tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/online-learning-3364/articlesOnline learning – The Conversation2023-11-21T15:12:34Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2109942023-11-21T15:12:34Z2023-11-21T15:12:34ZA free messaging app seemed useful for disadvantaged South African students: why they didn’t agree<p>South African higher education is plagued by inequalities due to the social and economic <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-south-africa-can-do-better-at-reversing-apartheids-legacies-116600">legacies</a> of apartheid. </p>
<p>More than <a href="https://mg.co.za/education/2020-04-23-how-covid-19-will-affect-students/">50%</a> of enrolment in higher education is from black, working-class, disadvantaged households from rural areas who depend on <a href="https://www.nsfas.org.za/content/">state-funded student aid</a>. At the same time, some institutions of higher learning are also historically disadvantaged: they were designated for non-white students during the apartheid era. These institutions suffered discrimination, underfunding and limited resources, creating disparities in the country’s higher education system. </p>
<p>In a rapidly evolving digital era, one of the big questions is: can technology help narrow the gap in access to education?</p>
<p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions had to use online modes for tutoring. Online tutoring continues to be useful in blended learning models (a combination of face-to-face and online learning). But there have been concerns that the cost of online methods might exclude students from historically <a href="https://theconversation.com/online-learning-can-be-hard-for-students-with-disabilities-how-to-help-158650">marginalised</a> population groups.</p>
<p>The University of the Western Cape, one of the historically disadvantaged universities in South Africa, has been experimenting with a free mobile phone messenger platform, known as <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nu.bi.moya&pli=1">Moya</a>, to provide online peer tutoring for its large, undergraduate classes. Tutoring is <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000125454#page=6">defined</a> as </p>
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<p>people who are not professional teachers helping and supporting the learning of others in an interactive, purposeful and systematic way. </p>
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<p>I am a scholar of information systems with a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Fazlyn-Petersen">research</a> focus on health and education. My research focuses on creating more inclusive online environments for students and patients, especially those with lower socioeconomic status.</p>
<p>Research on the use of mobile instant messaging has predominantly looked at <a href="https://redfame.com/journal/index.php/jets/article/view/2684">small classes</a> of fewer than 50 students. My <a href="https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie/article/view/6318">study</a> sought to examine the factors that influenced students’ engagement in the university’s large undergraduate classes. I wanted to establish which factors affected third-year Information Systems students’ use of a data-free instant messenger (Moya) for online peer tutoring, and what would improve their use of it. </p>
<p>My findings showed that the students preferred using WhatsApp – a mobile application that required them to buy data – over the one that was being offered that didn’t require data. Students believed that Moya was difficult to use and that effort was required. They said they did not know how to use Moya, despite the similarities in user interface to WhatsApp. </p>
<p>The results can’t be generalised to all South African tertiary institutions. Still, the key insights may be useful in other contexts where data-free mobile instant messengers are being considered. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>Most of the students taking part in the study were full time (91.7%). They were predominantly young, aged between 18 and 42 (81.8%), and most used WiFi (50.8%) while 21.9% used prepaid mobile data. </p>
<p>Qualitative data was collected via an online survey asking three key questions: Which tool(s) did you not use in this course? Why did you not use the tools available? What would improve your use of that tool?</p>
<p>The study revealed several key factors that shaped students’ attitudes to and use of the data-free instant messenger for online peer tutoring. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Students did not see the need for or benefit of using a data-free instant messenger when they were already using WhatsApp. </p></li>
<li><p>Students’ perception of the application within their peer group influenced their decision to use it. An influencing factor was the lack of use by peers: “more people are on WhatsApp than Moya”.</p></li>
<li><p>Surprisingly, results showed that students had data and devices to use WhatsApp. As 50.8% of students had access to WiFi, they would be able to use an instant messenger requiring data, such as WhatsApp. A minority of students indicated that students had insufficient space to download the Moya application.</p></li>
<li><p>The fun or pleasure of using Moya was not evident.</p></li>
<li><p>Using WhatsApp was a habit and therefore was the preferred instant messenger.</p></li>
<li><p>We expected that cost would be a significant factor because Moya didn’t require data. In fact, students chose to purchase dedicated WhatsApp data bundles (which are less expensive than some other data) from mobile operators. </p></li>
<li><p>The low usage level of Moya instant messenger for online peer tutoring can also be attributed to student claims of a lack of awareness of the application.</p></li>
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<p>However, in our other <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/364943311_The_Data-Free_Moya_Messenger_Application_Online_Accounting_Tutoring_in_a_Large_Class">study</a> where Moya was used to tutor a large class of 495 first-year Accounting students online, the outcomes were more positive. Most students (79.47%) indicated that the tutor was available and helpful. Tutors indicated that the use of voice notes assisted students in understanding course concepts. Students agreed or strongly agreed (70.2%) that the course allowed them to fully participate. </p>
<h2>What could improve platform use</h2>
<p>Students’ responses to the research question about improving the instant messaging varied. One recommendation (14.6% of responses) was that usage would improve if students did not have another medium, such as WhatsApp. </p>
<p>Usage would also improve if students did not have access to the internet or if they did not have data (10.5% of responses). A lack of access to the university’s virtual private network, which gives students internet access, would also encourage usage. </p>
<p>Other responses were that its use would improve if usage was compulsory and if they were provided with more information about Moya. Social influence would improve with an increased number of users, such as peers and tutors.</p>
<h2>What’s next?</h2>
<p>By addressing the identified challenges and building on the factors that encourage usage, educational institutions can harness technology to create a more equitable and enriching learning environment for all students. The insights move us closer to fulfilling the promise of inclusive education and empowering students for a brighter future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210994/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fazlyn Petersen receives funding from the National Research Foundation (NRF). The financial assistance of the NRF towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and not necessarily attributable to the NRF.</span></em></p>Students preferred using WhatsApp at some cost over another platform that didn’t require data.Fazlyn Petersen, Information Systems Senior Lecturer, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2101782023-07-26T20:43:09Z2023-07-26T20:43:09ZBanning cellphones in classrooms is not a quick fix for student well-being<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538770/original/file-20230721-21-9we7o3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C10%2C3600%2C2177&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">UNESCO's new report calls for corporate responsibility and stronger governance to regulate education technology.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/banning-cellphones-in-classrooms-is-not-a-quick-fix-for-student-well-being" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has released <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000385723">a report</a> highlighting the many challenges of the growing presence of technology in education. </p>
<p>This report is groundbreaking in its call for corporate responsibility for education technology and in its recognition for the need for enhanced literacy curriculum. </p>
<p>In a chapter on governance and regulation, the report notes “privacy is routinely violated for private benefit,” “safety risks cannot be dismissed,” “cyberbullying is a growing concern,” “physical and mental well-being are at risk from excessive technology use” and that, globally, “almost one in four countries have introduced [cellphone bans in laws or policies].” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-smart-is-it-to-allow-students-to-use-mobile-phones-at-school-40621">How smart is it to allow students to use mobile phones at school?</a>
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<p>What “ban” means may vary: In 2019, <a href="https://www.ontario.ca/page/cellphones-and-other-personal-mobile-devices-schools">Ontario introduced restrictions</a> (sometimes called a “ban”) on using cellphones or personal mobile devices during instructional time. Devices can be used in classrooms “for educational purposes only as directed by the educator in the classroom.” CBC reported in June 2023 <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canadian-schools-cell-phone-bans-1.6869993">Ontario is the only province in Canada with an active ban on cellphones</a> in the classroom.</p>
<p>Despite UNESCO’s many nuanced recommendations, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/26/put-learners-first-unesco-calls-for-global-ban-on-smartphones-in-schools">some media are simply reporting UNESCO is calling for a ban on smartphones in schools</a>. As such, there is a risk that governments will seek the simplest and least effective solution to ban cellphones in schools as a singular, one-size-fits-all approach.</p>
<p>This would be a mistake, since it would fail to acknowledge the complexity of youth online life and ignore the report’s most pressing recommendations for tech regulation and attention to equity. It would also fail to address the need for teaching that helps young people become more literate and make sense of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25871-8">a complex information environment</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teen's hands seen on a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538771/original/file-20230721-8651-f68tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538771/original/file-20230721-8651-f68tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538771/original/file-20230721-8651-f68tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538771/original/file-20230721-8651-f68tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538771/original/file-20230721-8651-f68tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538771/original/file-20230721-8651-f68tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538771/original/file-20230721-8651-f68tkv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Youth both gain benefits and experience challenges from their online lives.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allison Shelley for EDUimages)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>Looking at youth online life</h2>
<p>Young people gain benefits and experience challenges from their online lives. In <a href="https://doi.org/10.20360/langandlit29577">my research</a>, I have interviewed students who talk freely about the positive and negative outcomes of their social media use. </p>
<p>The U.S. Surgeon General’s <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf">recent <em>Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health</em></a> acknowledged many young people find communities of affinity online and forge connections to new interests that are not available to them geographically. They explore new ways of expressing themselves.</p>
<p>The advisory also noted “while social media may have benefits … there are ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.” Pervasive and unregulated social media use can lead <a href="https://ontario.cmha.ca/documents/addictions-and-problematic-internet-use/">to addictions</a>, facilitate <a href="https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000260382">exploitation and radicalization</a> and entrench <a href="https://theconversation.com/mounting-research-documents-the-harmful-effects-of-social-media-use-on-mental-health-including-body-image-and-development-of-eating-disorders-206170">mental health challenges</a>. </p>
<p>Banning cellphones in schools does little as a standalone solution to such a complex relationship between youth online life and education. The solutions proposed to address such problems must not ignore how youth engage with these spaces outside the school and how pervasive online life is for youth identity formation.</p>
<h2>Downloading responsibilities to schools</h2>
<p>The most important finding in both the <a href="https://www.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2023/07/Summary_v5.pdf">UNESCO report</a> and <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/sg-youth-mental-health-social-media-advisory.pdf">U.S. Surgeon General’s advisory</a> on social media is that technology companies bear the weight of consumer responsibility, and governments must play a role in regulating these companies. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-exactly-is-neoliberalism-84755">today’s neoliberal</a> capitalist environment — where states have shifted to become promoters of markets, and where all aspects of our public and personal lives are influenced by the economy — companies are often permitted to pursue profit for shareholders while “responsible” use is downloaded to individuals or local governments.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/never-ending-pressure-mothers-need-support-managing-kids-technology-use-204315">'Never-ending pressure': Mothers need support managing kids' technology use</a>
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<p>If some social media companies have been permitted to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811912101410">take advantage of the youth market</a> for profit, then framing schools as ultimately responsible for technology use simply obscures the heart of the issue. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538772/original/file-20230721-22713-x06iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/538772/original/file-20230721-22713-x06iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538772/original/file-20230721-22713-x06iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538772/original/file-20230721-22713-x06iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538772/original/file-20230721-22713-x06iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538772/original/file-20230721-22713-x06iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/538772/original/file-20230721-22713-x06iz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Technology is woven into all aspects of education and governments must play a role in regulating technology companies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allison Shelley for EDUimages)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<p>As the UNESCO report authors note, “The commercial sphere and the commons pull in different directions. The growing influence of the education technology industry on education policy at the national and international levels is a cause for concern.” </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-street-proof-our-kids-why-arent-we-data-proofing-them-123415">We street-proof our kids. Why aren't we data-proofing them?</a>
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<p>Our societies must advocate for governments to act in regulating technology companies. This includes enacting and enforcing age limits for social media apps, curtailing access to children’s data and curbing technology companies’ presence as the education technology industry in schools.</p>
<h2>Implications for teaching and learning</h2>
<p>The most relevant takeaway for public education in the <a href="https://www.unesco.org/gem-report/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2023/07/Summary_v5.pdf">UNESCO report</a> is not that cellphones should be banned in schools. Instead, I highlight three messages as particularly useful and urgent: </p>
<p><strong>1. Online learning cannot replicate or replace the merits of being together in classrooms in person.</strong></p>
<p>The report acknowledges particular circumstances when technology can be connective or inclusive. But it also notes that the push to individualize learning through digital technologies and online learning environments “may be missing what education is all about.” That is, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1803834">education is largely a social and relational practice</a> that requires us being together in space and time. </p>
<p><strong>2. Educational technology in schools is a business with a profit agenda.</strong> </p>
<p>The authors find that to “understand the discourse around education technology, it is necessary to look behind the language being used to promote it, and the interests it serves,” and that most of the evidence of the value of ed-tech in schools is produced by the companies selling it. </p>
<p>Educational institutions need to know that investing <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-platforms-alone-dont-bridge-youth-divides-121222">in ed-tech alone won’t solve long-standing inequities or challenges in education</a>. Neither should educational technology be employed as a means <a href="https://theconversation.com/mandatory-e-learning-is-a-problem-in-ontario-high-schools-133041">for cutting in-person learning education budgets</a>. </p>
<p><strong>3. “Education systems need to be <a href="https://gem-report-2023.unesco.org/technology-in-education/">better prepared to teach about and through digital technology</a>.”</strong> </p>
<p>The report’s calls for more responsive curriculum, teacher training and engagement with youth online life echoes recommendations offered by a range of scholars in my edited collection, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25871-8"><em>Education in the Age of Misinformation</em></a>. </p>
<p>Young people are grappling with information abundance, hidden technological manipulation and an onslaught of mis- and disinformation. Banning cellphones in schools won’t address this complexity. Neither are outdated media literacy or narrow <a href="https://theconversation.com/ontarios-choice-of-fully-online-school-would-gamble-on-children-for-profit-158292">digital literacy</a> curricula. </p>
<p>Rather, to complement the urgent call for government regulation of tech companies described above, we need comprehensive <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2014.942836">new literacy teaching</a> that will make space for how students experience the emotional, psychological, cognitive and ethical demands of online and in-person life.</p>
<p>Despite the appeal of simplistic solutions, the way forward requires comprehensive government interventions. These would regulate technology companies, invest in the common good of in-person public education and develop whole-child curriculum that avoids moral panic and instead fosters critical literacy and social responsibility.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lana Parker receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p>A new report from UNESCO analyzes the many challenges of the growing presence of technology in education and notes 14 per cent of countries have policies that ban mobile phones.Lana Parker, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, University of WindsorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2008892023-04-23T12:49:39Z2023-04-23T12:49:39Z4 ways all online university courses could promote student mental health<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521645/original/file-20230418-28-jwykke.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C83%2C3500%2C1839&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many universities have adopted policy frameworks that outline language, principles and values to promote health and well-being in various ways. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(rawpixel)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://cusc-ccreu.ca/wordpress/?lang=en&download=523&tmstv=1681428975">One quarter of first-year university students in Canada</a> self-declare that they have a disability. Among those, mental-health-related disabilities are the most common. Each year, more students with <a href="https://www.acha.org/documents/ncha/NCHA-II_SPRING_2019_CANADIAN_REFERENCE_GROUP_DATA_REPORT.pdf">self-declared mental-health issues enroll in post-secondary institutions</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time in Canada, <a href="http://www.cdlra-acrfl.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/2019_national_en.pdf">more students are taking online courses</a>, particularly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For students with disabilities, online learning might be the best option to pursue post-secondary education. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/do-university-students-want-more-online-learning-post-pandemic-heres-what-some-chose-before-covid-19-164044">Do university students want more online learning, post-pandemic? Here's what some chose before COVID-19</a>
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<p>My doctoral research explored various influences that affect learning for post-secondary students with mental-health-related disabilities who are studying online, drawing on the perspectives of students, instructors and student support staff.</p>
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<img alt="A woman sits at a desk using a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521399/original/file-20230417-18-4vghz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521399/original/file-20230417-18-4vghz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521399/original/file-20230417-18-4vghz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521399/original/file-20230417-18-4vghz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521399/original/file-20230417-18-4vghz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521399/original/file-20230417-18-4vghz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521399/original/file-20230417-18-4vghz0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">For some students with mental-health related disabilities, online learning might be the best option for post-secondary education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Ketut Subiyanto)</span></span>
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<h2>Course work is central to student experience</h2>
<p>To get a picture of the range of influences on learning, I categorized influences on learning as individual (for example, experiencing symptoms of mental illness), inter-personal (relationships with instructors and peers) and institutional (factors like accessibility of course content and student services). </p>
<p>My study findings suggest online learning spaces ought to be inclusive and accessible, and that they can be key locations for promoting mental health for students. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-returning-to-campus-want-the-university-experience-missed-during-covid-19-186507">the post-secondary experience is not all about course work</a>, completing assignments, writing exams and attending lectures is a big part of students’ daily lives.</p>
<p>This makes academic courses prime forums where instructors can promote mental health by sharing mental health resources (providing information about student mental health services) <em>and</em> by designing accessible and flexible courses. </p>
<h2>Universities’ commitments to well-being</h2>
<p>There are many opportunities to make post-secondary institutions more accessible, inclusive and health promoting. </p>
<p>What’s known as <a href="https://www.healthpromotingcampuses.org/okanagan-charter">the Okanagan Charter</a> is an <a href="https://utsc.utoronto.ca/news-events/university-news/u-t-scarborough-adopts-okanagan-charter#">international charter</a> that outlines language, principles and framework that post-secondary institutions should use to promote health and well-being. Forty-four Canadian post-secondary institutions have taken up aspects of this charter as part of the <a href="https://www.chpcn.ca/network">Canadian Health Promoting Campuses Network</a>. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ALe0Fdv3vqw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Video about the Okanagan Charter.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Simon Fraser University, for example, has <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/healthycampuscommunity.html">areas for action</a> for promoting mental health including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>promoting well-being in physical spaces <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/content/sfu/healthycampuscommunity/projects/physical-spaces/_jcr_content/main_content/download/file.res/SFU%20Health%20Promotion%20Physical%20Spaces%20Infographic.pdf">with a focus on factors such as air quality, ventilation and moveable furniture</a>; </p></li>
<li><p>helping instructors promote well-being in learning environments, for example through a resource library which allows instructors to discover “<a href="https://www.sfu.ca/healthycampuscommunity/learningenvironments/resource-library.html">helpful activities, teaching practices and other methods shared by SFU faculty and instructional staff to bring conditions for well-being to life</a>” in the courses or educational activities they lead;</p></li>
<li><p>providing a <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/content/dam/sfu/healthycampuscommunity/PDF/Well-being_through_Policy/Guide%20to%20Action%20-%20Well-being%20through%20SFU%20Policy.pdf">policy framework</a> to embed health promotion in all policies and procedures by identifying guiding values like social connectedness, reducing undue stress and inclusivity.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>What students want</h2>
<p>Students in my study were asked: “What advice would you give to your professors/instructors (teaching online courses) to facilitate inclusive and supportive learning environments for students with mental-health-related disorders?” Students suggested the following: </p>
<p>1) Use elements of <a href="https://udlguidelines.cast.org/">universal design for learning</a> to provide accessibility for all students while also promoting mental health. For example, recording lectures can improve student engagement by being concerned with maximizing student autonomy and individual choice while offering multiple ways to access course material and reduce stress. Students said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Online learning has been wonderful for my mental health. It has allowed me to work around periods of time that I have had major mood issues. If I’m feeling really down one day, since things are recorded, I can just go back when I’m feeling better and actually attend the class.”</p>
<p>“When you’re at a point in which you just cannot pull yourself out of the house or go to class, having a recorded class that you can go over is extremely helpful.”</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person seen silhouetted sitting at a computer." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521404/original/file-20230417-16-hjtjz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521404/original/file-20230417-16-hjtjz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521404/original/file-20230417-16-hjtjz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521404/original/file-20230417-16-hjtjz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521404/original/file-20230417-16-hjtjz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521404/original/file-20230417-16-hjtjz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521404/original/file-20230417-16-hjtjz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Learning about mental health literacy will help instructors design their courses with flexibility and accessibility in mind.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Gabriela Campos/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, File)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>2) When possible, offer flexible due dates for assignments for all students. Having to ask for extensions can be difficult for students who are already experiencing the negative effects of mental-health-related stigma. </p>
<p>3) Students consistently said they are juggling multiple priorities (academics, jobs and family) and managing stress with varied levels of support. They wanted instructors to know that inevitably, there will be times when they need support and they would like compassion from instructors. They want instructors to understand their need for flexibility doesn’t mean lack of a work ethic.</p>
<p>4) Learn about <a href="https://phecanada.ca/programs/teach-resiliency/mental-health-literacy-0">mental health literacy</a>. Learning about common mental illnesses and how mental health affects learning will help instructors use teaching methods that centre flexibility and accessibility.</p>
<h2>Setting the stage for wellness</h2>
<p>The results of this study suggest that online courses can be designed to be accessible and to promote mental health. </p>
<p>With growing numbers of students studying online, many of whom have mental-health-related disabilities, it is critical that educators integrate accessibility and mental-health promotion into course design. Courses that are designed to be accessible and to promote mental health set the stage for learning and wellness. </p>
