COVID-19 and Beyond: Teaching and Learning at the Speed of Light

COVID-19 Challenge. Today there is a burning issue facing educators and the public and it has disruption written all over it. Consider this: "How will educational leaders apply what they learn from offering remote learning during COVID-19 to improve learning experiences when:

• students return to physical classrooms,
• parents return to workplaces, and 
• weather or health crises require extended school closures in the future?"

Back Story. Up to now schools have offered online learning primarily as a district initiative, an optional resource, or an enhancement to teaching and learning in physical classrooms. As a result of COVID-19, school districts are reacting to long-term mandated closings and social distancing with their current digital tools and resources. These range from offering learning activities in systemwide learning management systems to a potpourri of free worksheets, apps, learning toolkits, videos, and webcasts, web conferences, and webinars to provide learning at home. All of these are revealing major disparities across the 50 United States systems of schooling in: a) student access to technology, b) the motivation and ability of teachers to offer effective remote learning experiences, and c) digital support for students with special needs. The disparities are further accentuated in low versus high-income districts.

Moreover, the quality of content and its delivery by educators are under close scrutiny by parents who have never seen nor expected to support K-12 remote learning with their home computers, mobile and tablet devices, and Internet connections. Many are beginning to wonder: Is this what online learning really looks like for my children?

Playbook. When COVID-19 caused extended school closings, there was no playbook for educators to open for supporting quality district-wide student learning at home while parents or guardians carried out their jobs alongside their children. Many pioneering school districts were able to build on previous efforts, but systemic solutions were rare to nonexistent. Educational leaders are now faced with three jobs to create a playbook for teaching and learning at the speed of light:

1. Continue and improve remote learning as available digital resources and strategies allow during extended COVID-19 school closings,


2. Design a quality blend of physical classroom and online learning before schools open to reduce the COVID-19 learning gap and return order to schooling, and


3. Create a new learning model for the future that applies what was learned during COVID-19, emerging best practices, and brave new ideas for making quality, equity, and personalization a reality for all students.

Setting the Stage. Teachers and administrators who use technology effectively know it has improved their productivity in current classrooms and schools. Moreover, they recognize the power and potential of technology to advance their roles after COVID-19. Because of this vision they want to evolve with new curricula, digital learning tools, social media, cloud computing, and professional learning communities. On the one hand, these advancements will help today's educators to improve teaching and student achievement. On the other hand, they will help educators to combine people, teaching, and technology for creating new and better ways of learning. This approach -- combining people, teaching, and technology -- sets the stage for teaching and learning at the speed of light.

Want to see how to make it happen? Check out the full version of this blog post and let me know if you would like to join our team for creating a new learning model.