It is hard to believe that in March 2021, we are still functioning in a world of remote education. As virtual classrooms become sort of a norm, it hard to grasp an idea of what the future of education will look as a result of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Will student enrollment decrease? Will virtual learning become more popular? Will parents rely on home-instruction as a way to teach what they deem is important and vital to their children's growth? Will our educational systems be fully equipped for this new way of learning and functioning?
As our ideas of formal education have been pushed to the limited these past few months, so have our belief systems about the premise of what is deemed necessary for students to thrive. Yes, it is important for students to socialize, but can that same socialization be achieved through local children's sports leagues, dance classes, and play groups. We all know the importance of reading, mathematics, and writing; but do we need the strenuous amount of assignments to master what is necessary for post-grade school success. Yes, to understand what a student understands we simply test, but can we know find alternative ways to understand if a student has achieved success or is still struggling to master the concept? It is my opinion that education will have to undergo a major facelift to bridge the gap between how student's once learned to how they are learning now.
The virtual classroom shouldn't end when we return back to educational normalcy. There have been many benefits of virtual learning for students, parents, and teachers. Virtual classrooms have provided everyone with:
The ability to access classwork anywhere and at any time.
Quick and documented feedback from teacher to student/teacher to parent.
A sense of structure and freedom in the classroom.
Creative and appropriate ways to teach new materials without the use of books.
Technology as a educational resource.
Greater student responsibility to be an active participant in their learning environment.
A team approach to the learning process.
A comfortable learning environment.
Interaction with the entire class without the structure limitations of the physical classroom.
Although we are moving back to students returning to school, we should look at what worked virtually and adapt those techniques to our standard way of functioning. Yes, our students struggled with understanding how virtual school would worked, they have also successfully navigated this new way of learning that should be incorporated into our dated school systems.
Virtual classrooms facilitate cross-student learning in a world where learning isn’t restricted to brick-and-mortar buildings. The virtual classroom is another progressive tool in an educator’s arsenal and will continue to rise in popularity and use as we learn the effectiveness of this new way education.
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