<p>As the shift toward online teaching and learning continues, educators must understand the range of influences on learning for students with mental-health-related disabilities to provide equitable and accessible learning environments where all students can reach their academic goals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200889/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Natalie M Frandsen received Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council funding for her doctoral research.</span></em></p>All instructors, regardless of the field, can promote mental health both by sharing specific resources and by designing accessible and flexible courses.Natalie M Frandsen, Assistant Teaching Professor, School of Public Health and Social Policy, University of VictoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2022402023-03-29T19:03:13Z2023-03-29T19:03:13ZHow ‘TeachTok’ is helping teachers connect with their students on TikTok<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/517605/original/file-20230327-16-ant9ns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C37%2C6211%2C4016&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Cottonbro Studio/Pexels</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Before social media, students rarely knew their teachers beyond their professional position in the classroom. Perhaps we might bump into them in the neighbourhood, at a supermarket, or in a restaurant. But as students, we knew little about teachers “off duty”.</p>
<p>Today, much has changed. During COVID, many teachers joined the <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-the-us-ban-tiktok-can-it-a-cybersecurity-expert-explains-the-risks-the-app-poses-and-the-challenges-to-blocking-it-202300">social media platform TikTok</a> as a way of communicating with and connecting with students they could not see in person. </p>
<p>TikTok enables users to upload short videos (between three and 10 minutes long), which often feature music in the background as an <a href="https://wishcrys.files.wordpress.com/2021/11/abidin-kaye-2021-audio-memes-earworms-and-templatability.pdf">audio meme</a>, and other filters or text. </p>
<p>You might have seen teachers on TikTok dancing to the latest viral song with their students. Or dressing in costumes to illustrate how many different jobs they do in a given day. </p>
<p>While some of them share behind-the-scenes snippets of their day jobs, others use the most popular audio, dance, and meme trends to convey educational messages.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tiktok-is-more-than-just-a-frivolous-app-for-lip-syncing-and-dancing-podcast-182264">TikTok is more than just a frivolous app for lip-syncing and dancing – Podcast</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What is ‘TeachTok’?</h2>
<p>In <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103978">our new study</a>, we investigated the popular genre of “TeachTok” – where teachers teach and talk about teaching on TikTok – to understand how and why teachers turn themselves into “micro-celebrities” on the platform.</p>
<p>Previous research has looked at how <a href="https://theconversation.com/liver-king-how-the-rise-of-mega-influencers-has-put-consumers-at-risk-196445">internet celebrities monetise</a> their following, taking on advertising deals, becoming ambassadors for various messages, or launching their own businesses. But in our study, we investigated the motivations and impacts of popular teachers on TeachTok.</p>
<p>Taking a bilingual approach, we focused on two of the most used languages worldwide and examined the most popular TeachTok hashtags in English and Spanish: #TeachersOfTikTok and #ProfesoresDeTikTok. We identified 12 of the most prolific professional teachers in both language groups, who teach from kindergarten to university level, and conducted a close analysis of their content over a month-long period in 2022.</p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-839" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/839/94c3731a39a5810138b2e50a8d094b14d47e801f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>How does TeachTok work?</h2>
<p>TeachToks often saw teachers perform a range of “point of view” perspectives to demonstrate how they would react to different situations. </p>
<p>Some of the most popular included the inner monologue of teachers as they listen to student excuses for being late, or the sense of pride or gratitude they might feel when other students come to their defence.</p>
<p>Other teachers shared their <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@alvaropatoon/video/7190743709548317958?_r=1&_t=8afMukcgTTx">entire preparation routines</a> for the classroom. </p>
<p>Others perform TikTok dances after losing a bet to students, or after students have won a challenge. For example, “If 21/25 students pass the exam, I will create a profile on TikTok”. </p>
<p>In so doing, teachers are showing how they care about their students, building up relationships with their class, and helping their students understand more about their jobs. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-governments-ban-tiktok-can-they-a-cybersecurity-expert-explains-the-risks-the-app-poses-and-the-challenges-to-blocking-it-202300">Should governments ban TikTok? Can they? A cybersecurity expert explains the risks the app poses and the challenges to blocking it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Learning at home</h2>
<p>But TeachTok is not just about dancing and memes. </p>
<p>During COVID lockdowns teachers used TikTok to create short videos, which were then no longer than three minutes, to keep connecting with students. Unlike other social media platforms where lessons can be hours-long, TikTok involves clips that are easy to digest (although YouTube has recently launched YouTube Shorts which are clips that only go for 60 seconds). </p>
<p>One popular trend on TeachTok is language learning. For instance, you can find videos that teach you how to start a conversation in Spanish or learn basic phrases. Elsewhere, teachers share quick maths tricks that are easy to learn in just one minute.</p>
<p>Teachers also share tips for parents to assist with learning in the home. These activities include learning about codes with numbers and colours on cardboard, or using <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@kindergarten_chaos/video/7200535359019552042?_r=1&_t=8aflbLajU6Y">recycled plates to learn words</a>.</p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-833" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/833/015104085e40dc7a81da2df8d5c54fb0daa66877/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>TeachTok to help teachers</h2>
<p>For teachers, TeachTok can also facilitate a sense of belonging, which is important in a profession where stress and burnout are common. </p>
<p>Many new teachers share their struggles and challenges in the early years of teaching, while others <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@mycalltoteach/video/7114086374730468614?_r=1&_t=8agqAnNwXAM">reflect on the academic year</a>. </p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-834" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/834/9733063dbcc736cd07ee18c0d7a62e1e23561799/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Other TeachToks address stereotypes people may have about teachers, such as how Spanish society perceives the profession as being “<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@alvaropatoon/video/7148410934040579333?_r=1&_t=8agr8qDy5Sv">relatively easy with lots of time off</a>”.</p>
<h2>Is TeachTok here to stay?</h2>
<p>As TeachTok becomes a new norm, there is more pressure for teachers to engage in unpaid work in their personal time. Some teachers lament the excessive criticism and surveillance they receive on TikTok, while others report students and parents have come to expect continuous access to them 24/7. </p>
<p>Teachers on the platform also need to be careful that they protect their students’ privacy if they are talking about lessons or class time in an online public forum.</p>
<p>But perhaps the most significant contribution of TeachTok is its ability to make education more accessible, engaging, and entertaining. It has become an excellent resource for anyone interested in learning a new language, mastering a new skill, or having fun while learning.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/china-could-be-harvesting-tiktok-data-but-much-of-the-user-information-is-already-out-in-the-open-201897">China could be harvesting TikTok data, but much of the user information is already out in the open</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202240/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Crystal Abidin receives funding from the Australian Research Council (DE190100789). She has previously consulted for ByteDance as an independent researcher on best practices regarding the wellbeing and safety of child influencers, but is not otherwise affiliated with the company.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Arantxa Vizcaíno-Verdú does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>You might have seen teachers on TikTok dancing to the latest viral song with their students. Or dressing up to show how many different jobs they do in a given day.Crystal Abidin, Professor & ARC DECRA Fellow, Internet Studies, Curtin UniversityArantxa Vizcaíno-Verdú, Phd Student in Communication, Universidad de HuelvaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1993102023-02-27T12:09:15Z2023-02-27T12:09:15ZOnline learning platforms aren’t enough – lecturers need the right technical skills<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509706/original/file-20230213-22-6iyda6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Universities must do more than just offer online learning: they must make sure lecturers know how to adapt to the technology.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Technology has become the centre of our lives. It has also changed how university students learn and how lecturers teach. Some institutions had <a href="https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/1089107.1089139">already shifted</a> to some form of online teaching and learning before 2020. Then the onset of the COVID pandemic made digitised education <a href="https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.25159/UnisaRxiv/000016.v1">commonplace in many parts of the world</a>.</p>
<p>But it’s not enough for universities to offer technological platforms. Those who transfer knowledge – lecturers – must do so skilfully. They must also be able to appropriately support their students through any challenges related to online teaching platforms. </p>
<p>In South Africa, as in many developing countries, most of those entering higher education are <a href="https://www.africanminds.co.za/going-to-university-the-influence-of-higher-education-on-the-lives-of-young-south-africans/">not familiar</a> with online learning. They are not adept at finding their way around the internet. They struggle to navigate university learning management systems. The situation is made worse when lecturers don’t have the skills needed to facilitate classes and tutorials online. This <a href="https://www.vodafone.com/news/public-policy/technology-and-digital-skills-are-key-building-education-system-future">dearth of skills</a> on their lecturers’ part can <a href="https://oup.foleon.com/report/digital-divide/understanding-the-scale-of-the-problem/">negatively affect students’ performance and achievement</a>. </p>
<p>I conducted <a href="https://ejournals.bc.edu/index.php/ijahe/article/view/10902">a study</a> to explore how lecturers’ skills, knowledge and experience in e-learning affect student support. The research focused on an open distance e-learning institution – the <a href="https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/About/The-leading-ODL-university">largest on the African continent</a>. It does not offer any face-to-face learning. Before the pandemic, teaching was based on a blended learning approach: written materials were delivered to students by post; others accessed it online from the university’s learning management system.</p>
<p>So, its teaching staff ought to be extra competent at using online technologies to teach and support students. My participants were academic staff members who had successfully completed a training programme designed to boost their digital skills. I also solicited feedback from students’ discussion forums to see how their learning experiences differed when their lecturers were technologically adept versus when they were not.</p>
<p>I found that most lecturers lacked the knowledge and digital skills necessary for open distance e-learning before the training. This had a significant negative impact on their attitudes to using technology in their teaching. It also hindered their ability to successfully support students. However, the capacity-building programme they completed greatly improved their digital literacy. It also positively shifted their perspectives.</p>
<p>My findings suggest that universities should offer their staff continuous professional development in distance education and e-learning. This will help lecturers to better support and improve the quality of students’ learning experiences.</p>
<h2>What I found</h2>
<p>The study focused on digital skills developed through an international partnership that aimed to develop academics’ capacity for e-learning. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2016.1184399">Existing research</a> had already established that these sorts of partnerships were a good way to equip academics with expertise in information communication technology. This is because facilitators from developed countries, with comparatively long experience, access and knowledge regarding online learning technologies and techniques, are well placed to support those in developing nations like South Africa.</p>
<p>I collected data from participants in several ways, including interviews and online questionnaires. The academic staff I worked with had all participated in a capacity building programme offered as part of a partnership between the <a href="https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default">University of South Africa</a> and the <a href="https://www.umgc.edu/">University of Maryland Global Campus</a> between 2013 and 2015.</p>
<p>I also studied more than 1,000 students’ posts on online discussion forums related to two modules hosted on the university’s <a href="https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/myunisa/default">learning management system</a>.</p>
<p>Most of my participants said the training helped them to better comprehend theories of distance education. It also enabled them to apply those theories when creating learning materials and facilitating learning online. They also felt empowered to increase student engagement, such as by creating online student communities. </p>
<p>The study confirmed that a lecturer’s lack of online facilitation skills can have a negative impact on learner outcomes. Lecturers cannot impart skills they themselves lack or facts they do not know to students: you can’t teach it if you don’t know it. </p>
<h2>Steps to take</h2>
<p>Based on my findings, I suggest that universities, whether they are partially or fully online, should:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>conduct institution-wide surveys to assess the readiness of academic staff for online teaching. The feedback can inform skills development plans and support systems both for academic and support staff.</p></li>
<li><p>create a platform for staff members who complete online teaching training programmes to share information and their experiences. This will contribute to the wider implementation of e-learning. Staff members who complete formal e-learning training programmes also need to be strategically co-opted in research, discussions, and projects within the university to share their knowledge more widely. </p></li>
<li><p>ensure that staff are properly trained and prepared to adapt and to adopt new technologies</p></li>
<li><p>ensure that students are creatively and actively engaged using the digital platforms developed as part of e-learning programmes. This includes being visible on digital platforms such as discussion forums and actively interacting with the students.</p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199310/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mpho-Entle Puleng Modise does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lecturers need to be adept at both the theories of online learning and the technology used to do it.Mpho-Entle Puleng Modise, Lecturer, University of South AfricaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1990222023-02-21T13:13:17Z2023-02-21T13:13:17ZPsychological grit is over-rated as the key to retention in distance education: a South African study debunks the myth<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/508297/original/file-20230206-19-e1my6b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">PeopleImages / Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Psychological grit has garnered a lot of interest in the last decade, particularly in the higher education arena. It’s typically defined as passion and perseverance for long-term goals. A great deal has been <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27845531/">written</a> about it and the role it plays in the retention and success of tertiary students. Kelly Anne Young <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02680513.2022.2134003">explored</a> the role grit played in determining postgraduate retention among historically disadvantaged students enrolled at the University of South Africa (Unisa) – the <a href="https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/About/The-leading-ODL-university">largest</a> provider of open, distance e-learning in Africa.</em></p>
<h2>How did you define grit?</h2>
<p>I followed the widely accepted definition of grit coined by <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-07951-009">Duckworth and colleagues (2007)</a>. Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term goals, despite setbacks, adversity or plateaus in progress.</p>
<p>My study included 594 Unisa students who enrolled for an honours degree in 2017. Essentially, I wanted to know whether grittier students were more likely than less gritty students to enrol for their second year of studies. </p>
<p>So, I asked them to complete the <a href="https://sjdm.org/dmidi/files/Grit-8-item.pdf">Grit-S scale</a>. This scale includes items relating to your passion and perseverance towards long-term goals – for example, “I finish whatever I begin” and “Setbacks don’t discourage me”. Responses on these items range from “not at all like me” to “very much like me”. The scores are combined to determine an overall level of grit, ranging from 1 (not at all gritty) to 5 (extremely gritty). </p>
<p>My sample scored towards the higher end of the grit spectrum (3.85). </p>
<p>The next year, I checked the proportion of my sample who returned, and paired this retention data with the grit scores. Although a relatively large portion of my sample returned for their second year of studies (62.3%), results revealed that a higher grit score did not mean the student was more likely to continue with their degree.</p>
<p>My study also looked at whether gender, age, ethnicity and home language were significant predictors of retention among the participants. They were not.</p>
<h2>Why did you think it was important to look at the role of grit?</h2>
<p>Retaining historically disadvantaged students in distance education programmes is often cited as a major challenge facing South African higher education institutions. Nowhere is this issue more topical than at Unisa, which has over <a href="https://www.dhet.gov.za/Information%20Systems%20Coordination/Statistics%20on%20Post-School%20Education%20and%20Training%20in%20South%20Africa%202020.pdf">95% of all enrolled distance education students</a> in South Africa. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.dhet.gov.za/HEMIS/2000%20TO%202017%20FIRST%20TIME%20ENTERING%20UNDERGRADUATE%20COHORT%20STUDIES%20FOR%20PUBLIC%20HEIs.pdf">recent cohort analysis</a> by the country’s Department of Higher Education and Training showed that 56.8% of the 2000 cohort of distance education students had dropped out after their first year of studying. That’s double the attrition rate reported among students in the contact cohort (23.6%). Although subsequent distance education cohorts had lower rates of dropout from first to second year (for example 29.6% among the 2017 cohort), these figures are still concerning and require further exploration.</p>
<p>In an attempt to mitigate this dropout and enhance student success at the institution, a number of studies have been conducted. Some have explored cognitive attributes, such as <a href="https://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajhe/article/view/249">school leaving exam results</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18146620902857574">assignment grades</a> and past course performance. Others have looked at non-cognitive attributes, such as <a href="https://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/4325">motivation</a>, <a href="https://journals.co.za/doi/pdf/10.10520/EJC153518">locus of control</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09639280802618130">attribute style</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02680513.2017.1356711">self-efficacy</a>, as predictors of success and retention among Unisa students.</p>
<p>This research has resulted in a better understanding of what shapes student retention at Unisa. One review has found, though, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.2190/4YNU-4TMB-22DJ-AN4W">that</a></p>
<blockquote>
<p>most institutions have not yet been able to translate what we know about student retention into forms of action that have led to substantial gains in student persistence and graduation. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>The question of grit then arose.</p>
<p>Psychological grit is often positioned as a panacea in higher education. This is because grit has shown enormous potential in predicting student success and retention in elite or historically advantaged traditional tertiary settings, both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2017.1409478">in South Africa</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087">abroad</a>. What’s more, grit has shown to predict success among tertiary students pursuing their <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0033294117734834">studies online</a> and among <a href="https://doi.org/10.19173/irrodl.v19i3.3393">those completing massive open online courses</a>.</p>
<p>Very little research on grit has been conducted among South African distance education students, though. My <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02680513.2022.2134003">study</a> produced the first published findings on grit’s predictive role in determining retention among historically disadvantaged distance education students in South Africa.</p>
<h2>Why did you choose this particular cohort of students?</h2>
<p>I included certain ethnic groups in the study as a proxy for historical disadvantage, because of the way apartheid policies identified these groups. The 594 Unisa students in my sample were black African (83% of the sample), Indian, Chinese and mixed-race South Africans who enrolled for an honours degree for the first time in 2017.</p>
<p>As an ongoing consequence of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheid">apartheid</a> policies, South African university students are often first-generation students and academically <a href="https://doi.org/10.25159/0256-8853/1938">under-prepared</a>. They often lack what’s called <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF01074084">epistemological access</a>, which means access to
the knowledge that the university distributes.</p>
<h2>Why do your findings matter?</h2>
<p>Contrary to popular findings, my results revealed that historically disadvantaged students with higher levels of psychological grit were not more likely to enrol for their second year (when compared to their less gritty peers). </p>
<p>I think it’s important to remember that the seminal literature on grit has (predominantly) emanated from largely privileged student populations, to the point that the only thing possibly missing in those students’ lives is grit. And so it makes sense that the presence of grit would produce significant results (thus alluding to it’s importance).</p>
<p>But positioning grit as a panacea among historically disadvantaged students can be a dangerous distraction from the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035522000465">real barriers to student retention</a>. Moreover, the legacy of disadvantage remains, despite legislative and policy changes that were intended to transform the <a href="https://www.che.ac.za/sites/default/files/inline-files/BS23%20Final_A%20Reflection%20on%20Two%20Decades%20of%20Programme%20Differentiation%20in%20Higher%20Education%20in%20South%20Africa%5B74%5D.pdf">higher education sector in South Africa</a>. And because of this, we must remember that higher education institutions do not survive in “<a href="https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.82.2.v1jx34n441532242">hermetically sealed spheres</a>” in which past (and present) inequality gaps have no effect on student success and retention.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199022/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kelly Anne Young does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Seeing grit as a panacea among historically disadvantaged students can be a dangerous distraction from other barriers to student retention.Kelly Anne Young, Senior Researcher, University of South AfricaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1986482023-01-30T17:34:58Z2023-01-30T17:34:58ZChildren lost one-third of a year’s learning to COVID, new study shows – but we need to think about the problem differently<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507063/original/file-20230130-20-q378kx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=45%2C0%2C5078%2C3382&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kids-use-tablet-computers-primary-school-503425942">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Children’s learning progress has slowed substantially during the pandemic, roughly equating to a loss of around 35% of the typical learning in a school year, according to a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01506-4">new study</a>.</p>
<p>The analysis drew on 42 studies published between March 2020 and August 2022 from 15 different high- and middle-income countries (although most of the data was from the US, the UK and the Netherlands). </p>
<p>The researchers found that the learning deficits were higher in maths than in reading. They appeared early in the pandemic and remained stable, neither worsening over time (as some had feared) nor significantly improving.</p>
<p>So it appears that initiatives aimed at limiting the negative effects of school closures, such as online learning resources for home schooling, were successful in stabilising the initial impact of disruption to children’s formal education. </p>
<p>At the same time, it would seem that we haven’t yet found ways to support children to reach the levels of achievement we might have expected in normal circumstances. And this is particularly true for children from lower-income families. </p>
<h2>A widening gap</h2>
<p>This study confirms concerns expressed earlier in the pandemic by charities like the <a href="https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/COVID-19-and-Social-Mobility-1.pdf">Sutton Trust</a> that socioeconomic inequalities in learning progress would increase. For example, the shift to online learning during school closures created additional barriers for some children, where the availability of computers and internet access was not straightforward, or even impossible. </p>
<p>An analysis by the <a href="https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/closing-gap-trends-educational-attainment-disadvantage/">Education Policy Institute</a> in 2017 found that at that time it would take the UK 50 years to close the attainment gap between pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and their wealthier peers. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.nfer.ac.uk/the-impact-of-covid-19-on-pupil-attainment-a-summary-of-research-evidence/">National Foundation for Educational Research</a>, a charity that conducts research into education and children’s services, estimated that the effect of poverty on children’s learning before the pandemic was at least twice as great as the impact of COVID’s disruption to education. </p>
<p>However, it now seems clear that the gap has widened further, and is likely to take even longer to close.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-school-recovery-is-englands-1-4-billion-catch-up-plan-a-good-idea-162020">COVID school recovery: is England's £1.4 billion catch-up plan a good idea?</a>
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<h2>Misplaced emphasis</h2>
<p>But is this the right way to think about the challenges faced by schoolchildren and their teachers? The focus on “lost learning” and the benchmarking of children’s attainment to levels of pre-pandemic performance neglects an uncomfortable truth. </p>
<p>Many children have been fundamentally affected by the pandemic in other ways that will influence their ability to successfully learn, and which are not necessarily being addressed by the emphasis on “catch up” learning. </p>
<p>For example, in November 2022 we published <a href="https://www.risingstars-uk.com/media/Rising-Stars/Assessment/Whitepapers/RSAssessment_Wellbeing-and-Attitudes-Research-Whitepaper_Nov22.pdf">a white paper</a> on the effects the pandemic has had on positivity, motivation to learn, resilience, and self-efficacy among children in key stage 2 (years 3–6).</p>
<p>Self-efficacy refers to a person’s belief that they’re capable of being successful in tasks or goals that they set for themselves. There is <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5513915/">substantial evidence</a> linking self-efficacy with academic achievement. </p>
<p>We found that while all four of these areas were negatively affected to some extent, it was children’s sense of self-efficacy that was most strongly impacted. And although all areas have shown small signs of recovery, self-efficacy remains particularly low. </p>
