Short (and Long) Reflections on Remote Learning

The end of the first full week of remote work and learning during this period of physical distancing seemed a good point to share some observations. From dozens of conversations and correspondence threads with teachers, professors and education leaders, I appreciate their enormous efforts to provide some level of continuity for students as they learn from home. As critical as those goals remain for this period of physical distancing, let's remember that the current model is neither ideal nor designed for long-term learning.

To be clear, we will not likely need to replicate this scenario again, where everyone is learning remotely for extended periods of time. But we also cannot go back to where we were, allowing some students to learn 24 X 7 and stay connected with peers, teachers, and mentors, while others are left behind. Digital inequities now appear in stark relief, with estimates of up to 40,000 Connecticut public school students living in disconnected households.

Between our current reality of learning — 100 percent remote — and the old model — offline for many — lies the real target: instructional design and the supporting technology that allows for high-quality, personalized, in-person and online ("blended") learning.

Teacher Training and Supports

Teacher training and digital equity remain essential to achieving this goal. Many well intentioned and hard-working teachers and professors have undertaken remote instruction with little or no preparation as schools and colleges have moved online. As admirable as their efforts are, they need the skills and competencies to engage students in the digital world. This does not mean inundating them with lists of tools but helping them to develop the ability and mindset to engage students effectively in an online and physical world, with tech tools as supports and enablers.

To serve these instructors — and certainly their students — teacher preparation programs and in-service training should ensure that every educator has the competencies to teach online or in person. This needs to start long before we face mandated remote learning protocols. Competency in digital instruction does not detract from but in fact reinforces all other aspects of teaching (see this diagram for a visual), helping to develop a creative mindset in the design and delivery of lessons and leverage digital tools to gauge student interest and learning.

For these reasons, the Commission for Educational Technology has endorsed the ISTE Standards for Students, Educators, and Education Leaders. These are enlightened frameworks of scalable and applicable skills, collaboration and communication, design and computational thinking, and problem solving, among others. These are the competencies we want all citizens to possess, and technology's role is that of enabling means, not the end. The ISTE Standards in particular focus on demonstration of mastery and are flexible to include whatever technologies make the most sense to solve a problem, rather than a discrete roadmap to master one particular "stack" of tools. The Standards are already in wide use in Connecticut, and our schools and colleges can equip our educators to teach masterfully online and offline. For example, Fairfield University recently became only the second university in the country to earn recognition as an ISTE Certification provider, through Joshua Elliott, Ed.D's Educational Technology program.

Digital Equity

The other clarion cry that has emerged as learning goes remote is for resources to address the "Homework Gap," coined by FCC Commissioner and equity champion Jessica Rosenworcel, who grew up in West Hartford. Digital equity includes four key components: A computing device that allows for creation as well as consumption of digital content and streams; a broadband Internet connection; technical support; and — perhaps most important of all — the skills to learn online (see previous section).

About three-quarters of high schools and roughly half of middle schools in our state have one-to-one computing programs, which is a great start. We have a phenomenal fiber network in the Connecticut Education Network that connects every district in Connecticut to virtually limitless and safe Internet. But getting kids connected outside of school remains a challenge. We are working on a statewide survey to identify those families that need help getting online. Promising developments with federal programs, funded through the CARES Act, may provide subsidies for wireless hotspots and home Internet connections. And as we all struggle to work and learn remotely — many of us taking on the role of teacher as well as worker at home — the digital divide has become acutely personal. Even major news outlets like the New York Times are giving the topic the prominence it deserves.

The necessary shift to home-based work and learning has been a wake-up call for some, but education advocates have been working to address inequities in access and practice for years. We cannot allow ourselves to go back to where we were before, allowing technology to become another factor in separating the haves and have-nots. We have an exciting opportunity ahead of us to equip our teachers and students to leverage technology to level the playing field of opportunity for learners of all ages. Who wants to help?