Distance Education during COVID19: From Lemons to Lemonade

 Teaching during the pandemic, no problem!

     

     Distance education during the pandemic was a challenge for every state, school district, school, administrator, and teacher. This was not just an Alabama issue. "Educational institutions began providing most of their services online, including lecturers and different assessments via several platforms for over 60% of students around the world due to global restriction measures to minimize the spread of COVID-19" (Alqahtani & Rajkhan, 2020, p. 216). Students had challenges concerning the instantaneous usage of digital devices and access to the internet, but what can we say about a year in the trenches with COVID19. Regrettably, most school districts were not ready for digital implementation on a massive scale, but how could anybody be ready? Perhaps we are glossing over a few fine points that should not be overlooked. 

Really, we should have been ready.

     You know, it is almost like somebody or something told us to be ready for distance learning years ago. Oh wait, I remember, it was the Alabama State Department of Education back in 2015. The State Superintendent of Education sent a memorandum throughout Alabama stating, "Act 2015-89 requires each local education agency (LEA) to adopt a policy providing at a minimum, a virtual education option for eligible students in Grades 9-12 before the 2016-2017 school year" (Bice, 2015, para. 1). Don't you just hate it when someone tries to help, but you just don't listen. Enough finger-pointing, I'll move on.

Let's start with jumping into the abyss.

     Errors were being made on multiple levels of the educational hierarchy. We must look at everything during COVID19 and systematically evaluate our decisions. Why evaluate, you may ask? The "evaluation of programs is used to identify strengths and weaknesses as well as the benefits and drawbacks of teaching and learning online" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 307). What about the decision to utilize SchoolsPLP? SchoolsPLP "was awarded a $12.458 million contract by the state earlier this month to fulfill the task of providing a “digital curriculum” option for schools" (Moon, 2020, para. 2). This was a great idea until we found out "SchoolsPLP’s claims of accreditation on their website — by Cognia, AdvancED, California A-G and the NCAA — all appear to be bogus" (Moon, 2020, para. 4). If you want to read the article, click this hyperlink. Let us just hope there will be a far greater investigation of new platforms for digital curriculums in the future. 

An infographic for the evaluation of distance education.

     One of the tasks I had as an educator was getting a copy of our district's digital text licensure agreement. My greatest fear was using digital text illegally. I was fortunate to have peers in my district that share my concerns. All I had to do was ask the right person. Please don't get me wrong, I use all forms of multimedia in my classroom, but I would not have used the text without this license. There are considerations for copyrighted material usage by educators via the Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act, but "appropriating the property of someone else—even for a noble cause—is wrong. If, as educators, we hope to model the behaviors we would like to see in our students, respecting the value of others’ work is an excellent place to begin" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 277). I realize students sometimes do not give proper citations of another's intellectual property, but educators must be held to a higher standard. 

Please be a good example for your distance learning program.

     I realize I have spoken quite a bit about the negatives of distance education during the pandemic, but there are also countless positives. The educators within my district, administrative staff, technology coordinators, and our networking staff combined. Everyone assembled as a team to make the best of a horrible situation. The district allocated government funding to purchase digital devices while the I.T. staff ensured our network could support the coming workload. Purchasing bandwidth for the district network to support educators using multimedia applications was one obstacle The I.T. department defeated quickly. Also, my school district already possessed board-approved written student policies governing the use of digital devices and appropriate digital citizenship behavior. It is understandable considering "virtually every educational organization maintains policies governing who can use institutional technologies, how they can be used, and the rights and responsibilities that accompany this access" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 288). These actions and policies may seem of little consequence to some, but when confronted with the task of virtual learning for an entire district, every advantage is a blessing. 

It is shaky, but we are attempting to cross the digital divide.

      No one wants to deal with another COVID19 scenario, but the digital divide across Alabama is getting smaller. No matter what educators plan/create for distance education, there is one critical issue with distance education regarding students. Students entering distance education must "build their own attitude and commitment, and find ways to self-motivate in order to gain successful learning outcomes" (Alqahtani & Rajkhan, 2020, p. 13). Regrettably, many students are not ready or do not have the maturity level to accept the responsibility necessary for distance education. In time, students will develop these skills, and with so much technology now available, repetitive digital device use may spawn responsible behaviors students need to succeed. Only time will tell, but the future looks bright.

References

Bice, T. R. (2015, December). Virtual Schools (and Programs). Alabama State Department of Education. https://www.alsde.edu/ofc/cs/Virtual%20Schools/FY16-2023.pdf. 