<p>For the children in our research, self-efficacy referred to the belief that they could be successful not just with learning tasks, but also in terms of managing their emotions at school and their relationships with others in the classroom. The reduction in self-efficacy at school was apparent regardless of socioeconomic status.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A preteen girl does schoolwork with a tablet." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507070/original/file-20230130-24-ues1uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507070/original/file-20230130-24-ues1uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507070/original/file-20230130-24-ues1uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507070/original/file-20230130-24-ues1uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=337&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507070/original/file-20230130-24-ues1uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507070/original/file-20230130-24-ues1uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/507070/original/file-20230130-24-ues1uc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Home learning may have affected students’ self-confidence.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/smart-preteen-schoolgirl-doing-her-homework-1447069790">MNStudio/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So why might students’ self-efficacy have suffered as a result of the pandemic? According to psychologist <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1997-08589-000">Albert Bandura</a>, there are various ways in which we build our sense of self-efficacy. One is through direct experience of success in an environment that can facilitate this. This is what schools can do – they manage learning tasks to give children the experience of being successful. </p>
<p>A second way self-efficacy is built is via social comparison; by watching others like us being successful. This increases our sense that we can also succeed. The social isolation that children faced during lockdowns limited their ability to see other children like them engaging in learning and relate to their achievements. </p>
<p>Finally, an important avenue to self-efficacy is being with others who can reframe any negative reactions we might have to learning, such as failure or anxiety (for example, seeing nerves as a positive, and feeling excited about a new challenge rather than fear). Contact with teachers is important in helping children to reframe their feelings in these ways.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-school-closures-impact-1-3-billion-children-and-remote-learning-is-increasing-inequality-138656">Coronavirus school closures impact 1.3 billion children – and remote learning is increasing inequality</a>
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<h2>At home and at school</h2>
<p>While it’s important to recognise and document the academic toll that the pandemic has taken on children’s learning, part of the reason our attempts to rectify things have been unsuccessful may be because we are failing to take into account the wider psychological effects that our children have experienced. </p>
<p>If we want to see children achieve, instead of discussions about “learning loss” and “falling behind”, we need to focus some of our efforts on teaching them that they can have confidence in their abilities. </p>
<p>Teachers, and parents too, can do a lot to rebuild children’s wellbeing and motivation to learn by addressing their <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11031-019-09818-1">basic psychological needs</a>. This might include allowing them some control over what they do (autonomy), establishing a nurturing environment that the child feels connected to (relatedness), and enabling them to experience being successful (competence), perhaps by diversifying assessment methods.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198648/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Clare Wood receives grant funding from the Nuffield Foundation. She acts as a consultant with Rising Stars and is co-investigator on a grant with RS Assessment which considers the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on UK children's attainment and wellbeing. She is a Trustee of the National Literacy Trust. </span></em></p>A new review study has sought to understand the impact of the COVID pandemic on children’s school attainment.Clare Wood, Director, Centre for Research in Language, Education and Developmental Inequalities, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1940062023-01-02T12:40:34Z2023-01-02T12:40:34ZStudent and teacher involvement in reforming schooling matters — how Montréal schools are tackling this<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501691/original/file-20221218-11243-y0enmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C206%2C2752%2C1738&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Schooling models designed for the industrial revolution need to change.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you could redesign high school, what might you change? How could the schedule be more flexible? What if teachers worked together as teams? What if groups of students were combined based on interest and given the opportunity to connect learning to their everyday lives? </p>
<p>Noel Burke, the founder of an educational reform initiative in Québec called NEXTschool, has been asking these questions for years. </p>
<p>After working as a teacher, administrator and government official, Burke travelled to innovative high schools in <a href="https://ojc.school.nz/">New Zealand</a> and <a href="https://www.designtechhighschool.org/">Southern California</a> and met with educators throughout Canada with the goal of figuring out how he might help empower schools in Québec to “<a href="http://www.nextschoolquebec.com">better align with the learning needs of students in the 21st century</a>.” </p>
<h2>Designed for industrial revolution</h2>
<p>Like most educational institutions across Canada, Québec English high schools <a href="https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-theres-nothing-especially-educational-about-factory-style-management/2014/04">retain structures designed for the industrial revolution to support shift work and a culture of management</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Lockers seen in a hallway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501690/original/file-20221218-22-n4klx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501690/original/file-20221218-22-n4klx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501690/original/file-20221218-22-n4klx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501690/original/file-20221218-22-n4klx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=479&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501690/original/file-20221218-22-n4klx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501690/original/file-20221218-22-n4klx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501690/original/file-20221218-22-n4klx3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=602&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">High schools need to adapt to today’s challenges and what students need to know for their futures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz</span></span>
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<p>Today though, the realities of students’ lives have transformed, and schools are slowly adapting to a <a href="https://stats.oecd.org/glossary/detail.asp?ID=6864">knowledge-based economy</a> and <a href="https://www.cmec.ca/682/global_competencies.html">unpredictable ecological and social challenges</a>.</p>
<p>As part of a <a href="https://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/about-au_sujet/index-eng.aspx">Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council</a> funded research project, we belong to a team of researchers from <a href="https://www.mcgill.ca/dise/">McGill’s Department of Integrated Studies in Education</a> studying educational change. </p>
<p>Working alongside Burke, we examined new models of education that emphasize learning opportunities that connect to what high school students care about and what they need to know for our future.</p>
<h2>New models for schooling</h2>
<p>These new models often feature <a href="https://www.amle.org/is-your-school-schedule-flexible/">flexible timetabling</a>, <a href="https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl">project-based learning</a>, <a href="https://www.overlake.org/students/policies/cocurricular">co-curricular crediting</a> where students
earn credits for participating in extracurricular activities, and <a href="https://edpolicyinca.org/publications/learning-hubs">learning hubs</a> that offer small groups of students academic and other holistic supports.</p>
<p>To date, we have worked alongside teachers from several local Québec English high schools to consider their creative, context-specific responses to how they’d redesign school. We have also been engaging students in activities to ensure that teachers and administrators know what students really want and need from school. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/machines-cant-personalize-education-only-people-can-154339">Machines can't 'personalize' education, only people can</a>
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</p>
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<p>Teachers discussed concerns such as replacing homeroom with flexible blocks where students can access academic support and turning campus green spaces into shared instructional areas.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P1uo-7DY9-I?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Vanessa Gold, part of the research team examining NEXTschool asks ‘Would it all go to hell if we got rid of the bell?’ in a song about the reform initiative.</span></figcaption>
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<p>We adapted a participatory visual research method called <a href="https://participatorycultureslab.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee-facilitators-guide-pdf.pdf">photovoice</a> to invite student input. Students explored their educational problems and aspirations by taking photographs around their school, displaying them and then gathering with classmates and teachers to discuss what their photos mean to them. </p>
<p>Teachers have consistently been surprised by students’ concerns and suggestions — highlighting the importance of finding ways to involve genuine student input into educational change.</p>
<h2>Teachers as agents of change</h2>
<p>For a reform like NEXTschool to be successful, Burke agrees that students must be involved more authentically and more often. But he believes teachers are the ones who need to be positioned as the “project implementors” and “agents of change.” He shared this with us over the course of several interviews we held with him in summer 2022.</p>
<p>Burke is aiming to empower teachers as the frontline workers best able to facilitate the changes needed for lasting educational reform. He suggested schoolboards have to follow teachers on the path they want to go rather than showing them the path based on top-down policy.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/teachers-are-on-the-front-lines-with-students-in-the-coronavirus-pandemic-149896">Teachers are on the front lines with students in the coronavirus pandemic</a>
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<p>Research has shown that conventional reforms driven from the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0031721715614828">top down are rarely aligned with the path teachers believe best for their classes</a>. </p>
<p>NEXTschool aims to centre teachers’ understanding of their teaching and school while balancing the voices of students in expressing their learning needs.</p>
<p>The project engages teachers around the key features of space, time and learning in ways that function more like a menu as opposed to a recipe. Burke’s position is that educational partners benefit from having options laid out with the repercussions of choices unpacked. For example, if teachers choose to <a href="https://www.enrichingstudents.com/flexible-high-school-schedule-examples">pursue flexible timetabling</a>, they benefit from understanding how it impacts teacher planning time. </p>
<h2>‘How can we make this happen?’</h2>
<p>Burke believes educational change is more likely when teachers are trusted in determining what changes are needed and how to go about them. </p>
<p>This means that, as Burke explained, NEXTschool is an evolving model amenable to a variety of settings, where local control and student engagement drive the reform.</p>
<p>Burke conceded that even with his confidence in teachers, he is aware of the vital role administrators play in supporting teachers to take the necessary risks to innovate schools. </p>
<p>Burke suggests administrators’ primary role is helping mitigate the risk teachers take when trying <a href="https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/taking-beautiful-risks-in-education">new things in the classroom</a>. Administrators must ask teachers: “How can we make this happen and how can I help you with this?” </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-serve-school-communities-and-address-inequities-after-covid-19-principals-must-become-activists-175491">To serve school communities and address inequities after COVID-19, principals must become activists</a>
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<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A teacher seen in a hallway." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501694/original/file-20221218-25-t8sc5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501694/original/file-20221218-25-t8sc5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501694/original/file-20221218-25-t8sc5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501694/original/file-20221218-25-t8sc5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501694/original/file-20221218-25-t8sc5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501694/original/file-20221218-25-t8sc5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501694/original/file-20221218-25-t8sc5p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Engaging teachers at the local level matters with schooling reform.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allison Shelley/EDUimages)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
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<h2>System now intolerant of risk-taking</h2>
<p>Teachers often <a href="https://www.k12dive.com/news/risk-taking-adds-value-for-both-educators-students/517390">feel unable to take risks</a> because, as Burke described, they feel the system is intolerant of risk-taking. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://crowleym.com/2018/03/22/education-in-a-world-of-compliance/">compliance culture common to educational institutions</a>, teachers and students have to navigate the top-down management that prescribes rigid scheduling requirements, discrete subject area focuses, standardized ministerial exams and so on.</p>
<p>One of the significant promises Burke has made about NEXTschool is that “it liberates” teachers from the conventionally rigid structures and expectations of a Canadian high school.</p>
<p>Yet, a more malleable and open structure can be discomforting when schools have only known a <a href="https://theconversation.com/6-actions-school-systems-can-take-to-support-childrens-outdoor-learning-167745">system characterized by quite the opposite</a>.</p>
<p>For educational change to be achieved, the NEXTschool approach of identifying context-specific features to reform can provide the structure that teachers and students are accustomed to while promoting flexible, meaningful innovations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194006/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aron Rosenberg is research assistant at McGill University, investigating and supporting the NEXTschool initiative. His research team receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lisa Starr receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p>A schooling reform project is taking lessons from innovative high schools and educators in New Zealand, Southern California and Canada to make schooling more relevant for students today.Aron Lee Rosenberg, PhD Candidate, Department of Integrated Studies in Education, McGill UniversityLisa Starr, Associate Professor, Department of Integrated Studies, Faculty of Education, McGill UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1928252022-12-13T13:20:20Z2022-12-13T13:20:20ZAre snow days about to get buried by remote learning? Not quite – but it depends on where you live<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498060/original/file-20221129-13475-dfo64q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C11%2C2488%2C1650&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">When communities are buried in snow, as Buffalo, N.Y., was in November 2022, school sometimes stays in session – remotely.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/WintryWeather/39dbf931160042d8b48440e757c4e518/photo">AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Snow days, a nostalgic rite of passage for generations of students across the northern United States, might seem destined to be a memory of school days past. For nearly a century, schools have canceled or delayed classes because of heavy or dangerous snowfall that creates hazardous travel conditions. School calendars would include a number of “makeup” days, when any missed time could be rescheduled.</p>
<p>During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools transitioned to remote learning to keep teaching when it wasn’t safe for people to gather. With students already learning at home, <a href="https://www.edweek.org/leadership/no-more-snow-days-thanks-to-remote-learning-not-everyone-agrees/2020/11">nearly 40% of schools</a> chose to forgo traditional snow days and proceed with remote learning during the pandemic. Those choices, and improvements in online education, led several <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/03/snow-days-are-endangered-remote-learning/618216/">commentators</a> to predict the end of the snow day.</p>
<p>However, policy data collected from the 35 states with <a href="https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/interactive/html/map.html">the highest average annual snowfall</a> suggests that while more schools are using remote learning days instead of canceling classes, the traditional snow day is far from extinct.</p>
<p>Snow days seem to be sticking around, thanks to nostalgia, lingering concerns about the effectiveness and accessibility of online learning and a sentiment that families and children need these unscripted, unplugged breaks. </p>
<p><iframe id="YT1wx" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/YT1wx/8/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>A new option becomes available</h2>
<p>When schools close because of inclement weather, it affects students’ learning.</p>
<p>For instance, research in Colorado, Maryland and Virginia has shown that <a href="https://www.educationnext.org/time-for-school/">each additional inch of snow</a> led to less continuity of learning, which in turn made it less likely that elementary school students would pass math assessments. </p>
<p>Even before the pandemic, 14 states had policies that allowed schools other options besides closing for inclement weather. Beginning in 2011, <a href="https://education.ky.gov/school/innov/pages/non-traditional-instruction.aspx">Kentucky</a>, <a href="https://www.nhpr.org/education/2013-03-21/blizzard-bags-yet-to-catch-on-among-most-new-hampshire-school-districts">New Hampshire</a>, <a href="https://thebeacon.media/stories/2022/01/07/remote-learning-snow-days-missouri-kansas/">Kansas, Missouri</a> and <a href="https://apps.sos.wv.gov/adlaw/csr/readfile.aspx?DocId=50002&Format=PDF">West Virginia</a> allowed students to work on preassembled packets that had been prepared and sent home instead of calling a snow day.</p>
<p>As technology improved, schools replaced take-home packets with online assignments and instruction. </p>
<p>In 2017, <a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/120A.414">Minnesota</a> authorized five e-learning days a year. <a href="https://ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/101/PDF/101-0012.pdf">Illinois followed suit in 2019</a>. In Pennsylvania, <a href="https://www.education.pa.gov/Teachers%20-%20Administrators/School%20Services/Pages/FIDAcceptedPrograms.aspx">85% of public school districts</a> can take advantage of a 2019 policy that allows five days of remote instruction.</p>
<p>During the pandemic years, more schools got better at teaching online and saw opportunities to reduce school closings during winter storms. With nearly all states authorized on public health grounds to provide remote instruction during COVID-19, schools began doing so for inclement weather, too.</p>
<p>In 2022, the New York Board of Regents authorized the state’s public schools to <a href="http://www.nysed.gov/edtech/remote-instruction-emergency-conditions-frequently-asked-questions">teach remotely instead of canceling</a> class on snow days. Days earlier, anticipating the decision, New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks <a href="https://www.fox5ny.com/good-day/nyc-public-schools-snow-days-are-eliminated">announced</a>: “If a snow day comes around, we want to make sure that our kids continue to learn,” adding, “so, sorry kids! No more snow days, but it’s gonna be good for you!” </p>
<p>Seven other states updated their laws to allow remote learning. For example, Maryland now allows up to eight days a year of remote learning – so long as five of those days include live sessions with a teacher – and Virginia’s new law allows 10 days.</p>
<p>By the start of the 2022-2023 school year, over three-quarters of snowy states had policies in place to significantly curtail school closures, keep students learning and prevent makeup days from stretching the school year into the summer. That’s up from half of them in the 2018-2019 school year.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498062/original/file-20221129-9456-19vvbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young child sits at a desk in front of a computer" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498062/original/file-20221129-9456-19vvbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498062/original/file-20221129-9456-19vvbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498062/original/file-20221129-9456-19vvbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498062/original/file-20221129-9456-19vvbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498062/original/file-20221129-9456-19vvbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498062/original/file-20221129-9456-19vvbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/498062/original/file-20221129-9456-19vvbd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Remote classes, which kept schools going during the pandemic, are also options in many districts to avoid closing for bad weather.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/VirusOutbreakDigitalDivide/9ebaf32263d142e8804ffe0896f3878c/photo">AP Photo/John Minchillo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>For now: A wintry mix of snow days and remote learning</h2>
<p>Within those states that allow remote learning for inclement weather, schools have actually followed three different patterns: full online transition, preserving traditional snow days or a combination of both. </p>
<p>Relatively few school systems – typically in metro areas like <a href="https://www.spps.org/weather">St. Paul</a> or <a href="https://www.kmov.com/2022/11/15/st-louis-area-schools-brace-winter-weather-with-snow-days-virtual-learning/">St. Louis</a> – have followed New York City’s lead in announcing plans to move completely online during what would otherwise be snow days. There are also many school districts in very snowy locales – like New York’s snowiest district of <a href="https://www.syracusecityschools.com/tfiles/folder11063/2022-23%20School%20Calendar%20Digest%20%2005.10.2022.pdf">Syracuse</a> – that will not be using remote learning days. </p>
<p>However, the most common approach across the nation will be a mix of remote learning and snow days depending on local conditions. For example, in <a href="https://www.wbaltv.com/article/snow-days-in-maryland-public-schools/41602695">Baltimore</a>, the superintendent announced that remote learning would be used under the new Maryland policy only “as a last resort” after the five makeup days in the calendar were exhausted. In West Virginia, schools will use a portion of their allotted nontraditional instruction days but reserve an “old-fashioned snow day” for students. </p>
<p>The nostalgic sentiment for preserving the snow day tradition was epitomized in a viral post from Jefferson County, West Virginia, Superintendent Bondy Shay Gibson, who <a href="https://www.facebook.com/JeffersonCountySchools/posts/2744781345736680">declared</a> on the first snow day of last year that school would be “closed for students … closed for virtual … closed for staff.” She said, “For generations, families have greeted the first snow day of the year with joy. … It is a time of renewed wonder at all the things that each season holds. A reminder of how fleeting a childhood can be. An opportunity to make memories with your family that you will hold onto for life.”</p>
<p>For many families this winter, the possibility of a snow day remains. When the first major storm of the 2022 winter season bore down on western New York with as much as 6 feet of snow, students in the region waited anxiously for pending school decisions: Buffalo Public Schools chose to <a href="https://buffalonews.com/news/local/winter-storm-wrap-up-slow-moving-system-blankets-wny-disrupting-travel/article_347a4166-851d-11ec-92eb-3b18c651aad1.html">shift to remote learning</a>, but neighboring Niagara Falls canceled.</p>
<p>The day may well come when remote learning replaces snow days. But for now, children can continue with rituals to <a href="https://www.today.com/parents/snow-day-rituals-inside-out-pjs-ice-cube-flushing-spoons-t148706">flush ice cubes down the toilet, wear pajamas inside-out and place spoons under their pillows</a> – and hope not only for a snow day, but for a day without remote learning too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192825/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan M. Sorber does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite technological advances, many US schools are still likely to cancel school in the event of a big snowstorm.Nathan M. Sorber, Associate Professor of Higher Education, West Virginia UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1931752022-11-17T17:49:53Z2022-11-17T17:49:53ZIn 2020, universities shifted to online learning – three lessons from students’ experiences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495095/original/file-20221114-12-koa7xu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C6000%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-hipster-generation-z-woman-student-1814929727">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For young people who were in university at the height of the COVID pandemic, the university experience was suddenly <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/8/421">radically different</a> to what they had expected. </p>
<p>Teaching moved quickly online, with students forced to adjust to using <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877050922002484">digital tools</a> to complete their learning at home. Those looking forward to life on campus instead saw social and extra-curricular activities curtailed. Meanwhile, opportunities for internships and placements were often lost.</p>
<p>It became and continues to be important to understand the implications of these changes on university students. In <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/CG-09-2020-0396/full/html">my research</a> during the pandemic, I’ve explored the effects of this shift to <a href="https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/chapter/276227#pnlRecommendationForm">virtual learning</a> on the student experience. </p>
<p>Here are three key insights from my research, in which I surveyed 349 university students from across the UK.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
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<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/social-media-how-to-protect-your-mental-health-187935?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Social media: how to protect your mental health</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-disagree-without-making-enemies-in-the-age-of-the-pandemic-tips-from-a-psychologist-187826?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">How to disagree without making enemies in the age of the pandemic – tips from a psychologist</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/five-reasons-why-young-people-should-get-a-covid-booster-vaccine-189411?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Five reasons why young people should get a COVID booster vaccine</a></em></p>
<hr>
<h2>1. Students want interactive online learning</h2>
<p>One theme that came through from several participants is that online teaching should be more interactive. According to one respondent:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is not sufficient to simply place lecture materials onto a VLE [virtual learning environment] and assume that this is a suitable replacement for a taught experience.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another said educators should “be more interactive with students outside of just providing digital lectures”, noting this could incorporate online communication tools or video conferencing applications “to ensure there [are] still some sort of personal connections being made”.</p>
<p>Similarly, another student flagged creating “more opportunities for student interactions” and “a better online community”.</p>
<p>Recent research has shown there can be a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0260691722000636?casa_token=mDuB8DnlQ8oAAAAA:6rnpvytYsb8RD2r4cFFmvO_FTj7EwESTiicQT9DEj_cHKltsafx7J04z_CZrpbnk8QZxo-ygKQ">lack of motivation</a> among students when studying online. To address this, lecturers could use real-time polling tools such as <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/11/667">Mentimeter</a> and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10639-021-10459-6">Kahoot!</a>, which can make online learning more engaging and interactive. </p>
<h2>2. Digital education must be inclusive</h2>
<p>Some female students <a href="https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol.27-Issue9/Ser-9/C2709091727.pdf">faced greater challenges</a> than their male counterparts with the shift to virtual learning. Mature female students were affected the most, with many noting that additional responsibilities, such as caring for children or disabled family members, made things more difficult. </p>
