Pandemic could change public schools for decades to come, San Diego County official says

[Zorro]

It’s likely that for the next 18 months or so — until there’s a coronavirus vaccine — school will look very different for most families. The changes will likely go beyond just physical distancing.

Even if school becomes safe enough for students to return in the fall, a county expert predicts students might see their classmates and teachers only once or twice a week. School districts may have to adapt more of their instruction from classroom-based learning to blended or distance learning.

It’s a paradigm shift that may cast ripple effects on public education for years to come, said Bob Mueller, program specialist for student support services at the San Diego County Office of Education. More families may end up preferring virtual school and leaving traditional schooling behind because of health safety concerns, he said.

“I really do think that public education will be changed by this in a way that lasts for decades,” Mueller said in an interview. “It’s going to change the way we think about the role of the teacher, really the role of every employee to some degree.”

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/education/story/2020-04-21/county-official-the-pandemic-will-change-public-education-for-decades-to-come

I can't help but think that more "distance learning" will contribute to the dumbing down of Americans.

[Moostache]

1. Not sure how it was done, but polio was handled and schools stayed open...

We might need to look to the past to see the future a little more clearly instead of assuming that virtual learning and distance learning will replace traditional schooling.

I do not know the answers, but I don't believe doing away with group learning is going to be the way to go ultimately...

[More_Cowbell]

6. Schools didn't always stay open

They were closed at various points off and on over the decades, because of polio. Polio was largely a summer disease, so it didn't always affect schools, but I know that sometimes students in closed schools got lessons over the radio.

[Moostache]

7. Thanks!

Maybe the blended model with some in-school and some remote when outbreaks are occurring will be the new normal...

The adoption of respiratory protection is going to be the big adjustment...I can see that becoming mandatory for public spaces and things like schools for a good time to come.

Vaccines are difficult to create and while there are nearing 100 candidates and teams working on it right now around the globe, the other methods of avoiding infection - hand-washing, social distancing, masks in public places - are likely here to stay for a long time...

[Hoyt]

2. Some balance between classroom and on-line schooling might be a good way to prepare for the future.

I'd hate to see a movement to traditional "home schooling" though. In my red state, I avoid the home-schooled, knowing there are some exceptions.

[LisaM]

3. This is terrible. We have to fix this.

Students need access to music, band, sports, the school play, the school yearbook, the give and take of the classroom.

I mean, ugh.

[dhill926]

4. a thousand times yes...

we gotta figure this out...

[Jake Stern]

5. As mentioned in another OP

Before I became a dad I was very much on the "Online learning coming whether we want it or not. Can't stop progress!" bandwagon.

Now that I have a 4 year old son who still doesn't fully get why he can only see his friends from school during his teacher's Tuesday live book reading on Zoom, I've come to realize the value of brick and mortar schooling.

If this offends the techies out there in DU Land, too damned bad: Zoom and FaceTime will NEVER replace seeing friends in person for the children. You can't play catch with FaceTime or hide and seek with Skype or tag through a website.

Even School of the Air in the Australian Outback arranges meetups for the kids.

[LisaM]

8. And it's so dismissive of teachers. Teachers are trained to teach your kids.

And many of them continue doing it despite lackluster salaries, faint praise, supply shortages, and outright hostility from some parents, who think they ride the gravy train because they have decent vacations because they love it. It's their calling, and it's a noble one.

[Jake Stern]

9. I know teachers very well

During non-pandemic times I work as a Paraprofessional and I see how teachers give their heart and soul to these children only to be yelled at, mocked and thrown under the bus.

Part of the reason I moved from the classroom to being a bus para is that I was tired of having irate parents, sometimes downright nasty and vulgar, lay into myself and the teacher I worked with because their child is falling behind or treating us as taxpayer funded daycare workers.

[CRK7376]

10. This High School

teacher is hating life now. I'm working harder and don't see the results of eLearning with my kids. I teach in a Title 1 school and about 35% of my kids have been participating in eLearning for the past month. The rest of the kids have fallen into oblivion. Many kids see it as an extended Spring Break. Then there are the tech issues. I am not good at tech, fortunately my college math geek is a phone call away and fixes my tech issues pretty quickly. My school handed out over 700 laptops and 1000+ hot spots so some of our kids could have 1 laptop per family with internet connectivity.That's about half our school needing help, then there are the kids who have a computer/internet and parents out of work and unable to pay cable/cell phone bill etc...At least I was smart enough to haul home most of my American History 1 & 2 lesson plan folders, in other words, two drawers worth of filing cabinet full of lesson plans. At home I have to pdf most of it, add to Haiku or PowerSchool Learning page, update the page daily, grade their assignments. And try to play in the tech world instead of discussions etc....So COVID-19 is making me play in the tech world and this old dinosaur hates it. But I am evolving so I guess I will survive it. I do miss the kids and the energy.