Giphy. Ball Juggling. https://media.giphy.com/media/BvjoYFizIt5yU/giphy.gif

Giphy. I Won't. https://media.giphy.com/media/L4HW0QeHJYUt9l7I2o/giphy.gif

Giphy. Jump parachute cave. https://giphy.com/gifs/jump-parachute-cave-8UYMQ5MCmuqXu

Giphy. Stephen Colbert Oops. https://media.giphy.com/media/zI2xxBtbAig6Y/giphy.gif

Alqahtani, A. Y., & Rajkhan, A. A. (2020). E-Learning Critical Success Factors during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Comprehensive Analysis of E-Learning Managerial Perspectives. Education Sciences, 10.

Moon, J. (2020, July 27). ALSDE: Accreditation issues with virtual school provider won't affect Alabama delivery. Alabama Political Reporter. https://www.alreporter.com/2020/07/27/alsde-accreditation-issues-with-virtual-school-provider-wont-affect-alabama-delivery/. 

Simonson, M., Smaldino, S. E., & Zvacek, S. (2019). Teaching and learning at a distance: foundations of distance education. Information Age Publishing, Inc

Distance Education: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

There are two sides to everything!

     When it comes to online courses, there is always going to be a give and take. I think we all can say 2020 left us all disheveled, spent, and yet much wiser than the years prior. I will speak from my own experiences with virtual classrooms, but I feel my experience was shared by many in the educational field. Before I start on the melee of virtual battlefields, I feel I must define virtual learning. "An online course is one where most of the content is delivered online, which means 80% of the course content" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 5). Have I had the honor of teaching a virtual course, you may ask? Yes, but I think everyone has because of COVID19. Maybe it has not been for a whole semester, but I don't think a single school missed out on going virtual at some point in 2020. 

     My experience with virtual learning was positive for the best part of the 2020/2021 school year. The positives are not hard to mention, but let us take a moment to savor the virtual bliss. Students tended to enjoy staying at home, even with the challenges of distance learning. It is true that "evidence suggests that students are increasingly demanding to be allowed to learn at a distance" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 5). Let us not get ahead of ourselves because "students say their first choice is not to learn at a distance" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 5). I know, confusing, right? Of course, it is. They are kids, for crying out loud!

     I would love to tell you only the students/kids are crazy, but I would be lying. The truth is that many adults are learning online as well. Say nothing, act casual, ED610 what? Where was I? Oh yes, there is a whole distance education theory based on adult learning. Say it with me, andragogy! Malcolm Knowles distance education theory (andragogy) "is relevant because most often adults are involved in distance education, and andragogy deals with frameworks for programs designed for the adult learner" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 48). While many teachers only have a one-sided view of virtual learning, I actually know both sides pretty well. Aren't I lucky?

     Let's just look at the positives of virtual learning for a moment. When we consider distance education, we are really attempting to describe "what attributes of the medium can contribute to a positive, equivalent learning experience" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 61). I love using technology in my classroom, but this only one of the key factors for distance education. Current research suggests "instructor attitudes toward the technology, instructor teaching style, student computer competency, use of interactive collaboration, course content, and effectiveness of the technology system were critical success factors for distance education courses" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 66). For me, games always work well. Gimkits, Quizlet Live, and other interactive, collaborative, and competitive games always do well, in my humble opinion. Yes, these games take time to set up, but students learning while having fun is awesome to see. This time in the technology wonderland of fun is only matched by the challenges we face with distance education. 

     There are many barriers to face, and it is time to discuss the ugly dark side of distance education. To me, the largest issue is the "lack of money to implement distance education programs" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 68). While my district was able to implement new digital technologies during 2020, there were several issues. Many students did not have the capability to transition to distance education, and "the almost overnight need to move delivery of programs online at every level of schooling has exacerbated an already uneven implementation of digital technology" (McQuirter, 2020, p. 48). For my district, some teachers were resistant to learning another digital application. The beginning of the implementation process for Newsela flowed like molasses during a freeze. These problems I am describing are some of "the strongest barriers to distance education" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 68). Most of these problems could have been avoided if our district had a larger staff dedicated to technology integration, but we were not that lucky. So, with so much negativity, what can we do to mitigate the challenges to distance education?

     While there is no silver bullet to eliminate the challenges to distance education, there are always best educational practices to utilize. The greatest positive I can give is "what we know about best practices in education is directly applicable to distance education" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 68). Every teacher does not teach the same subject, but many use the same technologies, strategies, and methods. Distance education is, for most students, an online learning experience, and "the Internet can provide a student-centered learning environment, if the materials and methods are designed to take advantage of the interactivity and resources the Internet provides" (Simonson et al., 2019, p. 107). As with most things, there is good and bad depending upon how it is utilized.  McQuirter (2020) discusses "basic principles such as building on the strengths of current practices, encouraging and facilitating teacher collaboration, and providing focused, systematic, multi-level implementation support are building blocks for innovation regardless of grade level or curriculum area" (p. 50). The greatest benefit, I believe, would come from teachers understanding what it is like to be a student enrolled in an online course. In the end, students and parents must also decide if distance education is right for them. The infographic below provides a great deal of information concerning the advantages and disadvantages of online learning.