<p>One respondent talked about the difficulty of “finding the time to do university work in a full, busy and noisy household”. Another said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The university hasn’t been very good with students who have a family. I had exams with a toddler hanging off my hip. It would have been fine if I was a student with no children, but I feel like nobody really addressed the challenges we faced as students with a young family at home.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A birds-eye view of a group of university students working together." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495098/original/file-20221114-14-8ro484.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/495098/original/file-20221114-14-8ro484.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495098/original/file-20221114-14-8ro484.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495098/original/file-20221114-14-8ro484.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495098/original/file-20221114-14-8ro484.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495098/original/file-20221114-14-8ro484.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/495098/original/file-20221114-14-8ro484.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">COVID changed the traditional university experience, at least temporarily.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/classmate-classroom-sharing-international-friend-concept-402458263">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some mature female students also didn’t feel properly equipped for using online learning tools, commenting, for example, that “the older generation needs to be better prepared technology-wise”. </p>
<p>Another student highlighted the cost of devices, and noted that “it seems if you don’t have a laptop you will struggle to pass”. </p>
<p>Instead of presuming that everyone will be properly equipped, universities should ensure that students have the necessary knowledge, support and digital resources for online learning and assessments. Making sure students have adequate hardware and software, as well as internet access, is essential. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-downside-of-digital-transformation-why-organisations-must-allow-for-those-who-cant-or-wont-move-online-186905">Access to technology</a> must be distributed equitably, with particular consideration given to students from <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07294360.2021.2019199">disadvantaged backgrounds</a> and international students.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, universities not already doing so should consider offering flexible learning opportunities, such as the option to attend virtual lectures live or to listen to pre-recorded lectures.</p>
<h2>3. International students may need extra attention</h2>
<p>The pandemic-induced changes to the university experience were particularly hard on <a href="https://www.igi-global.com/gateway/chapter/276221">students from overseas</a>.</p>
<p>International students mentioned problems such as a lack of access to suitable study areas, not knowing where to go for mental health support, feeling confined and isolated, struggling to focus, a lack of direction, and the difficulty of being away from their families at home affected by COVID. Comments included:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Being away from my family caused me so much stress and depression, I can’t focus clearly on my studies.</p>
<p>We paid tuition for the assistance, not to “figure it out alone”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While universities did endeavour to communicate with international students during this period, my research suggests that in many cases these messages were lost in translation and the support was not adequate.</p>
<p>In times of crisis, university communication with overseas students must improve. Universities have a duty of care and a responsibility to international students, which should include helping them to adjust to the academic requirements, as well as prioritising their mental health and wellbeing.</p>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>Some students wanted to <a href="https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol.27-Issue9/Ser-9/C2709091727.pdf">continue with online learning</a>, or at least saw potential benefits in the digital model.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In general, it has been rather enjoyable not being on campus as not only did it cut out the hours of train journeys … I am someone who much prefers to work alone, so not having other people as a distraction was good.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Students who reported having some level of social anxiety, for example, also preferred the digital model.</p>
<p>But a number of students felt the on-campus experience was preferable to online learning. One commented that “human relationships and face-to-face interaction remain the unique trait which the online world cannot reach”. Others said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Going fully online would not benefit many students otherwise we wouldn’t have chosen the option to come to a traditional university.</p>
<p>I like the social aspect of going to university and the face-to-face teaching. [With online learning] I feel like I’m not learning anything, just memorising information.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Universities have now resumed face-to-face teaching. Some may fully return to on-campus learning, while many may proceed with a hybrid model. Which is best <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/eje.12736?casa_token=M6ppT__MnbkAAAAA%3AZb3DW47kYAbKJHd5VS07z8SYQfDoOuuqAOj3fL01rHg9XCsgzTJCe1h7OksSa18wQPrXUdBEhfAjZg">is difficult to know</a>. It’s clear from my research and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11528-022-00759-0">others’</a> that different students have different preferences. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, these insights will hopefully be useful for universities continuing to teach fully or partially online. More broadly, findings about university students’ experiences during the pandemic could help universities to better navigate any crises in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193175/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Muzammal Ahmad Khan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>During the pandemic, online learning suddenly replaced traditional teaching methods.Muzammal Ahmad Khan, Lecturer in Business and Management, University of the West of ScotlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1891802022-11-14T20:56:39Z2022-11-14T20:56:39ZHow accessibility for disabled university students can benefit all students<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493956/original/file-20221107-16833-jlw6no.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C469%2C7835%2C4550&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The cost of assessment prevents some students, who self-identify as having a disability, from pursuing an assessment and diagnosis that would allow them to claim formal accommodations.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-accessibility-for-disabled-university-students-can-benefit-all-students" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Although many university students are eager for <a href="https://theconversation.com/students-returning-to-campus-want-the-university-experience-missed-during-covid-19-186507">in-person elements of the university experience</a> they missed early in the pandemic, what might we overlook in the rush to “return to normal”?</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/profs-teaching-online-need-to-focus-on-increasing-their-compassion-toward-students/">pandemic forced universities to re-evaluate their delivery of classes</a>, extending remote teaching practices and building in flexibility to manage an unpredictable situation.</p>
<p>After over two years of innovation, if the main lesson universities take away from the on-going pandemic is that students miss being on campus, <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-return-to-normal-on-campus-5-ways-university-students-and-faculty-hope-for-better-157547">we risk squandering new skills and insights of broad value</a>.</p>
<p>In the midst of the pandemic’s long-term effects, including, for some, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/06/long-covid-chronic-illness-disability/661285">the disabling effects of Long COVID</a>, we wondered what disabled students could tell us about what makes university classes more (or less) accessible to them. Their insights highlight practices that can benefit a wide range of students.</p>
<p>As the <a href="https://teaching.uwo.ca/img/teaching/COU-AODA-Guide.pdf">Council of Ontario Universities points out</a>, accessible teaching
<a href="https://teaching.uwo.ca/curriculum/coursedesign/uid.html">means designing courses from the get-go with accessibility for a broad range of students in mind</a>, rather than introducing accommodations as needed.</p>
<p>With this approach, instructors can improve student learning, deepen inclusion of students and reduce instructor workload associated with dealing with exceptions and individual accommodations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students seen sitting at a table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494716/original/file-20221110-20-dfy71z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494716/original/file-20221110-20-dfy71z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494716/original/file-20221110-20-dfy71z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494716/original/file-20221110-20-dfy71z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=394&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494716/original/file-20221110-20-dfy71z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494716/original/file-20221110-20-dfy71z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494716/original/file-20221110-20-dfy71z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The main lesson of the pandemic shouldn’t be that students miss being on campus.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Our case study</h2>
<p>I worked with a research team of undergraduates, Kate Mahoney, Sam Schneider and Anika Sebudde, to explore how instructors’ everyday practices impact — positively and negatively — students who self-identify as disabled. Anthropologist Andrew Walsh, a colleague at Western University, helped design our research process.</p>
<p>Our survey received 83 responses from students with disabilities from across Western University. We sought not to secure a representative sample, but rather to gain insight into some disabled students’ lived experiences, by means of open-ended questions.</p>
<p>For context, in <a href="https://www.president.uwo.ca/equity-census/">Western’s 2021-22 Equity Census</a>, almost 10 per cent of student respondents indicated they have a disability. This seems low, given that across Canada, <a href="https://cusc-ccreu.ca/wordpress/?page_id=32&lang=en">one quarter of university students graduating in 2021 reported having a disability</a></p>
<h2>More disabled students than we think</h2>
<p>Our respondents represented every level of student study and faculty on campus. About 75 per cent of our respondents have a diagnosed disability, while the remainder have both diagnosed and undiagnosed disabilities (about 20 per cent) or lack a diagnosis (about five per cent).</p>
<p>This helps explain the finding that about a third of our respondents are not registered with the <a href="http://academicsupport.uwo.ca/accessible_education/index.html">accessible education office</a>. As one noted, a diagnosis of their disability costs $3,000, while another explained there is a two-and-a-half year waitlist to see a specialist about their condition. There are more disabled students than we think.</p>
<p>One striking survey result is that only two of 83 respondents indicated that their disability is visible, while another 17 have both visible and non-apparent (invisible) disabilities. The remaining 64 have non-apparent disabilities. There are more disabled students than we see.</p>
<p>As one student explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Given how I present myself and manage my disabilities, it often appears as though I do not have any disabilities unless I am experiencing acute symptoms. This can result in a need to explain my disabilities.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another added: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It seems like I have to qualify my struggles more often and justify a need for support to a degree that seems unwarranted.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Access fatigue</h2>
<p>Access fatigue is exhaustion people with disabilities face from constantly having to explain their situation and ask for help. Students reported having to negotiate their access needs repeatedly and to disclose private information (sometimes even to classmates, especially when they were assigned group projects).</p>
<p>How often do our students experience access fatigue? “Always” for 19 per cent of our respondents; another 20 per cent experience it at least once a week. A further 23 per cent experience it once or twice a month, bringing these responses together to over 60 per cent.</p>
<p>In other words, disabled students are paying a kind of “<a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/crip-tax-opinion-1.5856848">crip tax</a>” — the hidden costs of living with a disability — but in time and energy, not just money. This is likely increased by the non-apparent nature of most disabilities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student sitting at a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494712/original/file-20221110-21-b7hz94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494712/original/file-20221110-21-b7hz94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494712/original/file-20221110-21-b7hz94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494712/original/file-20221110-21-b7hz94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494712/original/file-20221110-21-b7hz94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494712/original/file-20221110-21-b7hz94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494712/original/file-20221110-21-b7hz94.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students were grateful when, depending on their symptoms, they could choose between in-person or recorded or streamed lectures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Yan Krukov)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Most accessible teaching practices</h2>
<p>While our research participants have diverse disabilities and situations, they collectively identified clear winning accessibility practices. Many were precisely those practices whose use was expanded during the pandemic.</p>
<p>These teaching practices included:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Flexible <a href="https://doi.org/10.20343/teachlearninqu.10.26">assignment deadlines</a>. Students with diverse disabilities reported that they experience unpredictable flare-ups of their symptoms that interfere with their ability to meet rigid deadlines and cause them to be penalized. The pandemic made clear that other students also benefit from some flexibility, including those with a range of family responsibilities due to sick children or siblings, elder care or school closures that disrupted schedules. </p></li>
<li><p>Delivering courses in a hybrid manner, where it’s possible to choose whether to attend lectures in-person or virtually. Students were grateful when, depending on their symptoms, they could access content otherwise delivered in-person via either recorded or streamed lectures (achieved by acts as simple as instructors pressing record when a PowerPoint presentation started or allowing students to join on Zoom). Our participants also valued being able to review recorded sessions even if they attended in person. Access to these options can reinforce and deepen learning. </p></li>
<li><p>Lecture slides or outlines <a href="https://www.unb.ca/fredericton/cetl/services/teaching-tips/special-issues/effect-of-posting-lecture-slides-online-on-attendance-and-student-performance.html">posted in advance to facilitate note-taking</a>. This practice helps students keep track of the lecture if they are briefly distracted or when their auditory processing speed doesn’t match the instructor’s pace. It also helps students whose first language is not the teaching language.</p></li>
<li><p>Captioning of audiovisual materials, whether shown in class or assigned for asynchronous (independent) viewing, helps students who are <a href="https://cad.ca/our-work/terminology/">D/deaf</a> or hard of hearing and those with some learning disabilities. Again it helps non-first language students and any students viewing in conditions where the volume cannot be turned up or where there are noise distractions. Research shows “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2372732215602130">captioning a video improves comprehension of, attention to and memory for the video</a>.”</p></li>
</ol>
<h2>More welcoming environments</h2>
<p>“The pandemic’s disruption showed how much academia could learn from the disability community,” as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-01312-w">disability advocate and philosophy of technology scholar Ashley Shew argued in the journal <em>Nature</em> in May 2020</a>. </p>
<p>Like <a href="https://uxdesign.cc/the-curb-cut-effect-universal-design-b4e3d7da73f5">curb cuts, the ramps that slope downwards on sidewalks and improve life for a wide range of people</a>, we hope insights from students with a range of disabilities will contribute to a more accessible and welcoming environment for all students.</p>
<p>Let’s use the <a href="https://theconversation.com/professor-flexibility-recorded-lectures-some-positive-university-legacies-of-the-pandemic-187652">knowledge and skills gained through the pandemic</a> to be better, more equitable and more inclusive.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>A. Kim Clark does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A survey of disabled students found that some university accommodations they value became more widespread in the pandemic, like flexible course deadlines.A. Kim Clark, Professor of Anthropology & Assistant Dean (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Decolonization), Faculty of Social Science, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1914932022-11-07T18:50:24Z2022-11-07T18:50:24ZWhy it’s wrong to blame online learning for causing mental health issues during COVID-19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493344/original/file-20221103-12-qk35tl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C146%2C5760%2C2888&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Focusing on online learning as the problem means lost opportunities to identify solutions and supports for student well-being, which could then be designed into online, in-person or mixed forms of learning. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allison Shelley for EDUimages)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/why-it-s-wrong-to-blame-online-learning-for-causing-mental-health-issues-during-covid-19" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Post-secondary student mental health is <a href="https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/10/mental-health-campus-care">in crisis</a>: Research shows students’ mental health was <a href="https://www.casa-acae.com/the_new_abnormal_report">adversely affected in the pandemic</a>, and this falls on the heels of pre-existing concerns that <a href="https://theconversation.com/university-student-mental-health-care-is-at-the-tipping-point-122743">campuses were struggling to keep up with demands</a> for mental health services. </p>
<p>Over the last two-and-a-half years, many people — including <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/13/opinion/college-university-remote-pandemic.html">educators</a>, <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/university-covid-policies-remote-learning-mental-health/621159">academics</a>, <a href="https://provost.umich.edu/instructional-update-from-provost-collins">education administrators</a>, <a href="https://www.abc6.com/rep-mcnamara-heads-2-bills-centered-on-student-mental-health/">politicians</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/TomiLahren/status/1498856228428128256">political commentators</a> have argued that online learning is detrimental <a href="https://windsor.ctvnews.ca/uwindsor-researchers-discover-children-s-mental-health-worsens-when-covid-19-cases-surge-1.5874701">to student</a> <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/fed-up-parents-call-for-boycott-of-online-classes-as-province-shifts-to-virtual-learning-to-fight-covid-19-1.6304352">or family</a> mental health or well-being. </p>
<p>Partly or largely on the basis of this perceived relationship, many have urged <a href="https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/education/post-secondary-education/institution-resources-administration/covid19-return-to-campus-guidelines-web.pdf">universities</a> and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/online-learning-pediatric-societies-manitoba-students-letter-1.6307786">schools</a> to return to in-person teaching and learning.</p>
<p>What if this relationship doesn’t actually hold water?</p>
<p>We gathered and analyzed <a href="https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ulls_fsp/190/">all the empirical literature we could find</a> that related to mental health and online/remote learning. <a href="https://doi.org/10.18357/otessaj.2022.1.1.36">We discovered</a> that the findings in this literature are mixed, and any assertions about a relationship between online learning and mental health are confounded by research quality and pandemic grief.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Faces seen on a videoconferencing screen" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493342/original/file-20221103-12-1gh4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493342/original/file-20221103-12-1gh4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493342/original/file-20221103-12-1gh4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493342/original/file-20221103-12-1gh4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493342/original/file-20221103-12-1gh4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493342/original/file-20221103-12-1gh4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493342/original/file-20221103-12-1gh4il.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How will a return to in-person learning affect student mental health?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Allison Shelley for EDUimages)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Mixed findings, pandemic grief</h2>
<p>The three of us have been studying and practising online learning for over two decades, hold leadership positions in the field, and have been closely following the expansion of remote learning during the pandemic from day one. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-pushes-universities-to-switch-to-online-classes-but-are-they-ready-132728">Coronavirus pushes universities to switch to online classes — but are they ready?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>We knew that there wasn’t a large body of research on online learning and mental health pre-COVID-19, but we also knew that an avalanche of research on remote education appeared since then. </p>
<p>We wondered whether there was something in the research that we were missing, perhaps something new that was inconsistent with our prior experiences and understanding.</p>
<p>Our review of studies found the hypothesis that remote/online learning is detrimental to student mental health and well-being is unsubstantiated because the evidence upon which to judge this claim is both mixed and problematic. </p>
<h2>Why is the evidence problematic?</h2>
<p>We identified the following challenges with research we reviewed:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The vast majority of research on this topic was conducted during the pandemic, but failed to control for the pandemic. This is important because <a href="https://mhanational.org/mental-health-and-covid-19-two-years-after-pandemic">mental health is inextricably linked to the pandemic</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>Most studies judged the effectiveness of online/remote learning by asking people whether they were satisfied with their education. Satisfaction is a poor proxy for effectiveness.</p></li>
<li><p>Some studies found relationships between mental health and remote learning, but asserted that remote learning caused declines in mental health without using the kinds of statistical methods necessary to establish causal relationships. Others found no correlations, and yet still went on to assert causal relationships.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>We identified these problems in 75 per cent of the studies we reviewed.</p>
<h2>Nature of learning rarely described</h2>
<p>Equally significantly, the nature of remote or online learning that was studied was rarely described. This matters because online learning is not a monolithic approach. Both its approach and its quality can vary widely: It can refer to students passively watching hours-long pre-recorded lectures, or to people working together in real time in workshop-style groups or everything in-between. </p>
<p>A wide variety of educational <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2016.07.001">methods</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2022.2090364">are possible</a> in online settings. In other words, without controlling for instructional strategy, we can’t be certain what kind of online learning was studied.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A screen seen of different course offerings." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493353/original/file-20221103-15-nzy04q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493353/original/file-20221103-15-nzy04q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493353/original/file-20221103-15-nzy04q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493353/original/file-20221103-15-nzy04q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493353/original/file-20221103-15-nzy04q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493353/original/file-20221103-15-nzy04q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493353/original/file-20221103-15-nzy04q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There is no one form of online learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages)</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Of the small subset of studies that did not have serious methodological issues, findings on mental health impacts were mixed, and there isn’t enough data to draw any firm conclusions. </p>
<p>Some of those studies looked only at specific populations, such as learners with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2020.09.002">ADHD</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1842424">severe anxiety</a> or learners in a specific program (such <a href="https://doi.org/10.1097/NNE.0000000000001039">as nursing</a> or <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13233">agricultural studies</a>) at a specific institution, and also discussed mental health issues predating the pandemic.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-students-can-foster-positive-mental-health-at-university-186455">5 ways students can foster positive mental health at university</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>At best, what we can say about online learning and mental health in this context is the following:</p>
<p>Online learning that does not facilitate meaningful interactions and that doesn’t include mental health supports — specifically the <a href="https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning">emergency remote learning that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic</a> that required quarantine and physical distancing measures — may exacerbate feelings of loneliness and isolation.</p>
<h2>How should policy-makers proceed?</h2>
<p>How can <a href="https://theconversation.com/university-student-mental-health-care-is-at-the-tipping-point-122743">universities and colleges respond to</a> student mental health and well-being concerns when a return to in-person learning isn’t going to resolve the mental health crisis? </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student seen walking past a building with steps." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493370/original/file-20221103-19-b0l3sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493370/original/file-20221103-19-b0l3sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493370/original/file-20221103-19-b0l3sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493370/original/file-20221103-19-b0l3sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493370/original/file-20221103-19-b0l3sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493370/original/file-20221103-19-b0l3sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/493370/original/file-20221103-19-b0l3sk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How should policy-makers respond to student mental health needs now?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is some helpful guidance in published research that can help institutions craft responses to student mental health. </p>
<p>For example, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10615-021-00790-3">one study</a> by two researchers from Seton Hall University’s department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work and Criminal Justice identified the following as root causes of mental health concerns for undergraduate students impacted by COVID-19:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Loss and grief: loss of loved ones, loss of health, worry over economic impacts and loss of income, managing one’s own illness and symptoms;</p></li>
<li><p>Psychological impacts of how the pandemic was handled by federal, state, local and institutional leaders;</p></li>
<li><p>Changes in personal routines, especially exercise, sleep and eating habits;</p></li>
<li><p>Quarantine and physical distancing, which created feelings of isolation and loneliness.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>In a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1842424">different study</a>, researchers highlighted how post-secondary institutions could offer customized wellness courses, publicized by course instructors, that included a physical activity component. </p>
<p>Importantly, purposeful design of online courses can also help mitigate feelings of loneliness and isolation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-7-elements-of-a-good-online-course-139736">The 7 elements of a good online course</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Simple answers obscure challenges</h2>
<p>Perhaps the most important lesson here is that focusing on the modality of learning (in this case, online/remote learning) obscures the loss, grief and challenges that students face. </p>
