned with a new history that we will need to help them
identify and make sense of. When the children return to school, we will need to
listen to them. Let their stories be told. They have endured a year that has no
parallel in modern times. There is no assessment that applies to who they are
or what they have learned. Remember, their brains did not go into hibernation
during this year. Their brains may not have been focused on traditional school
material, but they did not stop either. Their brains may have been focused on
where their next meal is coming from, or how to care for a younger sibling, or
how to deal with missing grandma, or how it feels to have to surrender a
beloved pet, or how to deal with death. Our job is to welcome them back and
help them write that history.
I sincerely plead with my
colleagues, to surrender the artificial constructs that measure achievement and
greet the children where they are, not where we think they “should be.” Greet
them with art supplies and writing materials, and music and dance and so many
other avenues to help them express what has happened to them in their lives
during this horrific year. Greet them with stories and books that will help
them make sense of an upside-down world. They missed you. They did not miss the
test prep. They did not miss the worksheets. They did not miss the reading
groups. They did not miss the homework. They missed you.
Resist the pressure from
whatever ‘powers that be’ who are in a hurry to “fix” kids and make up for the
“lost” time. The time was not lost, it was invested in surviving an historic
period of time in their lives—in our lives. The children do not need to be
fixed. They are not broken. They need to be heard. They need be given as many
tools as we can provide to nurture resilience and help them adjust to a post
pandemic world.
Being a teacher is an essential
connection between what is and what can be. Please, let what can be demonstrate
that our children have so much to share about the world they live in and in
helping them make sense of what, for all of us has been unimaginable. This will
help them– and us– achieve a lot more than can be measured by any assessment
tool ever devised. Peace to all who work with the children!
This is a unique opportunity in human history.
Many politicians do not agree. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee said
just a few days ago:
“Here’s the bottom line: you
can’t say “follow the science” and keep schools closed.
You can’t say “I believe in public
education” and keep schools closed.
And you can’t say you’re
putting the needs of students first and keep schools closed.
Kids do better in school: we
know that - parents know that.”
Of course kids are perceived to do better “in
school.” All the assessment measures are crafted with their presence in school,
in person, as a foundation. They are by and large calculated by grading fill in
the blank or multiple choice questions whose answers have most often been
drilled into them by teachers who are fighting tooth and nail to keep their
jobs. Those teachers are now learning new ways to teach in order to help
students learn how to survive in the world. How about we focus on our new real
world and see what we can do to help students cope with it.
How about we implement the “two tab test,” where students are
encouraged to have a second browser tab open to the lesson while they take an
online quiz or test. The very process of understanding a question enough to go
into a lesson and find the answer is more intellectual contact with the
information, and will help the retention of content learning, not hinder
it. Stop playing “gotcha” with our struggling students and encourage them to
learn the way anyone learns in the modern world. LET them google the answers.
Theresa Hatcher Snyder’s message, above, may be the
most eloquent message that can be shared with parents, who, by the by, must be
always considered in every single change we make to new ways of learning and
teaching. Parents must be in this with us, more now than ever. Some have not
adapted. I have talked to more than one super-frustrated parent who feels completely
imposed upon by changes incumbent upon them due to distance learning. I will
also report talking to several parents who are delighted by the opportunity to
both spend more time with their children and participate in their learning
pathways. No two families will have the same response, based on countless
differences between lifestyles and attitudes. We must, however, give parents,
indeed students, positive alternatives to their thinking, not pipe dreams about
the old ways.
I say this: Until we understand that students and
teachers are “in person” when we are teaching virtually, using digital
means to be so, we will not be able to acknowledge and improve the potential
opportunities the pandemic is forcing upon us. What? Opportunities?
Yes. There are opportunities. Think about this.
It is a staple of research into online learning. Study
after study has found that there is no significant difference between
face-to-face (in person) learning and distance (virtual) learning, including a
recent study that conclude, once again, that
“The results of the study show there is no significant difference in
performance between online and traditional classroom students with respect to
modality, gender, or class rank in a science concepts course for non-STEM
majors. Although there were sample size issues and study limitations, this
assessment shows both online learners and classroom learners perform at the
same level. This conclusion indicates teaching modality may not matter as much
as other factors.”
Why do I feel qualified to voice an opinion? In 2010, I left a
productive 15-year teaching position at a premier Nashville independent K-12
school to research, create, and make accredited and sustainable the first
public online school in Tennessee, MNPS Virtual School. You won't see me in the
school's "V-School History" story online because my position was
eliminated in 2017 and “virtually” all mention of my contributions to its
relative success were eradicated. That's another story.
At that time, I obtained a job teaching computer skills in an
inner city elementary school, which I did for a year, and then I moved to a
middle school computer lab teaching role, where I very happily remain to this
day. I love my colleagues, I love my students, and I loved going to school to
work and teach every day when it was safe. I now love teaching from home, as
imposed by the high rate of infection in my state and especially in my city. My
advanced age is also a factor.
