When I was in elementary school, I remember reading a short story set far into the future about a girl who was going to school at home. She would sit in front of a computer, listen to an electronic voice lecture on various subjects, download assignments, fill them out and then upload the assignments to be graded by the computer. The girl lived in a high-rise apartment complex and had a friend who lived on the same floor. They had their lessons in separate apartments but saw each other during their breaks. One day, the girl is assigned to read a historical essay about kids going to a brick and mortar building called a “school” where kids all sat together in physical classrooms and were taught lessons by a human teacher. The girl was amazed and shocked this was how lessons were conducted in the past. She never knew there was a practice of young people meeting in one space to be educated by an adult existed and wondered why it changed. The story ends with her daydreaming about what would it be like to go to school, have classmates and a flesh and blood teacher. When I read this short story, the idea of not being in a classroom with kids my own age seemed strange to me, let alone not having a physical teacher teach me. Little did I imagine something like the short story I read would occur during my lifetime with my five-year-old daughter.
As an online instructor, I am accustomed to the idea of teenagers and adults using an online learning management systems (LMS) to get an education or aid in getting materials from their teachers. Adults need the flexibility online schools provide to continue their education. Teens and preteens are generally expected to be on the computer to watch videos, communicate with friends, or do schoolwork. Prior to Covid-19, LMSes like Black Board and Canvas evolved over the years to accommodate students who could not come to the physical classroom see lectures, discuss and review lessons with classmates, and ensure students get materials needed to succeed in their studies. These were compelling reasons for the existence of online education. However, have we asked which elements from online college classes are considered good qualities to keep and continue using in the future? Should these elements be transferred to the middle and high school level online classes? What about the elementary age level? What are the habits we have encouraged at the college level using an LMS? What kind of behavior does it encourage? Are these good habits and behaviors that we are not just asking teenagers but the elementary and kindergarten age groups to inherit?
Covid-19 has rocked us all to the core and has made the cracks in education become more apparent, especially the lack of in-depth conversations between online education and traditional classroom education. Online instructors have seen how students have adapted, what habits they developed and how these habits have influenced the online classroom. These can be valuable insights for our elementary and secondary teaching colleagues to learn from and pass on to us things they observe in their online journey. I know I am just one of many voices out there and many have probably published these insights already, but I would like to put forth some observations and suggestions to help push forth a conversation to improve online education in the long run.
First of all, it is the wild west out here. There are no set standards and philosophies that all teachers are taught to follow and practice in online education. Online standards and philosophies are becoming created as more online teachers and academics do the research, network, and publish articles. Currently, most of those are based on the standards and philosophies of traditional physical classroom teaching. Some of these should be kept because they are the building blocks in education, such as engaging with our students on a personal level by conversing and listening to them. Another one is keeping careful notes on student progress and checking-in with them individually periodically to create that rapport teachers wish to have their students to establish trust and confidence in each other. However, these approaches rely on the foundation that students have had some time in a classroom or group setting and experience with a teacher in a classroom dynamic. What about those students who have not had many years in the physical classroom, or, are new to school? What would starting their academic education in an online environment mean for how they will come to view school? What roles do the parents play in this new venture? Will the role of the academic teacher change or stay the same? I believe we need to start taking notes about student, parent and teacher experiences. This way more details can be added and help figure out ways to make the experience more welcoming and easier for all as this way of education may continue to last for more time than we might like to admit.
In the first month of online Kindergarten, here is what I have gathered and observed:
1) Focus. Keeping five-year-olds focused and following instructions is like herding cats. Just when you get them all settled, one or two breaks loose and teachers have to stop the class to get the kid back on screen or mute them. Repeat. This is expected and frustrating, but gradually it lessens as kids become accustomed to being in an online class environment. Do elementary teachers need to factor this in when creating lesson plans? Should parents should be warned ahead of time that this will happen to alleviate worries about other kids?
2) Parents in the periphery. As Mr. Bennet from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice famously said: “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?” The news shows outtakes of kids zoom bombing their parents illustrate this quote. Parents are also shown as being unexpectedly captured in class video session background in inappropriate situations or private conversations are overheard. In some cases, it’s the kids who expose the private world of their home to their class. My daughter has pointed the web cam thing on me because: “I want my classmates to see my mommy.” I am sure the look on my face was priceless to some parents in the periphery. There was not much the teacher could have done to stop my daughter, but it is something to think about. It may be funny to watch parents unexpectedly reveal way too much information about their private lives. However, this distracts focus from the teacher. Do we want teachers to have the option to black out screens when something inappropriate appears in the background? Or, perhaps make it ok to mute all kids at once whenever adult voices are overheard giving the teacher time to regroup the class and come back to the student a bit later?