<p>Doing so costs us opportunities to identify solutions and supports that can be designed into online, in-person, or <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-blended-learning-and-how-can-it-benefit-post-secondary-students-187971">blended</a> forms of learning.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/191493/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>At the time of writing, George Veletsianos receives funding from the Canada Research Chairs program, SSHRC, and BCCAT. He is a member of the board of directors for the Canadian Digital Learning Research Association. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Barbour is a member of the Canadian eLearning Network. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephanie Moore does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Making unsubstantiated claims that pandemic online learning caused mental health problems doesn’t help us address students’ current needs.George Veletsianos, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology, Royal Roads UniversityMichael Barbour, Professor of Instructional Design, Touro UniversityStephanie Moore, Assistant Professor, University of New MexicoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1879712022-10-04T19:32:18Z2022-10-04T19:32:18ZWhat is ‘blended learning’ and how can it benefit post-secondary students?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485667/original/file-20220920-13530-ppvp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C113%2C3443%2C2144&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Blended learning helps students learn to use new technologies so they can critically integrate and construct new knowledge while communicating in an increasingly digital society.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Jopwell/Pexels)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Blended learning <a href="https://doi.org/10.1186/s41239-017-0087-5">combines face-to-face and virtual instruction through the use of online learning technologies</a>. Post-secondary students attend lectures in real-time, either virtually or in person, and this is accompanied by online learning activities completed outside of class time. </p>
<p>These blended classrooms can help support the educational needs of university students. When combined with traditional instruction, a judicious use of digital tools can <a href="https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.1045">encourage collaboration</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-021-09535-0">personal responsibility for learning</a> while allowing students to work at their own pace and adapt to rapidly changing technologies. </p>
<p>Incorporating technology into teaching and learning doesn’t mean throwing out previous approaches. The key is to adapt and create a new system of learning by designing classrooms that are more reflective of the world students will engage in once they graduate. </p>
<p>For <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STxwTlU_HCU">universities to be</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=johBxnZNT14">more relevant to people’s daily lives</a>, the walls of the university lecture room must be more porous, as students begin making critical connections between theory and application. </p>
<p>By adopting a blended approach to learning, educators support students’ transitions into the world of work, and how students draw upon and consolidate their learning in meaningful ways.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An instructor sits on a chair and students are seen on a videoconferencing screen." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485664/original/file-20220920-19-xrt6ip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485664/original/file-20220920-19-xrt6ip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485664/original/file-20220920-19-xrt6ip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485664/original/file-20220920-19-xrt6ip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485664/original/file-20220920-19-xrt6ip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485664/original/file-20220920-19-xrt6ip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/485664/original/file-20220920-19-xrt6ip.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Embracing a creative approach to learning should be supported, rather than defined by, whether an instructor delivers parts of a course online or in-person.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Diva Plavalaguna/Pexels)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Best practices in blended learning</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/00472395211047865">many educators have</a> embraced <a href="https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.693">blended approaches to classroom design</a>, this shifted to large-scale <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040086">emergency remote teaching</a> during the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>Some discussions about emergency remote learning in the pandemic focused on different online tools and how or whether these tools can compensate for the <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/society/the-cruel-ridiculous-reality-of-virtual-learning/">loss of regular in-person education</a>.</p>
<p>But in ordinary times, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2021.1957802">and when relying on best blended learning practices</a>, teaching approaches should be rooted in learning objectives or students’ experiences — and these considerations aren’t the same as whether course components are online or in-person.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/machines-cant-personalize-education-only-people-can-154339">Machines can't 'personalize' education, only people can</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Embracing a creative and flexible approach to learning can enable a new ecosystem of learning to develop, but this should be supported, rather than defined by, an instructor’s mode of delivery.</p>
<p>We advocate for empowering students by helping them to learn how to use new digital technologies so they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-01-2019-0002">can critically integrate and construct new knowledge for themselves while communicating their thoughts with teachers and peers</a>.</p>
<h2>Students’ responses to a blended classroom</h2>
<p>We conducted a survey of university students taking a first-year geography course at the <a href="https://geog.ubc.ca/">University of British Columbia</a>. Instructors used different platforms / softwares to support ways of teaching (pedagogies) in the classroom: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software">Microsoft Teams</a> supported student collaboration by providing a platform through which they could co-create and share documents, or video-conference with one another; </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.home.tapestry-tool.com/">Tapestry</a>, a platform that allows professors to create dynamic websites that link together media to help students learn about interconnected concepts, encouraged students to engage in self-directed learning; </p></li>
<li><p>Through <a href="https://echoes.xyz/">Echoes</a>, we created self-directed field trips students could run on their mobile device, and we used this to encourage students to explore course concepts in their local community;</p></li>
<li><p>We used <a href="https://www.voiceflow.com/">Voice Flow</a> to support students through the interactive chat bots that could help them navigate topics (like plagiarism or developing term paper ideas). </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Real-time and self-paced course components</h2>
<p>An entry survey of 332 students revealed the majority of students had used learning technologies before — overwhelmingly for communication or accessing course materials. </p>
<p>Generally, they were excited by learning new technologies and eager to develop new expertise. However, a lack of experience was also a source of stress and anxiety for some students who were concerned these might require additional time to learn and navigate.</p>
<p>The exit survey of 189 participants showed a blended approach to learning gave students a strong motivation to learn while working at their own pace. Overwhelmingly, a balance of real-time (synchronous) and self-paced (asynchronous) delivery helped reinforce course learning objectives.</p>
<p>Students found all of the tools relatively easy to use. They rated Microsoft Teams, used to navigate arranging meeting times and work on a weekly shared assignment, as most challenging. We believe these challenges were due to the nature of group work and collaboration, as our past experience indicates no matter what tool is used, students usually struggle with group assignments. Yet students said the most common benefit of Microsoft Teams was collaboration and social interaction outside of class.</p>
<p>The results of the exit survey provided a heartening picture of how educational technologies can support more student independence and responsibility. Overall, students felt there was a good balance between asynchronous and synchronous learning, and this helped them make connections between lectures, assignments and course learning materials while collaborating. </p>
<h2>Insights for designing a blended classroom</h2>
<ol>
<li><p>It’s important for instructors to choose digital tools that are easy to use and navigate;</p></li>
<li><p>A blended classroom should be student-centred. The tools used in our course allowed students to work at their own pace, improved their ability to collaborate and communicate with others, and encouraged them to explore course concepts more fully; </p></li>
<li><p>Instructors should choose digital tools that support course learning objectives. A common trap is adapting a course to a specific tool. But in a successfully blended classroom, digital tools should enhance learning rather than restrict it. </p></li>
<li><p>Consider how to enhance students’ ability to use different tools so that they can adapt to rapidly changing labour markets and classrooms. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>A blended approach to teaching and learning does not mean less teaching because now technology does it. Rather, educational technology can help foster better learning environments, and more engaged and flexible ways of teaching.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187971/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Siobhán McPhee receives funding from internal teaching and learning grants within the University of British Columbia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Micheal Jerowsky receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.</span></em></p>Teaching approaches should be rooted in learning objectives or students’ experiences, and these considerations aren’t the same as whether course components are online or in-person.Siobhán McPhee, Associate Professor of Teaching, Geography Department, University of British ColumbiaMicheal Jerowsky, PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, University of British ColumbiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1891382022-08-25T20:03:20Z2022-08-25T20:03:20ZAustralia has a new online-only private school: what are the options if the mainstream system doesn’t suit your child?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480810/original/file-20220824-12-vq87be.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=29%2C37%2C4962%2C3285&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/VzIsqZ8K9LI">Annie Spratt/Unsplash</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As of next year, a Melbourne private school will open to <a href="https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.heraldsun.com.au/victoria-education/schools-hub/inside-pangea-haileybury-colleges-18kayear-online-school/news-story/81ec5e11e7b8d90ae9c59fee672544c7__;!!NVzLfOphnbDXSw!DU1Fz2Di3VpzMtsfkPHB8RA379QFfo_W_Fg_KIrgy5s_6X6uQKcch5tnzjoOUTSQd3m5IRoaWVaagFD6qN6T2rInP7HwzhHL8aHWAa_v$">online-only enrolments</a> for years five to 12. </p>
<p>It will cost A$18,000 per year in fees, and parents will have to supervise their child the whole time they are “at school”. It is billed as giving families flexibility and providing opportunities for those who live far away from the school. This comes as <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/we-can-fit-education-into-our-lives-more-kids-learning-at-home-20220819-p5bb4k.html">new data</a> shows there has been a 44% rise in students homeschooling in Victoria since 2019. </p>
<p>There are good reasons why the mainstream school system does not work for some students. And there are multiple options for families to explore if they are considering learning from home. </p>
<h2>At-home education in Australia</h2>
<p>With a small population spread across a vast continent, Australia has a long history of distance and at-home education. There are public distance education schools in all states and territories.</p>
<p>Access, and pricing, depends on your state or territory. In Queensland, for example, anyone can access <a href="https://brisbanesde.eq.edu.au/enrolments/new-enrolments">state distance education</a>. Those who are “homeschooling by choice” are required to pay around $1,600 for the service; those who are “homeschooling by limited choice” don’t have to pay. In <a href="https://www.education.wa.edu.au/distance-education">Western Australia</a>, it is also available to students who require more “flexibility” or who want to <a href="https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-and-learning/schools/alternative-schooling/external-education">study subjects</a> not available at their school.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student works at home during lockdowns in May 2020." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480966/original/file-20220824-17781-ma09s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480966/original/file-20220824-17781-ma09s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480966/original/file-20220824-17781-ma09s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480966/original/file-20220824-17781-ma09s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480966/original/file-20220824-17781-ma09s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480966/original/file-20220824-17781-ma09s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480966/original/file-20220824-17781-ma09s3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A student works at home during lockdowns in May 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dan Peled/ AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It <a href="https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/policy-library/associated-documents/pd-2002-0006-02.pdf">may also suit</a> students who are geographically isolated or whose circumstances mean they are <a href="https://www.education.act.gov.au/schooling/distance-education">unable to access school</a> on a regular basis, perhaps because of health issues or extracurricular commitments such as elite sports training.</p>
<p>We also know in-person learning may not suit students with special education needs, such as those with <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131911.2020.1728232">autism or ADHD</a>, students who are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131911.2018.1532955?casa_token=EcB-Ogm2bXgAAAAA:lzMDJq-hNQK6mVWxveVGwHFjgFDGCV7wXUfS8KTHAwoqDATeS7j6o5i0A32d0Fc2dPS3Mq117Sl3">bullied</a>, or those who feel the school system <a href="https://compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/soc4.12725?casa_token=36pttErRnp0AAAAA%3A0i4DAe2ce9d8lQDtmZTS_VnRqpSQfpHejlGJE9xhiWkbSuKp-gl3i1g4MTPXibNkBpvn7n4ani41fg">does not suit them</a>. </p>
<p>Learning away from the mainstream system can also help accelerate <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00131911.2020.1728232">gifted students</a>.</p>
<p>In the wake of COVID lockdowns, many of these children have drifted toward <a href="https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=10198725&AN=157014092&h=U2pHYZzf7Q%2F6Srnna2u2pFfM9D5FQyZAsqeS0%2BmhmgC95JsHtbIRzSzxiheJSIeeTOLmc5D3xou8EaHdXtsIvg%3D%3D&crl=f&casa_token=1wcmYJt70JwAAAAA:YTSR71Bzm4NZEm0J3RBEVMrNe3wzfMVVFsGuQLd6cEZj-NnwUm3yACbqT2X1NeFHvAH9Ja8">homeschooling</a> or <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-30/pandemic-drives-surge-in-enrolments-at-qld-independent-schools/100413048">private</a>, often Christian, distance education offerings instead of going back to in-person learning at school. </p>
<h2>Homeschooling enrolments have been rising</h2>
<p>Mainstream school has been losing enrolments for a number of years – even before COVID. Home education/homeschooling is the <a href="https://breakthrough.neliti.com/homeschoolers-were-the-forgotten-group-during-covid-19-lockdowns/">fastest-growing</a> <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED556234#:%7E:text=Ray%2C%20Brian%20D.&text=Homeschooling%2D%2Dthat%20is%2C%20parent,education%20in%20the%20United%20States.">education cohort</a> in the world. </p>
<p>A recent study found that, <a href="https://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=26b58831-66b7-4132-9022-00e705119c6b%40redis">in Australia</a>, it’s grown 53% compared with the next closest alternative, independent schools. There were around <a href="https://theconversation.com/homeschooling-boomed-last-year-but-these-4-charts-show-it-was-on-the-rise-before-covid-157309">26,000 young people</a> home educating in Australia in 2021 out of <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/education/schools/latest-release">about four million</a> school students overall, and that number has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-25/queensland-home-school-registrations-soar-during-covid-19-/100778840">grown since then</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/homeschooling-boomed-last-year-but-these-4-charts-show-it-was-on-the-rise-before-covid-157309">Homeschooling boomed last year. But these 4 charts show it was on the rise before COVID</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>But at-home learning is not limited to home educators, nor is it new. Distance education, particularly by choice and among those in city or regional areas, has also seen <a href="https://theconversation.com/traditional-school-doesnt-suit-everyone-australia-needs-more-flexible-options-177608">significant growth</a> in the past few years.</p>
<p>There is some <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED588847.pdf">evidence</a> that many parents would like to keep their children home, at least some of the time, if they could. Some parents <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15582159.2019.1616992">report</a> they wanted more time with their children, or they want more control over they way their children learn.</p>
<p>The issues faced by many young people in mainstream schools, as well as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/mar/21/mental-health-issues-more-common-among-young-australians-national-survey-suggests">high rates</a> of <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02673843.2019.1596823">anxiety</a> diagnosed among young people, suggests there is a market for more flexibility at school. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1077722918300737?casa_token=buIyxGERVScAAAAA:9AZG-eJU0VNQHavpq1m7d7ogtA9Jgx8N8Z-ZJUs0LqTE2BRTNPk_iUQuBDiO4i7wJxWL_ze7">School refusal</a> also <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/lockdowns-are-over-but-anxiety-lingers-as-more-victorian-students-refuse-school-20220519-p5amrj.html">appears to be on the rise</a>. </p>
<p>While it requires a lot of parental support, those families who can find the flexibility in their lives to support this school enrolment might find it suits their child, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781118926895.ch14">even for a limited period of time</a>.</p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131911.2018.1532955?casa_token=lAVRTXmkziMAAAAA%3AeyTbu52ZxxTUmRATklBWG_9oVBVtyHQ1Om0XHAs3T2-ASh0lJi7Eajpc_V9FlGMgL5uqsFexZoF7">studies suggest</a> this approach is effective because it allows parents and educators to better meet the child’s learning needs.</p>
<h2>What options do you have?</h2>
<p>Most parents and students prefer the mainstream system, but for some, it doesn’t meet their needs or they want something different. </p>
<p>If you would like to enrol your child in an online-only school, but don’t have the time to supervise your child all day or $18,000, there are some alternatives. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.vrqa.vic.gov.au/home/Pages/hscombine.aspx">Victoria</a>, parents can enrol their child part-time in school and keep their child home the rest of the time. This option is at the principal’s discretion and needs to be negotiated with the school.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-you-support-kids-with-adhd-to-learn-parents-said-these-3-things-help-187012">How can you support kids with ADHD to learn? Parents said these 3 things help</a>
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<p>There are also other, private distance education schools that <a href="https://accelerate.edu.au/fees/">do not charge</a> as much as this Victorian school. These include some <a href="https://www.pinnacleacademiccollege.com.au/fee-schedule">secular options</a>.</p>
<p>If your child is around 15 or older, <a href="https://tafeqld.edu.au/course/17/17691/certificate-iv-in-adult-tertiary-preparation">TAFE</a> might be an option and it may also provide avenues into higher education.</p>
<p>And there is always homeschooling, in which parents take full responsibility for their child’s learning, independent of a formal educational institution. </p>
<p>Whatever parents decide, if in-person, mainstream school is not working for your child, the chances are, if you look around, you’ll find something that might work better. Your options might be a lot cheaper than $18,000, too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189138/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca English does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A Melbourne private school is opening online-only enrolments. Headlines have focussed on the $18,000 fees. But there are many reasons why in-person schooling may not work.Rebecca English, Senior Lecturer in Education, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1876522022-08-22T16:05:06Z2022-08-22T16:05:06ZProfessor flexibility, recorded lectures: Some positive university legacies of the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477685/original/file-20220804-16-zvuolw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C5022%2C3443&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A professor’s understanding of how important an accommodation is for one or two students may produce a benefit for all.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/professor-flexibility--recorded-lectures--some-positive-university-legacies-of-the-pandemic" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>The COVID-19 closure of university and college campuses and move to online learning in March 2020 was a massive global educational experiment. Many students were severely <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-pandemic-exposed-the-vulnerability-of-international-students-in-canada-174105">disadvantaged</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247999">and strained during</a> the experiment, others coped and some thrived. Educators are divided on its impacts. </p>
<p>With international colleagues who are geography experts, I studied <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2022.2081225">lessons learned during the pandemic</a>. Taken together, the lessons may form the foundation for what post-pandemic post-secondary education could look like in coming decades. Improved educational practices could be one of the few positive outcomes from the pandemic. </p>
<p>The large-scale result is more choice for students in how they are taught with better access for more students. But realistically, the lessons will be applied in different ways by professors, academic departments and institutions to create a patchwork of unique approaches. </p>
<h2>New forms of online learning</h2>
<p>Specialists in online <a href="https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning">education distanced themselves from emergency online teaching at the start of the pandemic</a>. </p>
<p>However, improvisation by untrained online educators produced a surprise. Our research documented how some students who had previously taken and hated online courses with slick presentations and high production values found they enjoyed a course with professors who could relate well to students online. </p>
<p>In these cases, topical bad jokes and a peek at the professor’s home office more than compensated for grainy video and poor sound. Some online courses that proved successful continue to be offered by some faculty, even though colleges and universities are now fully open. Students can enjoy the convenience of an online course, and connect with their professor. </p>
<p>Students also quickly learned that online courses don’t need to be taken from home. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A student's hand seen at a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477690/original/file-20220804-26-ob8b2x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Students have realized they can attend online classes in their university library or cafeteria.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Kampus Production)</span></span>
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<p>My anecdotal impression from colleagues in the United States and Canada, including some B.C. colleagues at <a href="https://www.bccat.ca/articulation/committees">meetings hosted by the British Columbia Council on Admissions and Transfer</a> — a body that oversees credit transfers between post-secondary institutions — is that online sections are filling up faster than face-to-face sections of the same course in some universities and colleges.</p>
<h2>More online components</h2>
<p>The online experience also informed face-to-face courses with more thought by faculty on how to engage students during a lecture. </p>
<p>During online learning, course leaders achieved this engagement through online discussion boards and other collaborative tools. That experience carried over for some faculty, and online learning management systems like Moodle and Canvas are now widely used in some face-to-face courses. </p>
<h2>Teaching and learning accommodations</h2>
<p>Prior to the pandemic, students with <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/students/accessible-learning/establishing-accommodations/prospectivedas.html">learning, mental or physical disabilities</a> had access to “accessibility services” or a similar office in universities and colleges.</p>
<p>The process involved the professional assessment of accommodations necessary for students to succeed in a course, such as extended time for tests, or permission to record lectures. Offices communicated these accommodations to faculty who were then required to implement the accommodation. </p>
<p>Campus closures meant that on-campus support services were less readily available. As a result, some students talked directly to their professors about the challenges they faced. </p>
<p>These challenges were well-known by specialist counsellors and advisors within universities, but confidentiality kept an understanding of student challenges away from faculty. </p>
<p>Learning the specifics about the complex nature of hurdles to learning for some students made some faculty think more about courses and course delivery for all students. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/for-a-safe-return-to-university-campuses-listen-to-students-most-affected-by-the-pandemic-178236">For a 'safe return' to university campuses, listen to students most affected by the pandemic</a>
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<p>For example, prior to the pandemic, recorded live lectures were available to selected students as an accommodation. </p>
<p>During the online pivot, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-020-00563-8">lecture recordings were popular</a>, and it turned out they were helpful for many students. A professor’s understanding of how important an accommodation is for one or two students may produce a benefit for all. </p>
<p>Some professors continue to record lectures now, even while offering an in-person class.</p>
<h2>Reducing student stress</h2>
<p>Student mental health became <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0247999">an issue during the pandemic, but there were also rising numbers of students with mental health issues prior to the pandemic.</a> Conversations in the media also made it easier for students to talk about their challenges. </p>
<p>The causes of mental health issues are diverse, but student workload has been increasing in recent years and increased during the pandemic. </p>
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<img alt="Two people seen talking in a library." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477687/original/file-20220804-5517-ekvjvs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Some professors’ greater awareness of the barriers, mental health challenges or personal situations students face is leading to rethinking how they teach.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Pexels/Antoni Shkraba)</span></span>
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<p>The transition from face-to-face classes to an online environment encouraged the addition of new assignments to courses, often in addition to the old ones. Some faculty are beginning to rethink not just how they teach, but also their curriculum.</p>
<h2>Patchwork of responses</h2>
<p>While administrators at universities and colleges are still struggling with post-pandemic responses, many decisions have already been made by individual professors. </p>
<p>Some take attendance at lectures, require assignments to be submitted on paper and refuse to record their lectures or provide copies of their slides. Others are more accommodating. There has never been a more flexible time to be a student.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187652/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terence Day does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Research by geographers in Canada, the United States and Hong Kong identifies lessons for universities and colleges from the 2020 move to online learning.Terence Day, Adjunct Professor of Geography, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1859192022-08-16T14:42:07Z2022-08-16T14:42:07ZMobile app offers new learning tools for anatomy students. But tech isn’t a silver bullet<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473717/original/file-20220712-12-6z2q67.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Anat_Hub app gives anatomy students a new way to really peer into the human musculoskeletal system.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Donenko Oleksii/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For most people who finished school or university even a decade ago, the idea of virtual reality in the classroom probably seems like the stuff of science fiction. But immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality – which all aim to marry the physical and digital worlds – are increasingly being used to <a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20211121141027398">bolster teaching and learning</a>.</p>
