A collective approach to distance teaching

To counteract learning loss imposed by the pandemic, San Antonio teachers are focusing on the most essential skills- reading and math for kindergartners through second graders. By prioritizing a specific set of skills like phonetics and arithmetic, they anticipate students will stay on track with their grade level. “We knew we had to prioritize in order to stay on grade level.” Based on their own yearly assessments, it seems the strategy is working.

A collaboration between Ohio's Wooster City Schools and the College of Wooster has allowed for an enhanced educational experience for many students during the coronavirus pandemic. The partnership not only provides tutoring services to the K-12 students but has also "strengthened the bond between the college and its surrounding community."

Although the pandemic brought many difficulties to school across the globe, some institutions saw it as the time to innovate and rethink learning delivery. Cambridge High School Extension Program, "an alternative school for academically struggling students," decided to start school later in the day, schedule one-on-on sessions for students with their teachers, and distributed computers and Wi-Fi hotspots. The result has been nearly a 50% decrease in the number of chronically absent students, and an increase from 20 to 60% of students achieving honor roll.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, “almost half of schoolchildren, or a total of 121 million pupils, are unable to access remote learning,” according to a 2020 UNICEF report, an even bigger problem during a pandemic when students can’t access virtual classes. Eneza Education is using texts messages to deliver classes. Their bite-size lessons delivered via text and “Ask a Teacher” feature are providing education to millions of subscribers.

In Denver, learning pods are helping students access virtual classes during a pandemic. At the Adams 12 school district, 4000 students, district-wide, participate in the pod. Similarly, HOPE Online Learning Academy Co-Op launched a learning center. Students can sit in a classroom, access Wi-Fi, and count on the support of an adult. They also distributed 600 computers, 400 webcams from PCs, and 1,077 laptops to enrolled middle and high school students.

The city of Tulsa took a variety of steps to make sure English as a Second Language learners didn’t fall behind in their virtual classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. First, school officials made sure students had their basic needs by providing them with meals, hotspots, Chromebooks, and classroom supplies. Families were also given access to social workers that check in one of them, had support from teachers, and could network with other ESL parents through the English Learner Parent Advisory Committee. “Everything they’ve given us has been a miracle.”

Apps that track students’ online activity, door-to-door visits, and receiving input from families on how to reopen schools, are all ways school districts across the country are responding to absenteeism during the pandemic. In one San Antonio district, they were able to locate around 2,900 of the 3,000 students who weren’t showing up to classes.

Due to the pandemic, university professors teaching field and lab work courses are rethinking ways to provide what was formerly a strictly in-person, hands-on experience. In New Hampshire staff at a marine laboratory are streaming virtual dissections and field trips to students, and geology instructors across the U.S. have developed online courses like “Orienteering in Minecraft” and “Geology of Yosemite Valley,” and virtual land surveying.

The Pakistani government uses technology, like a state-owned TV channel that broadcasts content for grades 1-12 and apps sourced for free by ed-tech companies, to help the over 50 million school children without broadband internet or digital device access. The TV channel has over 54 million subscribers and there is a text-messaging service that allows its 250,000 subscribers to talk to professional teachers. Despite the digital divide, the use of educational apps has also skyrocketed since the Covid-19 pandemic. However, technology is not a silver bullet to solve the country’s deep education inequalities.

When many schools across the U.S. suspended in-person school and switched to virtual learning, a teacher was able to successfully keep his students motivated and hopeful despite the drastic decrease in physical interaction. Kevin Gallagher, a kindergarten teacher, recorded his lessons and uploaded them to YouTube where his students could watch at their convenience, and engaged his students through the use of fun props, as well as talking to them about the realities of living through the pandemic.