What has it been like to learn from far away? Was it all bad or were there good parts? We asked a teacher, a student, and a parent to find out…..

In the fall of 2019, nobody on earth had an idea that a global pandemic was on the way. The school year started like any other with fall sports, new duds, and typical yucky school food. By the end of the year almost every student in America was stuck at home, learning remotely, missing their friends, and even missing that yucky school food. Then came this past school year of 2020-2021 and everyone’s school and the alternate school universe continued.  Most teens learned on Zoom or Google Meet while a few lucky ones went in-person albeit with masks, new distance rules, and of course, no field trips. What did kids think of this past school year? Was there anything good about the new school set-up, or was it all just terrible? 

We asked a PARENT and a TEACHER what the pandemic was like from THEIR point-of-view...

Parent Perspective: Tracey Graham, mom of two teenagers in public school; and she’s a 3rd grade teacher.

“When it came to remote learning, I found it difficult to make sure everyone had the materials they needed for the lesson. Certain subject areas were also more prone to be affected by distance learning, in particular science. Another major issue was the constantly changing schedule; some days were ‘asynchronous’ (meaning teachers just post assignments for kids to work on rather than getting together for class on Zoom), while other days were either fully remote or--as this past school year progressed--a mix of in-person and online learning. Then, a Covid case would pop-up, so for the two weeks of quarantine the schedule would change yet again.”

“On the plus side, I was able to be there for my own children and got to spend more time with them. And even though some learning may have suffered over the past year, students had to learn quickly how to navigate various online platforms and advocate for themselves.  I think many of them became more independent through this experience.” 

“As a teacher, and a parent, I found that reading groups were actually more fun. Students were more likely to participate, and we had some phenomenal conversations.” 

What she would improve:

“The bus work - assignments that just keep students off YouTube but don’t serve any larger educational purpose.  A quick word search at the end of class is fine, but this year there were a lot of assignments that felt mundane.”

“My own kids have a lot of busy work--improving online learning for them would be for teachers to reassess what really matters and require work for a purpose--not just for additional grades in the gradebook.” 

Teacher Perspective: Elena Hershey, seventh and eighth grade language arts teacher at a public school 

Ms. Hershey is a passionate teacher who thrives on seeing her students get excited about her lessons, so for her one of the hardest parts of remote learning was the physical separation and the substitution of a screen for proximity. 

“Staring at students’ avatars instead of seeing their eyes and their expressions is excruciating. Dehumanizing. I had to imagine/pretend that they were actually engaged and paying attention (even though I know many of them were not, and a few were not even near their computers) or I would never have made it through our 100-minute classes.” 

“Before March 13, 2020, I thought teaching online would be fun and easy. Now I know that while it can be fun in many circumstances and with certain groups of kids, it is far more challenging for me to deliver meaningful instruction that way. My passion for teaching does not transfer as well via the internet.” 

“Background noise and activities also proved a hindering factor. When some students turned on their mics, I was astounded by the chaos in their living/learning environments: loud TVs, music, adults talking, young children crying/yelling...How can anyone focus/concentrate in such an environment?”

“One great benefit of online learning was not having to attend in-person staff meetings.”

“To improve online learning in the future, schools could require having teen’s cameras turned on (many schools already do this) and for districts to ensure that all students have equal access to reliable WiFi and hardware.”

Did you like online learning? Sound off at: www.americanteenmag.com