I am a product of public education, at least I was, up
until the time I forsook my established career in food and beverage and enrolled
in Vanderbilt University at age 40 to learn to become a teacher. I say to
Governor Lee that I believe in public education, and that I oppose
precipitous re-establishment of “the way we’ve always done things.” Many of us
who are opposed to the rushed reopening of schools in physical buildings
believe in public education. Stop flippantly discounting us by saying “We all
know that.” What do I know is that teachers and schools can adapt to the new realities
as we craft and implement new and effective ways to help our children both want
to live through today and to envision hope for tomorrow. I also say to Governor
Lee even one life lost in his rush to the old days will be a preventable
tragedy he is choosing to allow.
We will not go forward by targeting “the way we’ve always done it”
despite either the possibility of doing that safely nor all indications of the inappropriateness
and ineffectiveness, nay danger, of doing so. This is my call to action:
1.
Face the reality that public schools in
America had basic flaws long before the first case of Coronavirus hit its
shores. Dr. Miquel Cardona, President Biden’s nominee for Secretary of
Education, recently said, "There are no shortage of challenges ahead, no shortage
of problems for us to solve," he said. "For too many students, public
education in America has been a 'flor palida': a wilted rose, neglected, in
need of care. We must be the master gardeners who cultivate it, who work every
day to preserve its beauty and its purpose.
2. Establish think tanks that focus on ways to
make distance learning more accessible, more engaging, more effective, and more
relevant to all students and supporting those think tanks thinking ‘way out of
the box, including 3D synchronous learning environments of the sort explored
for years by global organizations like The
International Society for Technology in Education’s Virtual Environments
Network, OpenColleges, EduResearch Matters, Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education, and the
list goes on.
3. Research and encourage a focus on student
motivation (currently hit-or-miss in my experience, and recognized as a crucial
factor in online learning success). Hasnan Baber, a student at Woosong
University in South Korea, studied undergraduate online education in both South
Korea and India in the context of the recent move by “every educational
institute towards online learning.” His study, focused on student perceived
satisfaction with online learning and their learning outcomes in those two
countries, concluded: “Online learning
has arisen as an alternative to traditional learning during the pandemic. Most
students have experienced online classes for the first time. Variables such as
interact(ion) in the online class, student motivation to participate in the
online class, course structure, and instructor facilitation and knowledge are
important determinants of perceived student learning and student satisfaction.
Online student engagement is a stronger determinant of the perceived student
learning outcome as online classes lack physical socialization. There is no
significant difference in the learning outcome and satisfaction levels of
students from either country. Future studies should be done to understand the
role of technology acceptance in perceived learning and student satisfaction.
Future studies should also focus on the factors which are critical from the
point of view of students to accept this online learning during the pandemic
COVID19”.[i]
4. Review every single educational policy and both
revise those and come up with new ones that face realities. State legislatures
need to be held accountable by educators, not the other way around.
5. Challenge the massive commercial entities that
dominate the educational market to help hone virtual learning delivery. You
know who you are. You do not deserve to profit by digitizing your insanely
priced textbooks and making virtual learning all about plowing through them and
completing multiple choice tests.
6. Acknowledge the diversity of our school
populations and craft learning options that truly nurture the learning of all students.
7. Celebrate the positive changes imposed upon us
by the pandemic and building upon them
In closing, for the moment, I just want to restate and rephrase. Sorry,
it’s a teacher thing.
We do not need to be putting effort into returning to brick and
mortar (a common description used by distance learning proponents to
distinguish virtual from “real”) schools. We must turn our complete focus and
all of our creative energies to making online learning and teaching work in new
and measurably effective ways for all of our students. To continue to strive
backward is lunacy.
Let us bypass the moon references and share the 2nd and
3rd dictionary meanings of that word:
2: wild foolishness : extravagant folly
3: a foolish act
It is also a life-threatening act. Speak up to your administrations and your politicians if you agree.
Thank you, and stay safe and well.
Powell, A. (2020, December 11). Anthony Fauci offers
a timeline for ending COVID-19 pandemic. Retrieved January 23, 2021, from
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/12/anthony-fauci-offers-a-timeline-for-ending-covid-19-pandemic/
Mangrum,
N. (2021, January 20). Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee pushes for all schools to return
in-person as legislature begins special session. Retrieved January 23, 2021,
from
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/01/19/tennessee-gov-bill-lee-pushes-all-person-learning-special-session-starts/4208007001/
Paul,
J., & Jefferson, F. (2019, October 15). A Comparative Analysis of Student
Performance in an Online vs. Face-to-Face Environmental Science Course From
2009 to 2016. Retrieved January 23, 2021, from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2019.00007/full
Lunacy. (1996). Retrieved January 23, 2021, from
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lunacy
Scott Merrick is a 26 year veteran of Elementary and
Middle School teaching in both private and public school settings. He is the
recipient of the Making IT Happen award from the International Society for
Technology in Education and the father of two wonderful humans. All social media and other means
of contacting him may be accessed anytime at https://about.me/scottmerrick. His
blog is scottmerrickdotnet at https://scottmerrick.net.