3) Tech and little ones. Little fingers and hands have a hard time learning tech that is meant for manual dexterity that teens and adults have mastered long ago. There have been times when my child cried from frustration or felt her confidence float away when she couldn’t master web/software art tools with little to no instruction on how to use them to complete her activities and homework by the teacher. LMS platforms like Clever state they are meant for ages as young as five[1]. Yet, there is an assumption behind Clever that all kids have already uses some kind of computer in their daily life, have parents that can devote time to learn the LMS and teach it to their child, or, the student will master it quickly. While there are some kids who master these tools quickly and early, there are still large numbers who have little to no screen time on computers so the concept of click and drag tool is a foreign one to them. What about parents who are not English speakers? How can they help their children who cannot read yet? Is it a good idea to make kids ages five or six learn these ap/web tools before they master fundamental hand-eye coordination or be able to read labels?
4) Not all parents are tech savvy. While it is a given that parents are our children’s first teachers and will continue to be their teachers their whole lives, not all of us are tech savvy. Having some instructions sent to parents perhaps a week ahead would help parents better prepare themselves by testing out some of the programs or assignments. This will allow parents to help children learn to use programs they have never used before. It will also let parents be ready to help their child(ren) deal with frustrations and work through it.
5) Teachers are not always tech savvy and should be given more grace about it. It’s been a steep learning curve for teachers to take on so much tech in a short time period when your field is more about encouraging kids to get off screens and interact with other people in the physical world. Nevertheless, the harsh truth is teachers have to be tech support up to a certain point. This means teachers should know where to send parents for more in-depth help with computer or software issues. This is where the district should provide more resources in the form of hiring at least five to six assistant tech support people to support the district technology specialist. They can be graduate students from local colleges or community college computer science students. These students are always eager to help out if given the chance. Each assistant tech support person will be assigned to work with a certain classes or grades to help with glitches and account questions dealing with those students assigned to them. It might be good to have a standard practice to have all lessons in print form for students pick up and do at home in case computers do not work. This can be especially helpful during the first weeks of school when glitches are most common. These little things can build trust and confidence amongst one another. This will take some pressure off the teacher while providing relief to frustrated families.
6) Communication and feeling a part of a community is so important. It is greatly appreciated when teachers help parents connect with one another and other parents reach out to one another. It helps figure things out. It also helps fight feeling alone for many parents. Ask parents who are tech savvy to be points of contact where they can set up days and times to be available for other families in the same class or school to be points of help contact. Even better, families who can speak multiple languages and be available for families who need translation help. This can provide such a relief for teachers, families, and especially, students.
7) Kids need to interact with other kids, even if it is only virtually. Only children seem to feel the pang the most because there is no sibling to help offset some of these feelings. My daughter who is an only child felt the loss of security when she logged into class for the first time and realized there was no one she knew in the class. Bonding and friendship started to occur when the teacher gave the kids time to show off their favorite stuffed animals or presented something about their home life. The children began to see one another as friends after these signs of life outside the virtual classroom were shown. Having “get to know each other” activities are good ideas to have every few days for kids to get to know one another. What I found particularly helpful was a private list the teacher created for parents to write their contact information to help create play dates for their kids to get to know their classmates. My daughter wanted to play with a classmate. I was able to reach the classmate’s mother using the list and arrange a play date. The two girls got along and wanted to continue seeing each other.
8) Keeping positive. This really helps not just your kid but yourself when glitches happen, programs are incompatible, or any other strange thing that occurs during “school time.” Laughing at the strangeness of it all is the best therapy for all concerned and should be practiced whenever possible. I make fun of myself when I realize I make a mistake doing my own virtual work, so my own daughter will remember to not let her own frustrations get the best of her. It works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn’t, but at least I am giving her a foundation to keep in her mind as go forward in her education.
These observations and suggestions are my own. I hope they can help add to your conversation or please add to my list and leave comments to get a conversation, so we can move forward not just K- 12 online education but the future of it as a whole.
flyingbluepig 