<p>Its proponents <a href="https://www.immersivelearning.news/2022/02/04/how-virtual-reality-can-change-schooling-in-south-africa/">argue</a> that immersive technology could be especially useful in low-resource settings. No laboratory equipment at school? Can’t afford pricey field trips? No problem: mobile phones and tablets could take entire labs and libraries into schools and universities.</p>
<p>Those opposed to an all-out migration to such technology point out that poorer countries’ education sectors already have serious resource and infrastructure constraints.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0036933020956317">COVID pandemic</a>, with its resulting lockdowns and university closures, forced countries to shift towards online teaching and learning. But it didn’t miraculously improve infrastructure issues – if anything, it made them worse. Still, it seems likely that some element of online learning will become the norm in many parts of the world. </p>
<p>How might educational institutions in poorer contexts adapt without leaving students behind? Our experience in developing an immersive mobile phone application for university anatomy students offers some insights. </p>
<p>The departments of computer science and medical biosciences at South Africa’s University of the Western Cape collaborated to develop <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/11/5694">Anat_Hub</a> for two reasons. First, we wanted to reach students who were no longer on campus because of the pandemic, and create an avenue for self-paced learning. Second, practical training in medical biosciences has been hampered by resource constraints and limited teaching staff. In anatomy, for instance, there is <a href="https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/fulltext/2018/09000/bodies_for_anatomy_education_in_medical_schools_.17.aspx">a global lack of cadavers</a>. That makes practical training difficult.</p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/11/5694">a recent paper</a>, we outlined how students experienced the app as well as the constraints and problems they faced. </p>
<h2>An immersive experience</h2>
<p>Anat_Hub is a practical immersive AR technology for the musculoskeletal system. It teaches the names, attachments and actions of muscles of the human musculoskeletal system. The app provides detailed graphics of both the upper and lower limbs. The models can be viewed in four different sections: the shoulder and arm; forearm and hand; hip and thigh; and leg and foot. </p>
<p>In the AR mode, the animation functionality built into the app allows the student to view and interact with the model from different sides. As with the 3D version, users can start by looking at the muscles of each limb, and peel away layers down to the nervous system.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473715/original/file-20220712-31713-e10y9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473715/original/file-20220712-31713-e10y9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473715/original/file-20220712-31713-e10y9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473715/original/file-20220712-31713-e10y9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=613&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473715/original/file-20220712-31713-e10y9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473715/original/file-20220712-31713-e10y9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473715/original/file-20220712-31713-e10y9a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=770&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>The application, based on the Android operating system, offers a wide range of useful features intended to promote active and self-regulated learning. These include 3D mode, a glossary, and a quiz where students’ cognitive abilities are tested on the material covered.</p>
<p>Anat_Hub is about 300MB in size and internet access is needed for it to be downloaded and installed. However, it can be used offline once it’s downloaded. Internet access was a foremost consideration in the app’s development process given its African context. It has <a href="https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=20210707124818759">been reported</a> that some 82% of university students in sub-Saharan Africa do not have internet access. In South Africa, a survey by publishers Juta found that 32% of responding students struggled with internet access. </p>
<p>We piloted the system on a group of volunteer first-year undergraduates from several anatomy-related disciplines. Then we evaluated their experiences of the app’s functionality and usability. There were, ultimately, 53 respondents. Only 13.2% had used AR prior to seeing Anat_Hub. Most had relied on lecture notes (96.2%), internet resources (77.4%), videos (75.5%) and textbooks (56.5%) to study anatomy. Few had turned to alternative sources such as mobile applications (24.5%), anatomy atlases (11.3%) and e-learning software (7.5%).</p>
<p>Students rated the app well. Nearly two-thirds of the volunteers scored it a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1-5 (“poor” to “excellent”). Nearly 70% of the respondents particularly liked the app’s 3D mode. Many found the glossary useful. And 96.2% told us they would recommend the app to others. This all hints at the potential and opportunities for such technology. </p>
<h2>The digital divide</h2>
<p>Of course, there were problems too. These largely centred on faulty or missing features, user interface and navigation, 3D elements in the navigation bar and difficulty with the AR mode. These issues could possibly be ascribed to the type of mobile device used not meeting the app’s required specifications (Android API level 26 to 30 with a mobile screen aspect ratio of 16:9).</p>
<p>This is a reminder that not all mobile or smart phones and computer tablets are made equal. They are not all configured the same way and some students simply cannot afford the high-end phones that are more likely to meet the app’s specifications. This emphasises South Africa’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-equality-south-africa-still-has-a-long-way-to-go-131864">deep digital divide</a> and its <a href="https://databank.worldbank.org/data/download/poverty/33EF03BB-9722-4AE2-ABC7-AA2972D68AFE/Global_POVEQ_ZAF.pdf">high poverty levels</a>. Many students at our university, and others in South Africa, come from households with no basic infrastructure and where parents have neither the education nor means to provide them with a technology leg-up.</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/digital-equality-south-africa-still-has-a-long-way-to-go-131864">Digital equality: South Africa still has a long way to go</a>
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<p>This is not the end of our work with Anat_Hub. For one thing, future research will aim to determine whether students’ performance in anatomy tests and examinations will improve as a result of the app. Further effort is planned to optimise and reduce the size of the app. The ultimate goal is to roll out the app as a learning tool for anatomy within the University of the Western Cape and other institutions. </p>
<p>Applications like Anat_Hub show that home-grown technologies can be developed to meet local needs. But the availability of the technology itself is no “cure” for shortcomings elsewhere in the education system or society more broadly.</p>
<p><em>Professor Okobi Ekpo and Marjorie Smith contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185919/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The development of an immersive mobile phone application for university anatomy students offers insights into the future of online learning.Omowunmi Isafiade, Senior Lecturer in Computer Science, University of the Western CapeChristina Kotze, Lecturer in anatomy and physiology, and researcher in invertebrate reproductive biology, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1883272022-08-12T13:19:36Z2022-08-12T13:19:36ZUniversities shouldn’t use software to monitor online exams: here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478930/original/file-20220812-26-i7rj1p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">FluxFactory/Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Proctoring software monitors a student’s computer or phone while they write exams. These programs have been around for some time but became ubiquitous during online learning in the pandemic.</p>
<p>Proctoria, Respondus and Proctor U, the most popular programs, have enjoyed <a href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/06/long-overdue-reckoning-online-proctoring-companies-may-finally-be-here">a 500% increase</a> in usage since the start of COVID-19 and proctoring software is now a <a href="https://brownpoliticalreview.org/2020/12/big-ed-tech-is-watching-you-privacy-prejudice-and-pedagogy-in-online-proctoring/">US$19 billion global market</a>. </p>
<p>Some proctoring programs work by checking that the student has only the test software and no other programs open; others monitor keystrokes. Some use the computer’s camera or cellphone audio to check that the student is working alone. A number of South African universities have taken up <a href="https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Colleges/Economic-and-Management-Sciences/News-&-events/Articles/Unisa-pilots-proctoring-tools-for-2nd-online-exam">cellphone monitoring</a> programs.</p>
<p>But this software is not innocuous.</p>
<p>I argue in a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14767430.2022.2100612">recent article</a> that the uptake of proctoring software is a symptom of a much larger problem.</p>
<p>Universities have neglected their educational responsibilities in service of a neoliberal ideology. This positions students as customers and higher education as a business. It’s a problem because when universities become businesses selling qualifications, it narrows their potential to be places where students enjoy transformative relationships with knowledge, and where knowledge is created to serve people and the planet. </p>
<p>The ability to memorise information and regurgitate it within a short time limit is required in only a small handful of situations. What most students need is to understand how knowledge is made in their field of study, what contributions that field makes to society, and how they can source and evaluate information to answer questions and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-school-maths-could-better-prepare-south-africans-for-the-world-of-work-147394">resolve problems</a>. They need to learn how to be <a href="https://theconversation.com/education-needs-a-refocus-so-that-all-learners-reach-their-full-potential-154649">ethical, critical citizens</a>. </p>
<p>Assessment directed towards such ends looks very different from current practices, which are obsessed with both memorisation and cheating.</p>
<h2>What’s wrong with proctoring</h2>
<p>Proctoring raises three issues of concern: privacy, racism and ableism.</p>
<p><strong>Privacy:</strong> Those selling the software insist that students give consent to its use. But if students don’t, they are excluded from the exam. Universities have ethics committees to make sure their researchers don’t use such coercive tactics and yet they use them on students. Researchers have to ensure that potential participants fully understand a study’s potential risks and benefits before they can offer informed consent. </p>
<p>The invasiveness of the software is <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/22/21526792/proctorio-online-test-proctoring-lawsuit-universities-students-coronavirus">well documented</a> and many scholars have said it has most of the characteristics of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/seanlawson/2020/04/24/are-schools-forcing-students-to-install-spyware-that-invades-their-privacy-as-a-result-of-the-coronavirus-lockdown/?sh=6db401d9638d">illegal spyware</a>. </p>
<p>Allowing a stranger to listen in on a student’s family home as they write a test is surely an indication that it’s the wrong way of doing assessment. </p>
<p><strong>Racism of facial recognition software:</strong> Whether it is the photo tagging suggestions of social media, border security systems, or proctoring software, <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2010.07023">facial recognition</a> remains poor at recognising people <a href="https://quod.lib.umich.edu/t/tia/17063888.0039.308?view=text;rgn=main">with darker skin</a>. The artificial intelligence that compares the face on the student card to the person in front of the computer camera is far more likely to <a href="https://jitp.commons.gc.cuny.edu/toward-abolishing-online-proctoring-counter-narratives-deep-change-and-pedagogies-of-educational-dignity/">flag a suspicion</a> if that student is black than if they are white.</p>
<p><strong>Ableism of facial recognition:</strong> Anyone with a body shape that does not meet the program’s expectations can find themselves flagged as suspicious. This includes the tics and stimming of people with Tourette’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, Huntington’s syndrome and autism.</p>
<p>Many American universities have now opted out of proctoring software in response to protests by academics and students.</p>
<p>But opting out attends to the symptom – universities spying on their students – and not to the causes of such activities.</p>
<h2>Neoliberal ideology</h2>
<p>The underlying cause is that many universities around the world have taken on a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/neoliberalism">neoliberal ideology</a>, whereby the worth of any person, object, creature or activity is thought to be measurable in terms of its contribution to the economy.</p>
<p>A neoliberal university believes, firstly, that it is a business in the knowledge market. In commercialising education, universities <a href="http://www.cilt.uct.ac.za/cilt/projects/uct-leeds">increasingly outsource educational activities</a> – such as monitoring examinations using proctoring software. </p>
<p>When Ian Linkletter, an educational technologist at the University of British Columbia in Canada, tweeted criticisms of the proctoring software used in his university, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/22/21526792/proctorio-online-test-proctoring-lawsuit-universities-students-coronavirus">he was sued</a> by the company. The market cannot allow the critical engagement that should be at the heart of a university.</p>
<p>Secondly, the neoliberal university treats the student as a customer. In a world where knowledge is packaged and sold as a commodity, software companies convince universities that their product, the qualifications they award, can be devalued if they are not policed. </p>
<p>In such an understanding of the university, proctoring software makes sense.</p>
<p>It should come as no surprise that students are quickly learning <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/3an98j/students-are-easily-cheating-state-of-the-art-test-proctoring-tech">to game the system</a>. The internet is replete with tips on how to confuse the software and get assistance online even while the software is running.</p>
<p>The third characteristic of neoliberal ideology is that power is accorded along lines of <a href="https://theconversation.com/education-and-inequality-in-2021-how-to-change-the-system-158470">wealth</a>. This characteristic is also in evidence in most universities worldwide. The university, as a relatively wealthy institution, has the power to implement invasive technology without much challenge. The average student must simply comply.</p>
<h2>Universities for the common good</h2>
<p>It becomes impossible to implement proctoring software if the conception of the university is that it is a social structure that contributes powerful, principled knowledge in service of people and the planet.</p>
<p>Such a social structure would need to expend significant energy in inducting students into their role as knowledge creators and encouraging them to take on this identity responsibly. This would require shifts in how academics interact with students and articulate the purpose of a higher education to students and the public. It would also require a rethink of the form and function of assessment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188327/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sioux McKenna does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Proctoring software is a symptom of a bigger problem: universities see themselves as businesses and students as customers.Sioux McKenna, Director of Centre for Postgraduate Studies, Rhodes University & Visiting Research Professor in Center for International Higher Education, Boston College, Rhodes UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1865072022-08-02T15:57:38Z2022-08-02T15:57:38ZStudents returning to campus want the ‘university experience’ missed during COVID-19<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476600/original/file-20220728-20558-5jmfu8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C363%2C6843%2C4183&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Universities need to offer planned socializing for students who entered programs after 2020 and are less likely to know other people in their cohort.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nicole Osborne</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Universities are <a href="https://covid19.ubc.ca">implementing COVID-19 safety plans</a> to maintain safe and healthy environments — through protocols like <a href="https://www.utoronto.ca/utogether/safe-environment">enhanced cleaning</a> or a focus on <a href="https://www.dal.ca/covid-19-information-and-updates.html">ventilation and air quality</a> — for the imminent return of students to in-person learning on campuses.</p>
<p>While these plans include extensive efforts to help students safely return to pre-pandemic learning, focused attention should also be given to “university experience” activities. </p>
<p>We asked thousands of students around the world about what they have missed most from pre-pandemic student life, as part of a <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/625d911bb5b3d215a23a2b95/t/62c87f447a6e61504e5759bb/1657306949007/Back-to-School+%285%29+%282%29.pdf">broader study</a> on COVID-19 and higher education at the <a href="https://www.pearlmunk.com/">Policy, Elections, & Representation Lab</a> at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.</p>
<p>Our data suggests students miss in-person learning and activities which encourage socialization. These social opportunities are important for student well-being. </p>
<h2>Restorative effects</h2>
<p>The COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on student health. Research shows that the pandemic has worsened emotional distress, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2008017">increased risk for mental illness</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2020.152191">raised self-reported anxiety levels among students</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-020-10056-6">negatively affected sleep patterns</a>. </p>
<p>Switching to online classes further exacerbated these problems, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/15325024.2020.1769300">online learning forced students to use different coping mechanisms to stay mentally healthy</a>.</p>
<p>Socializing with friends from school, using the campus gym, visiting office hours and participating in campus clubs are important elements of post-secondary life. </p>
<p>On-campus activities can <a href="https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02287">improve student well-being</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/csd.0.0099">contribute to positive health outcomes</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.2202/1949-6605.5005">support academic achievement</a>. To support these positive student experiences, universities need to understand what students miss most from being on-campus. </p>
<h2>A safe, social return</h2>
<p>Universities are providing opportunities for new students to socialize during <a href="https://you.ubc.ca/ubc-life/campus-community/orientations/#:%7E:text=UBC's%20orientation%20programs%20are%20your,mature%20students%2C%20and%20graduate%20students">their orientation weeks</a>. Universities have also made in-person learning and important amenities, such as campus gyms and university libraries, available to students once again.</p>
<p>Whether or not universities offer orientation to <a href="https://students.ubc.ca/new-to-ubc/orientations/imagine-ubc#information-for-returning-students">returning students</a> as well as <a href="https://www.ulaval.ca/etudiants-actuels/rentree">new students</a>, all students who experienced fragmented university life since 2020 will need access to planned social activities throughout the year.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students seen walking in front of a university building." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476602/original/file-20220728-33778-h94tg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476602/original/file-20220728-33778-h94tg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476602/original/file-20220728-33778-h94tg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476602/original/file-20220728-33778-h94tg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476602/original/file-20220728-33778-h94tg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476602/original/file-20220728-33778-h94tg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476602/original/file-20220728-33778-h94tg3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">All students who experienced fragmented university life since 2020 will need access to planned social activities throughout the year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Lynett</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Activities students missed</h2>
<p>We surveyed 4,812 students in 78 countries at over 1,000 unique post-secondary institutions about the student experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. </p>
<p>We know that students miss on-campus university life, but we wanted to know which activities in particular are most important to students. </p>
<p>We asked students: “Which of the following actions were you unable to do due to the pandemic that you would normally do during the academic year? Rank in order of importance.” We learned that students really missed chances to be together in person, not only due to academic concerns.</p>
<h2>Socializing, studying, clubs</h2>
<p>We recruited our participants via advertising on social media using Facebook and Twitter ads. Our respondents come from countries in Africa (29 per cent), South America (36 per cent), North America (18 per cent), Europe (six per cent), Asia (five per cent) and Oceania (six per cent). </p>
<p>Globally, students overwhelmingly missed attending in-person classes: 42 per cent of these students ranked in-person classes as the most important activity they missed. Universities are right to prioritize a return to in-person classes. </p>
<p>Students in our global sample ranked campus-related social activities, such as socializing with friends from school, studying at the library, group study sessions and participating in campus clubs and organizations, the next highest. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473409/original/file-20220711-23-tkvmqe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A vertical axis on a graph presents each activity students were asked to rank, and a horizontal axis displays the number of students who ranked the specific activity. The colours in each bar are associated with the ranking; for example, the orange sections represent the number of students who ranked each activity as the most important." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473409/original/file-20220711-23-tkvmqe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473409/original/file-20220711-23-tkvmqe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473409/original/file-20220711-23-tkvmqe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473409/original/file-20220711-23-tkvmqe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473409/original/file-20220711-23-tkvmqe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473409/original/file-20220711-23-tkvmqe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473409/original/file-20220711-23-tkvmqe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Number of respondents based on survey responses to the question: Which of the following actions were you unable to do due to the pandemic that you would normally do during the academic year? Rank in order of personal importance.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We found similar trends in Canada. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473970/original/file-20220713-20-4vaidi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A vertical axis on a graph presents each activity students were asked to rank, and a horizontal axis displays the number of students who ranked the specific activity. The colours in each bar are associated with the ranking; for example, the orange sections represent the number of students who ranked each activity as the most important." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473970/original/file-20220713-20-4vaidi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473970/original/file-20220713-20-4vaidi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473970/original/file-20220713-20-4vaidi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473970/original/file-20220713-20-4vaidi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=273&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473970/original/file-20220713-20-4vaidi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473970/original/file-20220713-20-4vaidi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/473970/original/file-20220713-20-4vaidi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=343&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Number of students in Canada based on survey responses to the question: Which of the following actions were you unable to do due to the pandemic that you would normally do during the academic year? Rank in order of personal importance.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Missed opportunities</h2>
<p>To better understand student needs, we also provided them with the opportunity to respond to an open-ended question: Is there anything about the student experience during COVID-19 pandemic that you think more people should know more about?</p>
<p>A student from Nigeria told us “the stay-at-home policy though was put in place for good intentions but it affected the mental health of most students.” A student in Poland wrote: “I think online classes is depriving students of social interactions which makes university stay very boring.” </p>
<p>A student in Canada summarized the student experience: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I made a lot of new friends online, but it was difficult not actually seeing them. It was also disappointing to not have many sports or clubs at school. I managed to join a few clubs online, but they weren’t the same as in-person would have been, where we could’ve organized actual events … The most devastating aspect for me was missing out on the opportunities of my first year and the activities, getting to form closer relationships with students and professors, and not having the chance to grow on my own.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Holistic student experiences</h2>
<p>As students who started school in 2020 and 2021 arrive on campus, universities and students organizations must work hard to ensure that students receive a holistic student experience. To this end, based on our data, we have a few simple suggestions for university administrators: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Increase the number of opportunities for students to socialize. Host special events, such as concerts or talks, with free entrance for students. Encourage academic departments to host student mixers. These efforts are essential for students who entered programs after 2020 and are, therefore, less likely to know other people in their cohort.</p></li>
<li><p>Improve on-campus studying. Consider opening up classroom spaces for students to host group study sessions. Create more library spaces. Provide funding for study groups to buy snacks and reward student leaders for organizing group learning opportunities. </p></li>
<li><p>Provide greater support for student clubs and organizations. Donate on-campus event space for student-led events. Help clubs recruit new students. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>As we return to pre-pandemic classroom learning, we should also return to a (safe) pre-pandemic university experience. Social life is central to education, and universities have an important role in promoting student well-being by supporting “the university experience.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186507/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Blake Lee-Whiting received funding from the University of Toronto, and the Policy, Elections, and Representation Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Bergeron received funding from the University of Toronto, and the Policy, Elections, and Representation Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. </span></em></p>Students in an international survey said they really missed chances to be together in person for campus-related activities, not only due to academic concerns.Blake Lee-Whiting, PhD Candidate, Research Associate at PEARL, University of TorontoThomas Bergeron, PhD student, Department of Political Science, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1802742022-08-01T11:27:01Z2022-08-01T11:27:01ZHow some children prospered in pandemic online learning<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472611/original/file-20220705-14-hnv4ez.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2064%2C1198&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">One child constructed a city out of cardboard boxes from his recent move to Canada. He shared this with classmates, free from the language barrier that made in-person school a struggle. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>For parents, children and teachers, one of the most striking memories of the pandemic will be the sudden transition to online learning. </p>
