Now that the majority of universities world-wide and many K-12 schools have switched to remote learning, the educational environment in the time of Covid-19 lockdown poses a fundamental question: is online learning a stop-gap substitute for face-to-face teaching or is there a valid argument for online learning as an alternative/complementary learning method?
Many schools are battling to find the right combination of synchronous or asynchronous learning to meet the needs and expectations of students no longer able to attend regular classes at school. Adding to this challenge are the parents, whose expectations of what learning is supposed to look like is often based on their own experiences of school/teacher as expert – content-based learning, are having considerable problems getting their heads around the demands of synchronous and asynchronous learning activities which require considerable supervision and parental input. Many are ill-equipped to handle the demands of homeschooling, particularly when they are coming to grips with the unfamiliar challenges of working at home.
As we move past this first chaotic and critical phase of education in lockdown, where the onus is on bridging the gap until school resumes, we might have to start thinking of the long-term solutions. Social distancing is likely to last for a minimum of six to 12 months, interspersed with intervals of lockdown if the rate of Covid-19 infections increases. Schools able to switch between distance learning and face-to-face learning with as little disruption as possible will be able to deliver the continuity students need. But first we need to confront some of the pre-conceptions attached to online learning which, “carries a stigma of being lower quality than face-to-face learning, despite research showing otherwise”(Hodges, et al. 2020).
Charles Sturt University (CSU) has the highest number of online students in Australia (approx. 22,000). In higher education, students choose the convenience and flexibility of distance-learning and are willing to pay full price for this mode of learning. Our expectations and acceptance of this mode of education are clear from the outset and satisfaction levels are high because we have the maturity (?) and self-discipline (?) to self-administer resources and progress through exercises and assessment tests with the support of our tutor.
In K-12 education, where traditional face-to-face teaching is the norm, this is not the case. Teachers have been confronted with new teaching approaches and learning tools, in some cases with little training or support. Although remote/online learning in the time of Covid-19 has several deficits: lack of access to technology, lack of dedicated environments appropriate for live class participation and lack of social contact to name just a few, one of the most difficult for both teachers and parents is, “the lack in student readiness to be a self-regulated learner” (Acquaro, 2020), there are specific elements online/distance learning which are beneficial to the learner such as increased digital literacy, collaboration and connectivity.
It is all the more important that online learning design is based on criteria which differs from “emergency remote teaching”, a term coined to describe, “courses offered online in response to a crisis or disaster” (Hodges, et al.).
A model designed to take full advantage of the scope and possibilities of the online format should include the following elements:
Figure 1: Integrated Model of online/distance education (Picciano, 2017, p182)
One possibility would be to harness the opportunities afforded by combining synchronous and asynchronous learning methodology using MOOCs, Open Educational Resources (OERs) or blended learning. MOOCs or Massive Open Online Courses, have been around for years but have yet to make the leap from higher education to K-12 .
Although MOOCs have been regarded as a possible solution for higher education, one of the major draw-back has been the lack of live-teacher interaction which significantly influences satisfaction levels (Gregori, Zhang, Galván-Fernández, & De Asís Fernández-Navarro, 2018).
Despite this drawback, MOOCs can be applied to K-12 education. Will Richardson’s Modern Learners blog, offers a wealth of ideas on What Can K-12 Learn from MOOCs?
Further useful resources can be found at:
ATISL’s What Works in Online/Distance Teaching and Learning?
References:
Hodges, C., Moore, S., Lockee, B., Trust. T, & Bond, A. (2020).The Difference Between Emergency Remote Teaching and Online Learning. Educause Review. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning
Gregori, E. B., Zhang, J., Galván-Fernández, C., & De Asís Fernández-Navarro, F. (2018). Learner support in MOOCs: Identifying variables linked to completion. Computers & Education, 122, 153–168. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2018.03.014
Picciano, A. G. (2017). Theories and frameworks for online education: Seeking an integrated model. Online Learning, 21(3), 166-190. doi: 10.24059/olj.v21i3.1225
Pedrotti M., Nistor N. (2019) How Students Fail to Self-regulate Their Online Learning Experience. In: Scheffel M., Broisin J., Pammer-Schindler V., Ioannou A., Schneider J. (eds) Transforming Learning with Meaningful Technologies. EC-TEL 2019. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 11722. Cham:Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29736-7_28