<p>Many educators, parents and children struggled with online education <a href="https://theconversation.com/kindergarten-educators-with-children-at-home-struggled-during-the-pandemic-mental-health-supports-are-needed-175210">when schools were closed</a>, and were relieved when classroom instruction resumed. </p>
<p>While media often seemed to report <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/26/health/cdc-remote-learning-kids-mental-health-wellness/index.html">on negative</a> <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/longforms/covid-19-pandemic-disrupted-schooling-impact/">aspects of online schooling</a>, this was not a universal experience.</p>
<p>In my education research with international colleagues about <a href="https://www.teachered-network.com/projects/advost">socially innovative interventions to foster and advance young children’s inclusion and agency in society</a> during the pandemic, we worked with teachers as they implemented research insights <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X19875767">about teaching practices that support listening to children’s voices</a>.</p>
<p>In our study, we saw that through the pandemic, for some children, the online environment was an extension of how teaching practices like dedicated dialogue circles presented ways children’s opinions and thoughts could be shared. For these children, enforced online schooling overall was a positive experience and not a struggle. </p>
<p>In Canada, our research took place during almost the entirety of the pandemic in diverse and economically challenged Eastern Canadian schools. </p>
<h2>Some students preferred online learning</h2>
<p>Classrooms can be intimidating social spaces, and when they suddenly became <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/parenting4digitalfuture/2021/07/07/children-during-covid">virtual, some students found the digital space</a> better suited their needs. </p>
<p>Xavier was a newly arrived Canadian who had just entered Grade 4 <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nl-covid-school-announcement-jan-13-1.6312653">when the lockdown began</a> in the spring of 2020. We learned that the online classroom gave him catch-up time, within a welcoming space, in which he could build English language skills. </p>
<p>Developing friendships, relationships and furthering educational goals all came easier to him when the confusion of a new language was eased, and he was able to learn at his own pace. The adaptability of the digital space was important. The stability, quietness and the possibility for students to go at their own pace — and some benefits of this — all became more transparent with the pivot to online classrooms. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2IGaLrmAlzg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Webinar about socially innovative interventions to foster and advance young children’s inclusion and agency in society.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A break from language barriers</h2>
<p>Online learning gave some children autonomy, and a break from the business of curriculum for children to work independently on projects. </p>
<p>In one home-based project shared online, Xavier constructed an entire city out of cardboard boxes left over from his recent move to Canada. He was delighted to share this with his classmates, free from the language barrier that made his in-school days a struggle. </p>
<p>When asked why it was easier to talk to each other on camera, a new Canadian student, Abdul, who sometimes struggled with English, said “because no one could interrupt me.” </p>
<p>Some new Canadian parents were able to learn English together in the virtual classroom. One teacher has an email from a parent to thank her for the wonderful picture books and reading time she shared daily.</p>
<h2>Families reunited</h2>
<p>For the many out-of-province workers who reside in Alberta but call Newfoundland and Labrador home other days of the year, online schooling brought family reunification. </p>
<p>One student, Roxy, talked about how less stressful life was while in Alberta with both her mother and father: “Mom went to work in Newfoundland online and I went to school,” she said. She was also able to assist an aunt with a newly arrived baby while residing in Alberta.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mother seen at a laptop with a child." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472627/original/file-20220705-27-57n64i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472627/original/file-20220705-27-57n64i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472627/original/file-20220705-27-57n64i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472627/original/file-20220705-27-57n64i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472627/original/file-20220705-27-57n64i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472627/original/file-20220705-27-57n64i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472627/original/file-20220705-27-57n64i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Online schooling allowed some families with parents working in other provinces to be geographically reunited.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Parents played larger role</h2>
<p>We found in our study that parents also <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/schools-closed-effects-nl-1.6306510">played a larger role</a> in daily education, both learning from and assisting in teaching their children. </p>
<p>Children like Liv, whose mother helped her perform a song during her classroom’s “show and share,” integrated their parents and home lives into the virtual learning. Although some children struggled to find quiet spaces, even these scenarios had positive effects as parents, (reluctant or not), entered into discussions about their children’s school lives.</p>
<p>One mother, Tammy, pointed out that her children’s online classes gave her a unique window into a part of her children’s lives that she had previously known little about. She said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It was amazing to see how the teacher interacted with the children … My daughter was much more animated than she is at home, she shared a lot more … She’s not always eager to go to school, but she could not wait to log onto the google class.”</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Free from disruptions</h2>
<p>Some children enjoyed an environment free from the distractions found in classrooms, such as school announcements or classmates’ challenging behaviours. Children were also exposed to each other’s home settings, which encouraged mutual empathy. </p>
<p>“Everyone’s home lives went on around them,” remembered one teacher. “Pets and younger siblings came and went, phones rang, people ate, doorbells rang — we all just got used to it.”</p>
<p>Some students were quick to point out the extra time earned from not having to go to after school programming and childcare. </p>
<p>In our focus group interviews with teachers, they noted that some children who were behaviourally challenged in the classroom did much better online. “Perhaps it made the learning environment a little less overwhelming,” explained one teacher, “and so the focus was more on academics.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bullying-racism-and-being-different-why-some-families-are-opting-for-remote-learning-regardless-of-covid-19-165063">Bullying, racism and being 'different': Why some families are opting for remote learning regardless of COVID-19</a>
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<h2>More sharing</h2>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A child at a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472629/original/file-20220705-5022-zyewyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/472629/original/file-20220705-5022-zyewyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472629/original/file-20220705-5022-zyewyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472629/original/file-20220705-5022-zyewyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472629/original/file-20220705-5022-zyewyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472629/original/file-20220705-5022-zyewyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/472629/original/file-20220705-5022-zyewyn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=846&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Students shared on a more private level when participating in breakout rooms.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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<p>One of the best things about online learning for teachers in our study was that all their students were able to share on a more private level. Breakout rooms allowed children to connect with the teachers and their friends in a disruption-free way.</p>
<p>Over time, parents and teachers also discovered aspects of the experience they found positive. </p>
<p>In the past two decades <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12230">integrating digital devices into education</a> has often been an awkward process, often with more effort going into limiting their use and distractions, rather than embracing their benefits.</p>
<p>As educators, we need to rethink how children and technology can interact in the classroom <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429259630-14/theorising-spaces-places-skills-tools-voice-work-early-childhood-caralyn-blaisdell">and various ways children’s voices can be supported</a> in different spaces.</p>
<p><em>Erin Power, a teacher in St. John’s, N.L, and a researcher with the “Socially Innovative Interventions to Foster and to Advance Young Children’s Inclusion and Agency in Society through Voice and Story” project, co-authored this story.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/180274/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Burke is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council</span></em></p>Researchers studying ways to foster children’s inclusion in society worked with teachers to adapt classroom practices, like dedicated dialogue circles, to online learning.Anne Burke, Professor, Faculty of Education, Memorial University of NewfoundlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1867522022-07-17T20:02:29Z2022-07-17T20:02:29ZWhy is tech giant Apple trying to teach our teachers?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/473821/original/file-20220713-16-7dn643.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C4198%2C2758&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Apple <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-iphone-turns-15-a-look-at-the-past-and-future-of-one-of-the-21st-centurys-most-influential-devices-183137">products</a> are already a central part of our lives in so many ways. We use them to work, socialise, monitor our heart rates, pay for things and watch TV. </p>
<p>But did you know they are also involved in teaching school teachers? </p>
<p>The shift to online learning following COVID-19 is not only for students. Teachers now also do a lot of professional development online, often via global technology companies or “EdTechs”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/edtech-is-treating-students-like-products-heres-how-we-can-protect-childrens-digital-rights-184312">Edtech is treating students like products. Here's how we can protect children's digital rights</a>
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<p>One familiar sounding example of this is <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/education/k12/apple-teacher/">Apple Teacher</a>. This is a free professional learning program developed by Apple for school teachers. Offered in <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT206841">36 countries</a> including Australia, Apple Teacher claims to “support and celebrate teachers using Apple products for teaching and learning”. </p>
<p>In my <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035522001112?via%3Dihub">new research</a>, I argue Apple Teacher is helping Apple position itself as a global education expert. This move is largely flying under the radar. </p>
<h2>What is Apple Teacher?</h2>
<p>Apple has sold technology to schools since the early 1980s, especially in the United States. It has also had <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/education/k12/apple-distinguished-educator/">programs</a> geared at teachers using Apple technology since the mid-1990s. But the tech giant now provides teacher professional learning via Apple Teacher, which launched in 2016.</p>
<p>As of 2022, there are more than 100 lessons and tutorials freely available on the Apple Teacher Learning Centre. The <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/education/k12/apple-teacher/">site promotes</a> a “self-paced journey” and a “great way for schools to offer free professional learning”. There are “skill-building tutorials, lesson ideas and inspiration to deepen student learning”. </p>
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<p>This could be something as simple as how to take a selfie on an excursion. Or it could be how to use coding or augmented reality in a lesson. There are also <a href="https://appleteacher.apple.com/#/home/rp/R003200-en_US">specific supports</a> for COVID-19 remote learning, with time-saving tips and lesson ideas.</p>
<p>Teachers can complete interactive quizzes on how to use Apple software to earn “badges”. If they collect six badges, they are recognised as “Apple Teachers”.</p>
<p>Another key feature is the <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/newsroom/2021/03/apple-expands-free-professional-learning-to-help-teachers-champion-creativity/">Apple Teacher Portfolio</a>. Here, teachers develop and share lesson plans that intentionally use Apple products in the classroom. These include Keynote (which creates presentations) and GarageBand (which creates music or podcasts). Completing all nine lesson plans rewards teachers with more badges and gives them additional recognition. </p>
<h2>Festivals, badges, followers</h2>
<p>Beyond rewarding individual teachers, Apple Teacher also offers learning on a larger scale. Apple is in the middle of its third annual “<a href="https://events.apple.com/content/events/conferences/au/en/default.html?token=xww6uj7woR0X9A3Z9qcLS0RVdH60MurN7MAvJSY75sHQxWqaTEhMjEmalXqC7MMJuZhb5crVxf5sKUXGDQ_UXlJXr_Rqae-Bb-r9ydviPg35QL3-7rL5wegWzYezmG1HVTJi&a=1&l=e">Festival of Learning</a>”. Between July 11 and 21, this global virtual conference is running 90 sessions on topics such as “creating your first app” and theatre design, all using Apple products. </p>
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<p>As of July 2022, the Apple Education Twitter account (<a href="https://twitter.com/AppleEDU/">@AppleEDU</a>) has more than one million followers. While not restricted to Apple Teacher participants, it clearly demonstrates its significant reach and appeal. </p>
<p>Apple Teacher is usually completed by individual teachers on their own initiative. However, schools with more than 75% of their staff as Apple Teachers can also seek recognition as an <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/education/k12/apple-distinguished-schools/">Apple Distinguished School</a>. While the number of Apple Teachers is not publicly available, there are currently 47 Apple Distinguished Schools in Australia out of 689 around the world.</p>
<h2>A rebranding for Apple</h2>
<p>While it is perhaps unsurprising that Apple promotes the use of its products in schools, COVID-19 has clearly introduced a new sense of urgency and market opportunity in terms of the teaching and professional development side of the equation. </p>
<p>In comments <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/newsroom/2021/03/apple-expands-free-professional-learning-to-help-teachers-champion-creativity/">made in 2021</a>, one of Apple’s vice-presidents, Susan Prescott, said the company wanted to help “build educators’ confidence in reimagining their lessons and [recognise] them for the great work they do every day”. </p>
<p>In my <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0883035522001112?via%3Dihub">research</a>, I argue Apple Teacher positions Apple as a global expert in education. Apple has much to gain financially from this development. In 2021, the global EdTech industry was valued at US$85 billion (A$125.4 billion). By 2028, this is expected to explode to <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/in/news-releases/edtech-market-will-reach-usd-230-billion-by-2028-growing-at-a-cagr-of-15-valuates-reports-874234620.html">US$230 billion</a> (A$339.4 billion). </p>
<p>By offering teacher learning and credentials and <a href="https://www.apple.com/au/education/k12/teaching-code/">classroom curriculum guides</a>, Apple is directly challenging more conventional sources of schooling expertise built over decades of experience and research. This includes the significant knowledge that teachers already possess, as well as universities, professional bodies and departments of education. </p>
<p>It is unclear what knowledge or expertise Apple uses to inform Apple Teacher. The company usually cites no research in its publicly available materials. But as the world’s largest information technology company, Apple can use its brand recognition to promote its own version of schooling knowledge and teaching qualification. </p>
<p>Apple’s reputation for tech products will also likely help attract prospective users to Apple Teacher, regardless of the learning provided. Given a significant focus of Apple Teacher is encouraging teachers to adopt Apple products for classroom use, there are clear financial motivations here as well.</p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>Before COVID-19, teachers were already under <a href="https://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/2909056/Perceptions-of-Teachers-and-Teaching-in-Australia-report-Nov-2019.pdf">extraordinary pressure</a>. In this context, it is understandable that Apple Teacher - free, recognisable and internationally available - might be attractive to overworked, under-appreciated teachers in search of support. </p>
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<p>But, as teachers themselves know, not all learning opportunities are equal. </p>
<p>We already have decades of research that can support quality teacher learning and classroom practice. We should not accept a global EdTech as the preferred source of solutions, especially when these solutions involve promoting their own products.</p>
<p>Education policymakers and school leaders need to make sure programs like Apple Teacher are not the only opportunity for professional development. They can do this by providing additional time for teacher professional learning, or funding greater access to quality research behind paywalls.</p>
<p>Fostering close ongoing connections between teachers, professional organisations and academic researchers will also allow for conversations between experts without the risk of product placement and promotion.</p>
<p>We cannot continue to expect so much of teachers if we do not support the vital work they do. Ceding this space to profit-motivated EdTechs will only make the problem worse.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186752/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Lewis receives funding from the Australian Research Council </span></em></p>Apple is positioning itself as a global education expert. It’s providing not just computers to classrooms, but also professional learning for teachers.Steven Lewis, Senior Research Fellow, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1857622022-07-03T19:53:22Z2022-07-03T19:53:22ZIf unis stick with online assessment after COVID, they’ll have do more to stop cheating<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471765/original/file-20220630-24-f3duf1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5184%2C3445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While face-to-face classes are back after the COVID disruptions of the past two years, <a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/projects/academic-integrity-policies-procedures-and-good-practices-for-onl">our research</a> suggests at least some Australian universities intend to continue with fully online assessment. Students say they <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/students-say-online-exams-make-it-easy-to-cheat-new-survey/news-story/9a432154e1e84f1b9276e8434d6c5381">think cheating is easier</a> online. There is some <a href="https://edintegrity.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1007/s40979-021-00070-0">evidence it increased</a> with the shift online. </p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://2021conference.ascilite.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ASCILITE-2021-Proceedings-Jha-Simon-Bilgin-Sheard-Jayarathna-Berretta-Leemans-Myers.pdf">our research</a>, covering 41 Australian universities, has found little evidence of changes in their academic integrity policies (which apply to all courses) and practices (which may differ from subject to subject) to counter these problems. Our particular interest was in computing courses.</p>
<p>The use of software to automatically monitor students during online exams, known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/unis-are-using-artificial-intelligence-to-keep-students-sitting-exams-honest-but-this-creates-its-own-problems-170708">remote proctoring</a>, is <a href="https://theconversation.com/online-exam-monitoring-is-now-common-in-australian-universities-but-is-it-here-to-stay-159074">increasingly common</a>. Intuitively, this technology appears to have advantages for detecting cheating. However, many have <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/western-students-alerted-about-security-breach-at-exam-monitor-proctortrack-1.5764354">raised</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/unis-are-using-artificial-intelligence-to-keep-students-sitting-exams-honest-but-this-creates-its-own-problems-170708">concerns</a> about both <a href="https://theconversation.com/online-exam-monitoring-can-invade-privacy-and-erode-trust-at-universities-149335">the ethics</a> and <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/another-problem-with-shifting-education-online-cheating/">efficacy</a> of these systems. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/unis-are-using-artificial-intelligence-to-keep-students-sitting-exams-honest-but-this-creates-its-own-problems-170708">Unis are using artificial intelligence to keep students sitting exams honest. But this creates its own problems</a>
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<p>Life would be so much easier for educators if all they had to do was offer their students an education. But they are obliged to assess their students. It’s an <a href="https://theconversation.com/online-and-in-person-exams-both-have-problems-thats-now-clear-unis-have-a-window-of-opportunity-to-do-better-184320">integral aspect of the education process</a>. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, some see the assessment outcomes, rather than the education, as the end goal. </p>
<p>Students rely on these outcomes when applying for jobs. Employers rely on those same results to help them decide which graduates to employ. With so much at stake, there will always be students who choose to cheat.</p>
<h2>COVID forced hasty assessment changes</h2>
<p>The pandemic forced universities to hurriedly rethink many practices, including assessment. One major challenge was how to supervise assessment tasks such as exams when these moved online.</p>
<p>Educators and researchers have reported academic misconduct subsequently <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958820300336">increased</a>. Academic misconduct includes cheating, plagiarism, collusion, and fabrication or falsification of data. </p>
<p>Our universities are <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/online-learning-good-practice">required</a> to establish policies and practices to protect academic integrity. These policies should provide for education and training on good practice and for actions to reduce the risks of cheating and other misconduct. Universities Australia has outlined <a href="https://www.universitiesaustralia.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/UA-Academic-Integrity-Best-Practice-Principles.pdf">principles</a> of best practice. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/online-and-in-person-exams-both-have-problems-thats-now-clear-unis-have-a-window-of-opportunity-to-do-better-184320">Online and in-person exams both have problems – that's now clear. Unis have a window of opportunity to do better</a>
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<p>Our <a href="https://research.monash.edu/en/projects/academic-integrity-policies-procedures-and-good-practices-for-onl">research project</a> explored changes to assessment practices as a result of COVID. We wanted to see how effective these might be in preventing academic misconduct. We examined academic integrity policies and procedures at 41 Australian universities that offer computing courses, interviewed leading computing educators at these universities and surveyed computing academics.</p>
<h2>What did the study find?</h2>
<p>We found little evidence that academic integrity policies and procedures explicitly address the circumstances brought on by COVID. </p>
<p>Of the <a href="http://leemans.ch/publications/papers/asci2021jha.pdf">41 universities, 38 offer online or distance education</a> for computing courses. Four offer most of their computing courses in online/distance mode. Only one offers no computing courses in online/distance mode. </p>
<p>But only five universities around the nation acknowledge the possibility of online exams in their policies. Even at these five there are no policy differences between online and face-to-face assessment tasks. </p>
<p>The inference appears to be that the rules and regulations that govern general academic integrity apply equally to all assessment tasks, including online tasks.</p>
<p>Some of our respondents expressed concern that current policies aren’t effective. A particular concern is the time and effort it takes to prepare a case of misconduct against a student. One academic said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Any excuse that a student gives is automatically believed, despite overwhelming evidence of plagiarism. Also, students claim to have not done the academic integrity module to get reduced punishments. It’s inconceivable that a year three student does not know what plagiarism is […] yet they are given warnings and no real consequences.”</p>
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<p>COVID has changed <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-has-changed-students-needs-and-expectations-how-do-universities-respond-172863">students’ needs and expectations</a>. <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0092055X12446624">Research suggests</a> many students now prefer studying online. Universities must consider students’ need for more flexibility, which includes offering online exams.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-has-changed-students-needs-and-expectations-how-do-universities-respond-172863">COVID has changed students' needs and expectations. How do universities respond?</a>
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<p>Nonetheless, a number of our respondents noted an increase in cheating and other integrity violations when assessment moved online. Some noted this might be due in part to the difficulties students faced. One academic said:</p>
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<p>Online exams and tests were a big challenge. Students sometimes complained that their laptops froze, or their internet connection dropped out midway through the test. Such cases demanded the need to develop a new set of questions.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The abrupt pivot to online education left little time, anyway, to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02602938.2021.1933379">make substantial changes</a> to assessment regimes. Courses that relied on personally supervised in-class tests and final exams continued with them, simply dropping in-person invigilation. In some cases, 24-hour exams replaced two or three-hour exams, or shorter exams were conducted in a longer window.</p>
<h2>What can be done to restore integrity?</h2>
<p>One or two suggested approaches might hold some promise. </p>
<p>Many respondents noted the need to develop new types of questions. These would be designed to be less susceptible to looking up answers in web searches, collusion among students and contract cheating, where students pay others to do their work. The Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency’s newly updated database lists <a href="https://www.teqsa.gov.au/latest-news/articles/intelligence-sharing-updated-cheating-website-database">2,333 suspected commercial academic cheating websites</a>, including 579 specifically targeting students in our higher education sector. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-10-uni-students-submit-assignments-written-by-someone-else-and-most-are-getting-away-with-it-166410">1 in 10 uni students submit assignments written by someone else — and most are getting away with it</a>
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<p>Sadly, these approaches seem invariably to involve <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-has-the-joy-of-working-in-australian-universities-gone-184251">more work for the academics</a>. Further, they appeared unlikely to achieve the integrity typically offered by face-to-face supervised exams.</p>
<p>With face-to-face classes resuming, will universities restore the former assessment mix, including invigilated in-person tests and exams? Some of our respondents indicated their universities intend to continue with fully online assessment. Nobody told us their universities are amending their policies or procedures to better protect academic integrity in these circumstances. </p>
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<p><em>The author would like to acknowledge all the team members who worked on this project: Sander J.J. Leemans, Queensland University of Technology; Regina Berretta, University of Newcastle; Ayse Bilgin, Macquarie University; Trina Myers, Queensland University of Technology; Judy Sheard, Monash University; Simon, formerly of the University of Newcastle; Lakmali Herath Jayarathna, Central Queensland University; and Christoph Niesel, Queensland University of Technology.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185762/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meena Jha received funding for this project from the Australian Council of Deans of Information and Communication Technology.
Dr Simon, Executive Officer of the Australian Council of Deans of ITC and formerly of the University of Newcastle, is a co-author of this article.
</span></em></p>A new study of academic integrity policies and practices at 41 Australian universities found little evidence of changes to deal with cheating and academic misconduct arising from online assessment.Meena Jha, Course Coordinator, Information Communications Technology (ICT), CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1858772022-06-30T19:50:17Z2022-06-30T19:50:17ZCould more online learning help fix Australia’s teacher shortage?<p>On Thursday, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-30/catholic-and-public-school-teachers-strike-in-nsw/101195698">thousands of teachers</a> went on strike in New South Wales, over pay and “<a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/school-life/im-a-teacher-of-20-years-heres-what-i-need-you-to-know-about-the-strike/news-story/acfb95378ed5229b9763c789d0899aa0">unsustainable</a>” workloads. </p>
<p>This comes amid increasing concerns about <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-and-schools-australia-is-about-to-feel-the-full-brunt-of-its-teacher-shortage-174885">teacher shortages</a> around Australia. </p>
<p>The federal government has suggested enticing high-performing students into teaching degrees with <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-education-minister-jason-clare-can-fix-the-teacher-shortage-crisis-but-not-with-labors-election-plan-184321">extra payments</a>, while education experts say teachers need more time, more pay and more support to do their jobs. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/read-the-room-premier-performance-pay-for-teachers-will-make-the-crisis-worse-185406">Read the room, Premier. Performance pay for teachers will make the crisis worse</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>One option that could free up teacher time, and ensure students are getting the education they need, is “blended” learning, in which some learning is done online and some face-to-face. We know this can work in other settings – at the university level, I have three decades of expertise in remote and blended learning, with many thousands of students across several subjects at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.</p>
<h2>The crisis</h2>
<p>The established norm in Australian schools is one teacher for every 25 students, with learning done face-to-face in a classroom, five days a week. </p>
<p>But a growing shortage in teacher numbers means we may no longer be able to accept this as the norm. According to a recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/read-the-room-premier-performance-pay-for-teachers-will-make-the-crisis-worse-185406">Monash University study</a>, 59% of surveyed primary and secondary teachers said they intended to leave the profession. Heavy workloads, and health and well-being issues, were among the key reasons given for their responses. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teachers protest in the Sydney CBD." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471774/original/file-20220630-22-b1ze2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471774/original/file-20220630-22-b1ze2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471774/original/file-20220630-22-b1ze2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471774/original/file-20220630-22-b1ze2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471774/original/file-20220630-22-b1ze2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471774/original/file-20220630-22-b1ze2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471774/original/file-20220630-22-b1ze2i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=487&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers from public and Catholic schools took to the streets on Thursday.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nikki Short/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Blended learning involves a mix of traditional face-to-face learning with remote learning. That online element may be done anywhere, such as at school, at home, or in small groups.</p>
<p>COVID meant remote learning hit the headlines worldwide, but it has already been happening behind the scenes for some time, particularly in remote areas in Australia through distance schools. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/return-to-school-plans-overlook-chronic-teacher-shortages-outside-the-big-cities-176250">Return-to-school plans overlook chronic teacher shortages outside the big cities</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>When learning is done remotely it still needs quality teachers. Unlike university students, school students need significant support to help them learn. Teachers need to know their students and design lessons specific to their context, whether it be in inner-city Sydney or remote Arnhem Land.</p>
<h2>The COVID silver lining</h2>
<p>Any teacher or parent will tell you COVID rapidly changed the way school was structured and learning was delivered. </p>
<p>Despite the stress of this time, the pandemic showed us it was possible to teach students online, and that despite the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1329878X20956409">well-publicised challenges</a> of home learning, there were some advantages. This was the case when when remote learning is planned and delivered to a high standard, enabling students to use technologies they like. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/remote-learning-was-even-tougher-for-migrant-parents-heres-what-they-want-schools-to-know-in-case-lockdowns-return-183039">Remote learning was even tougher for migrant parents. Here’s what they want schools to know in case lockdowns return</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>As the World Bank <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/160271637074230077/pdf/Remote-Learning-During-COVID-19-Lessons-from-Today-Principles-for-Tomorrow.pdf">recently found</a>, COVID created many opportunities for “reimagining how education can be offered and enriched”. </p>
<p>One of my education colleagues likes to cite the example of a Rockhampton 12-year-old, who had four people who helped her learn in March 2020 when the pandemic began in Australia. This included teachers and friends. </p>
<p>That group became 35 during the next year, with other classmates, parents, grandparents, and other similar-aged students in her school. Her literacy, numeracy, technology and social skills skyrocketed, along with her well-being. This was a direct result of the required remote learning, as the student sought assistance from others and it soon became a snowballing effect.</p>
<h2>This can work for all year levels</h2>
<p>Senior educators in Queensland have told me up to a quarter of the curriculum content may be best taught online. That is for all year levels and especially from year 4 onwards, and includes basic knowledge and skills in most subject areas. </p>
<p>Teachers reported that students’ learning could be more personalised online. Students who have the capability to go quickly can do so – and not be bored. Students who need more time can take it. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A mother helps her young children learn at home." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471775/original/file-20220630-21-i1m6jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471775/original/file-20220630-21-i1m6jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471775/original/file-20220630-21-i1m6jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471775/original/file-20220630-21-i1m6jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471775/original/file-20220630-21-i1m6jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471775/original/file-20220630-21-i1m6jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471775/original/file-20220630-21-i1m6jc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">COVID forced schools around Australia to move to online learning, without any warning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dean Lewins/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It can also be used to facilitate peer-to-peer learning and group-based activities in ways not easily done in traditional classroom settings. This includes collaborative projects using things such as shared Google docs and educational video games.</p>
<p>Achievements in that learning can be assessed in the online environment using high-quality techniques that involve automated marking as well as some teacher judgements. </p>
<p>That has the added benefit of freeing up some teacher time with fewer face-to-face contact hours but not adding to the work of parents. </p>
<p>However, it does mean all students doing part of their school work by remote learning will have to have good access to a computer or tablet with good internet connection. And while that is generally the case already, some students did not have that during lockdowns and some schools need to ensure such access as they did in the <a href="https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/news/as-naplan-begins-experts-voice-concerns/280160">online NAPLAN tests in May</a>.</p>
<h2>Lets re-imagine schools</h2>
<p>A hybrid model will only benefit students and teachers if it set up properly. </p>
<p>In its <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/160271637074230077/pdf/Remote-Learning-During-COVID-19-Lessons-from-Today-Principles-for-Tomorrow.pdf">assessment</a> of COVID learning at home, the World Bank found remote learning needed to have suitable technology, targeted professional development for teachers and make sure students are engaged. </p>
<p>Under a new, hybrid model, Australian schools would still use face-to-face when most appropriate and remote networked learning when that is most appropriate. That can free up teaching and physical resources (such as classroom space) and potentially improve student learning and teacher well-being.</p>
<p>As the teacher shortage continues, we need to think creatively and use existing models we have already seen work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185877/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ken Purnell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One teacher together with 25 kids in a classroom may no longer work as the norm for Australian schools.Ken Purnell, Professor of Education, CQUniversity AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1813802022-06-22T12:59:02Z2022-06-22T12:59:02ZHow teachers supported children and parents through COVID-19 school closures<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470248/original/file-20220622-7895-lelpts.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C9%2C6252%2C4158&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/mother-kid-staying-home-elearning-via-1822440563">Studio Romantic/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When the first wave of COVID-19 reached England, the national lockdown led to school closures with very little warning for pupils, teachers and parents. Children’s homes became their classrooms. </p>
<p>We <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00131911.2021.2007054?journalCode=cedr20">carried out research</a> into primary school teachers’ experiences of remote learning during the first and second COVID lockdowns. This involved an online survey of 271 teachers from schools across England and interviews with teachers from 24 schools in June and July 2020. We then conducted follow-up interviews with 14 of the teachers in April 2021, after the second period of school closures.</p>
<p>In particular, we looked at the relationship between teachers and parents. School closures resulted in a dramatic shift in the role that parents were required to play in their children’s learning. Teachers’ expectations of parents shifted from <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/182507/DFE-RR156_-_Practitioner_Summary.pdf">supporting learning at home</a>, based on what children were doing at school, to being integrally involved in schooling at home. </p>
<h2>Helping families</h2>
<p>Our research sheds light on the obstacles that parents and teachers faced, but also the effective strategies that teachers used to get parents involved with their children’s learning.</p>
<p>School closures exacerbated the “<a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/startling-digital-divides-distance-learning-emerge">digital divide</a>” between families who had good access to technology and digital skills, and those who did not. <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-premium">Disadvantaged children</a> and families were less likely to have sufficient technology and internet access for remote learning, compared with their more affluent counterparts. Some parents and children only had internet access through a smartphone rather than a tablet or computer, which was often impractical for remote learning. </p>
<p>The UK government set up a scheme to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/government-laptops-coronavirus-pandemic-pledge-b1830764.html">allocate digital devices</a> to families who needed them, but the teachers we spoke to told us that attempts to provide devices to families were not always effective. Schools often had very few devices available compared with the number of pupils in need, and teachers also reported that devices quickly became damaged.</p>
<p>In some cases, parents were unwilling to take laptops home – for example, one teacher commented: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We had about 29 (laptops). In the end most families didn’t want one. We actually gave out about four of the 29 – possibly because if you’ve got a computer, then you need to be doing the learning. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>For some families, additional barriers such as work commitments and other children at home prevented them engaging in home learning.</p>
<p>During the first lockdown, the teachers we spoke to wanted to prioritise the wellbeing of families and children, rather than <a href="https://ifs.org.uk/publications/14848">adding to the pressure</a> families were facing with demands for schooling at home. As one teacher noted, “We have said to families, just having experiences like cooking at home or gardening, these are all equally as valuable.” Another told us:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I sent out [letters] about parents not putting themselves under pressure about the amount and quality of work their child should be submitting each week. I had quite a number of emails from some parents saying: ‘Oh my goodness, you don’t know how much that letter meant to me when I read it. I’ve been putting myself under so much pressure. I was really worried about this.’</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Under pressure</h2>
<p>The mood had shifted by the second period of school closures. When we interviewed teachers again, <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1000351/6803-2_Learning_during_the_pandemic-_quantifying_lost_time.pdf">government requirements</a> for remote and in-person teaching during school closures had increased considerably. One teacher explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The government told us that we had to do exactly what we would have been doing in class. And we had to provide four hours of good-quality teaching and learning every day. That’s what people could expect. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>This created stress for teachers in providing sufficient materials, and for parents in keeping up with the learning, particularly as more parents were back working in the second period of closures.</p>
<p>Teachers told us they worked with parents to build their digital skills and increase their confidence when helping their children with schoolwork. This included running online workshops and providing short videos to introduce parents to key concepts and teaching methods. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Father and daughter doing online learning" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470249/original/file-20220622-19-1obbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/470249/original/file-20220622-19-1obbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470249/original/file-20220622-19-1obbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470249/original/file-20220622-19-1obbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470249/original/file-20220622-19-1obbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470249/original/file-20220622-19-1obbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/470249/original/file-20220622-19-1obbs4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Teachers helped parents get to grips with what their children were learning.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/school-problems-homeschooling-africanamerican-father-dad-2120194280">Inside Creative House/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Greater communication between teachers and parents during the school closures also led to stronger relationships. One deputy headteacher observed: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Getting to know the parents at a deeper level… we actually sort of moved further on in the relationships, and trust really helped… I think we built more (trust).</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Gaining insight into children’s home lives also allowed schools to provide additional support where it was needed most. One teacher told us their school sent out hampers of food and other essential items to families. </p>
<p>Technology can provide valuable opportunities for connecting parents with their children’s schooling. However, unless there are greater efforts to tackle the digital divide, increasing use of technology will put the most vulnerable children at a <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(20)30084-0/fulltext">greater disadvantage</a>. Overall, the experiences of the teachers we spoke to during lockdown show that parents and teachers can play a mutually supportive role in children’s education, in the pandemic and beyond.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181380/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Teachers went to great effort to help parents support their children’s learning.Sara Spear, Head of the School of Management, Anglia Ruskin UniversityJohn Parkin, Senior Lecturer Practitioner, Anglia Ruskin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1775142022-05-31T13:59:36Z2022-05-31T13:59:36ZAfter Ontario’s COVID-19 school closures, a responsive recovery plan is critical<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466061/original/file-20220530-14-qd370i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C291%2C3600%2C2166&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ontario restored standardized testing in 2021-22 after missing a year due to the pandemic, but it’s going to be difficult to analyze results without consistent baseline data. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/after-ontario-s-covid-19-school-closures--a-responsive-recovery-plan-is-critical" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Three years into the pandemic, it’s clear that Canada’s provinces have <a href="https://theconversation.com/pandemic-education-crisis-canada-is-failing-to-tackle-lost-year-in-k-12-education-165348">been hampered by a lack of a comparative cross-Canada analysis of school closures and the effects on students</a>.</p>
<p>What we do know about the disruptive impact of school closures on Ontario and other provinces comes largely from a <a href="https://doi.org/10.47326/ocsat.2021.02.34.1.0">June 2021 Ontario Science Table study</a> documenting the extent of school closures from province-to-province. </p>
<p>Four mass school closures in Ontario cost Kindergarten to Grade 12 students some 28 weeks of schooling since March 2020, far more <a href="https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-figures-show-two-thirds-academic-year-lost-average-worldwide-due-covid-19-school">than the average lost time in Europe (10 weeks) or in Europe and North America considered together (17 weeks)</a>.</p>
<p>Most other Canadian provinces were close behind Ontario, with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, for example, checking in at 20 to 22 weeks of disrupted instructional time by June of 2021. </p>
<p>Revamping standardized testing could be part of the solution, but Ontario’s incoming government after the June 2 election will also have its work cut out for it in restoring the public’s faith after extensive closures.</p>
<h2>Fallout of school closures</h2>
<p>Schools are now confronting the fallout of pandemic school closures. A July 2021 <a href="https://doi.org/10.47326/ocsat.2021.02.38.1.0">follow-up Science Table report</a> identified the cumulative learning loss and social harms inflicted since March 2020. </p>
<p>It recommended that, barring catastrophic circumstances, schools should remain open for in-person learning for the foreseeable future and that school closures, “or transition to an online learning model, should not be used as a public health measure for pandemic control.” That helped bring an end to system-wide closures, but left us with a pandemic generation well behind in their academic progress and social development. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/generation-c-why-investing-in-early-childhood-is-critical-after-covid-19-157095">'Generation C': Why investing in early childhood is critical after COVID-19</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Speaking in January 2022 on TVO’s <em>The Agenda</em>, Western University education professor Prachi Srivastava said: “<a href="https://www.tvo.org/transcript/2684838/return-to-online-learning-again">I’m shocked at the lack of planning, at the lack of forward planning in the face of what is quite a predictable outcome</a>,” referring to the short- and long-term consequences of mass school closures.</p>
<h2>Canada’s learning recovery</h2>
<p>A recent April 2022 <a href="https://researchcentres.wlu.ca/centre-for-leading-research-in-education/images/educational-recovery-and-reimagining-pdf1">Ontario education research report</a> proclaimed in capital letters “CANADA HAS BEEN A LAGGARD ON EDUCATIONAL RECOVERY.” </p>
<p>That Laurier University Centre for Leading Research in Education report was prepared by education researchers Kelly Gallagher-Mackay and Steve Sider,
with a group of 34 education leaders and researchers. It confirmed what international education researchers have known for some time: “other countries have invested far more than Canada in learning recovery and started sooner.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A parent and child seen at a crosswalk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466068/original/file-20220530-20-8diqun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/466068/original/file-20220530-20-8diqun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466068/original/file-20220530-20-8diqun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466068/original/file-20220530-20-8diqun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466068/original/file-20220530-20-8diqun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466068/original/file-20220530-20-8diqun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/466068/original/file-20220530-20-8diqun.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School closures in Ontario cost Kindergarten to Grade 12 students some 28 weeks of schooling since March 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This is <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-193-fresh-air/clip/15888023-its-surprise-learning-losses-mounting-ontario-schools-close">hard to fathom</a> when Canada, as a G7 country, is one of the world’s seven most highly industrialized and relatively well-resourced liberal democracies. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.mqup.ca/state-of-the-system--the-products-9780228000846.php">As my research has examined</a>, across the country there are extensive educational bureaucracies, while the country has, relatively speaking, one of the smallest cohorts of children, with some 5.1 million in elementary and secondary school.</p>
<h2>Holes in COVID-related education recovery plans</h2>
<p>An initial February 2022 <a href="https://peopleforeducation.ca/pan-canadian-tracker-education-strategies-in-response-to-covid-19-2021-2022/">pan-Canadian scan of Canadian K-12 COVID-related education plans</a> conducted by the Toronto-based not-for-profit, People for Education, found that provinces have uneven strategies related to data collection to track how the pandemic has affected students.</p>
<p>The report says Ontario school boards must report to the Ministry of Education no later than July 31 on a “range of data including things like numbers of exemptions from online learning and alternative approaches provided, and parent and student feedback on impact of remote learning.” </p>
<p>The Laurier Centre’s report notes that education expert Lance McCready called for data disaggregation to ensure that the province grasps the effects of disruptions and interventions on marginalized students. This call follows similar <a href="https://theconversation.com/covid-19-shows-the-cracks-in-public-education-heres-how-to-repair-them-148712">expert advice to overhaul data collection to ensure we are developing targeted approaches to address student needs</a>.</p>
<h2>Future of Ontario standardized testing</h2>
<p>With Ontario’s Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) testing cancelled during the pandemic, there was no way to assess how that province’s two million students were performing or whether they were recovering. </p>
<p>That was probably a mistake, according to Srivastava, because <a href="https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/covid-19-pandemic-learning-loss-hard-to-measure-western-researcher">the EQAO tests could have been used to establish a baseline</a> of student achievement, before, during and after the disruptions. </p>
<p>Ontario restored testing in 2021-22, but it’s going to be difficult to analyze without consistent baseline data. </p>
<p>For whichever party emerges as Ontario’s new government, however <a href="https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-ndp-liberals-pledge-to-overhaul-standardized-eqao-testing-1.5896136">they approach the sometimes contentious issue of administering standardized testing</a>, a more coherent, integrated and responsive pandemic education recovery plan targeted to student needs is a matter of immediate necessity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177514/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul W Bennett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ontario’s incoming government after the election will have its work cut out for it in restoring the public’s faith after extensive school closures.Paul W Bennett, Adjunct Professor of Education, Saint Mary’s UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1796312022-05-01T15:04:58Z2022-05-01T15:04:58Z4 lessons from online learning that should stick after the pandemic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459338/original/file-20220422-16-37nbki.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5137%2C3864&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How do we capitalize on COVID-19 initiated change to build better education systems for the future?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Chris Montgomery/Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the many changes COVID-19 brought those in education was an almost immediate switch to online learning. </p>
<p>Overnight, institutions scrambled to keep education moving, while bridging the physical distance between teacher and learner. Traditionally trained teachers made valiant efforts to adjust to digital by recording lessons, posting videos and creating breakout rooms, using whatever technology they had available. </p>
<p>These efforts resulted in digitally mediated physical classrooms using the internet — not online education. </p>
<p>While these two options sound the same, <a href="https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning">they are not</a>. Bridging physical distance through technology alone doesn’t address additional adjustments required to address learner needs. Posting materials online, recording lectures and discussions themselves don’t create a coached, collaborative and supported learning environment.</p>
<p>So what have we really learned about online education? And what do we do now?</p>
<p>Online learning isn’t new, and lessons can be drawn from existing research and experience. Athabasca University — where we are all professors — pioneered the world’s first online MBA, M.Nursing and M.Ed progams over 28 years ago. And today, it’s one of Canada’s <a href="https://worldscholarshipforum.com/online-universities-in-canada/">leading online universities</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Learning-Online-What-Research-Tells-Us-About-Whether-When-and-How-1st/Means-Bakia-Murphy/p/book/9780415630290">experience of online pioneers</a> highlights four distinct aspects of online learning that should stick post-pandemic: learning to learn online, designing online teaching with purpose, blending space and time online and continued disruption with AI.</p>
<h2>1. Learning to learn online</h2>
<p>The pandemic highlighted that <a href="https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/aguideforbusyeducators/chapter/udl-in-online-learning-one-size-doesnt-fit-all/">one-size-fits-all educational approaches</a> fail to address student needs. Younger learners may seek physical spaces to promote socialization, with supervision and teacher-led content delivery. Others, like Athabasca’s mostly adult learners, value the convenience of connecting with classmates and instructors online during times of their choosing. </p>
<p>Common inequities like poor access to the internet, lack of financial resources and needed digital competence plague online learning. However, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28227-1_11">online education offers access for students</a> facing geospacial barriers to traditional classrooms, and further issues of inequality are addressed via multi-modal distance education, financial support structures and orientation on how <a href="http://ltlo.ca/LTLOposter.pdf">to learn online</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/online-learning-during-covid-19-8-ways-universities-can-improve-equity-and-access-145286">Online learning during COVID-19: 8 ways universities can improve equity and access</a>
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<p>Emergency online education used blunt-edged instruments, <a href="https://learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/emergency-remote-learning-compared-to-online-learning">ignoring student and program differences</a>. The pandemic takeaway, however, is the importance of preparing all students to learn, whether online or in a physical classroom. </p>
<h2>2. Designing online teaching with purpose</h2>
<p>Quality teaching and learning design must incorporate active, engaging roles for individual students, whether designed for <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315296135-6/community-inquiry-theoretical-framework-martha-cleveland-innes-randy-garrison-norman-vaughan">traditional or distance education</a>. </p>
<p>Meaningful teaching varies by setting and requires <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.1201/9781315223971-5/argument-pedagogy-driven-online-education-kelli-cargile-cook">different approaches</a>. Online course and teaching design is <a href="https://www.aupress.ca/books/120229-teaching-in-blended-learning-environments/">learner rather than content centred, incorporating high engagement in collaborative learning groups</a> that fosters active learning.</p>
<p>Producing effective online course materials <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781351252805-6/community-inquiry-theoretical-framework-martha-cleveland-innes">requires an approach</a> involving both instructors and skilled course developers and takes months rather than weeks. Course materials are painstakingly detailed, and include writing everything the instructor would expect to say in a physical classroom, clearly describing all course requirements and linking students to readings, video and online resources. </p>
<p>Because of the pandemic, instructors had to translate classroom delivery into technology-mediated delivery — it worked for some, but was not easily tailored to unique learning needs. </p>
<p>Technological tools, combined with independent and joint working opportunities, should be brought back to the physical or hybrid classroom in conjunction with online pedagogical approaches that increase active, collaborative learning and learner-generated choices.</p>
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<img alt="A young girl sits with her notebook in front of a laptop with her teacher providing a lesson" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459339/original/file-20220422-22-9ycm0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459339/original/file-20220422-22-9ycm0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459339/original/file-20220422-22-9ycm0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459339/original/file-20220422-22-9ycm0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459339/original/file-20220422-22-9ycm0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459339/original/file-20220422-22-9ycm0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459339/original/file-20220422-22-9ycm0c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The pandemic revealed how education approaches can change.</span>
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<h2>3. Blending space and time online</h2>
<p>Pandemic education popularized the vocabulary of “synchronous” and “asynchronous” learning. Synchronous replicated physical classrooms through real-time, digitally mediated teaching, while asynchronous meant working independently, usually with materials designed for a physical classroom. Moving forward we need to think about how timing and presence impacts learning.</p>
<p>At Athabasca, students come together in time and space through <a href="http://oasis.col.org/handle/11599/3095">blended, collaborative, synchronous and asynchronous online learning</a>. Instructors coach students individually at a student led pace. </p>
<p>This is different from traditional undergraduate classrooms, where students absorb material on a fixed schedule. Our graduate programs use paced programming, requiring students to work independently while regularly coming together in active online discussion. </p>
<p>More flexible teaching allows students to receive instructor support when they need it. Building in synchronous, collaborative learning allows for reflection, rather than real time responses.</p>
<h2>4. COVID-19 began the disruption, AI will continue it</h2>
<p>The pandemic revealed how education approaches can change after instructors had to search for innovative ways to improve student learning outcomes outside the physical classroom. </p>
<p>At Athabasca, a <a href="https://news.athabascau.ca/faculty-of-business/announcement-ai-powered-virtual-cooperative-learning-experience/">virtual co-operative program</a> allowed us to introduce a co-op program in the middle of a pandemic. </p>
<p>Students accessed a simulated work experience in a paced structure, irrespective of location. They were able to practise working as a team, problem solving, conflict resolution, ethical reasoning and leadership while working on an assigned project. Students received immediate, detailed feedback from an AI coach, allowing for extensive experimentation and revision to master concepts honed in reflective discussion with the instructor. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-7331-0.ch015">Research suggests</a> that adopting online and AI tools needs to be deliberate, coupled with supportive digital infrastructure and highly responsive student support. Planned carefully and taken together, these steps improve on traditional approaches by making education truly open, accessible and inclusive. </p>
<p>Now, the question for all educators should be: How do we capitalize on COVID-19 initiated change to build better education systems for the future?</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a story originally published May 1, 2022. It clarifies emergency online education made it difficult to address student differences.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/179631/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah Hurst receives funding from
RBC and CPA to build and launch the AI powered virtual cooperative program.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Janice Thomas received funding from the Project Management Institute for earlier research projects exploring the professionalization of project management, the value of project management to organizations, and the implementation of project management as a management innovation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martha Cleveland-Innes has received funding from, and acts in support of, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
She is an appointed member of the Athabasca University Board of Governors.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>F. Haider Alvi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The question for all educators should be: How do we capitalize on COVID-19 initiated change to build better education systems for the future?F. Haider Alvi, Assistant Professor of Innovation Finance, Athabasca UniversityDeborah Hurst, Associate Professor, Work and Organization Studies, Athabasca UniversityJanice Thomas, Professor of Organizational Analysis and Project Management, Athabasca UniversityMartha Cleveland-Innes, Professor of Open, Digital, and Distance Education , Athabasca UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.