References

"Coin tossing" by Scarygami is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

"Covid19 The Wind of Unwelcome Change" by muffinn is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Giphy. Sarcastic Sarcasm.        https://media.giphy.com/media/xT9IggnH2ywRd39XDq/giphy.gif  

Giphy. Going Crazy Will Ferrell GIF.  https://media.giphy.com/media/CKrlUi30dn44w/giphy.gif 

  Giphy. The More You Know. https://media.giphy.com/media/83QtfwKWdmSEo/giphy.gif

  Giphy. Terry Gilliam Film GIF. https://media.giphy.com/media/6Y49Ck6FxF4nS/giphy.gif 

  McQuirter, R. (2020). Lessons on Change: Shifting to Online Learning during COVID-19. Brock Education: A Journal of Educational Research and Practice, 29(2), 47–51.

  

  OnlineSchools.org. (2021, April 8). Is Online Learning Right For Me? OnlineSchools.org. https://www.onlineschools.org/visual-academy/is-online-learning-right-for-me/. 

  Simonson, M., Smaldino, S. E., & Zvacek, S. (2019). Teaching and learning at a distance: foundations of distance education. Information Age Publishing, Inc.

Educational Technology: When a failure becomes Success!

     Every great endeavor begins with an idea, an attempt, and regrettably, some failures. Every blue moon, something great happens. You can call it a chance, luck, or destiny. It begins as an accomplishment, but it grows far bigger than you ever hoped. I am lucky to be in a district that desires "to create a different and better culture defined by actual outcomes aligned with improvement" (Sheninger, 2019, p. 208). My idea was to negotiate a school contract with Newsela. Newsela is an application that provides differentiated instruction by distributing assignments at an individual student's reading level. I feel I must say, my administrator values teacher input toward technology purchases. This fact stands in the face of research suggesting "very limited teacher involvement in the procurement of educational products" (Morrison, et al., 2019, p. 391). This ability to individualize instruction to each student is at the heart of using technology to elevate student comprehension and engagement. As with everyone during the pandemic, things did not go as planned. Our contract negotiation went smoothly, and the customer service from Newsela was superior, to say the least.  The ability to utilize Newsela for cross-curriculum instruction was my dream. The idea that every educator across the district could benefit was beyond comprehension. Still, it is part of the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) framework to "provide leadership in strategic alignment of technology" (Consortium for School Networking, 2018, p. 4). Try as I may, I still can't believe how things turned out.

     We all know technology costs money, and budgeting for technology while in a pandemic is a challenge. Translation: we don't have money for that! The issue came from our implementation with Schoology for the 2020/2021 school year. Before COVID19, every school in the school district was relatively autonomous. My district's alignment with Schoology paired my school with a high school in the district. Yes, this is all on the networking side of things, but we were paired together nonetheless. When the time for implementation came, Newsela could only be deployed by the entire district or not at all. 

Failure was imminent!

     Thanks to possibly the greatest customer service ever, Newsela stepped up big! Newsela rolled out the implementation for the whole school district. One small step for technology in two schools became one huge leap for our school district. This became a district-wide "strategic alignment of technology" (Consortium for School Networking, 2018, p. 4). Now Newsela is an additional resource for every teacher in our district via the Schoology platform. We have it, now what? Remember, "because you purchase the latest technology doesn’t mean everyone will use it correctly or productively" (Sheninger, 2019, p. 256). What was going to be a little professional development, now stomps all over Tokyo! 

Technology Coordinators Getting It Done!

     I did not create the directive to increase technology integration in my school district, but it is a directive that I believe in wholeheartedly. Like many others during the pandemic, my school district rose like a phoenix to utilize technology quickly and effectively. We have an awesome I.T. department and Technology Coordinators in every school. I truly do not know what shape we would be in without these unsung heroes. Professional development continues, students and teachers still perform well, and we all wait for the next challenge. I can't help but think about the evaluation process of our using Newsela this year. Every school district knows "evaluation is essential to procurement, and most commonly entails pilot studies" (Morrison, et al., 2019, p. 409). Will we see the student gains we hope for? We can't purchase another year of Newsela without evaluating its ability to enhance student learning goals, outcomes, and achievement. Only time will tell, but I am hoping for the best. Until the next blog, drive straight into the educational technology of the future!

Our future is right in front of us!

References

Consortium for School Networking. (2018). Framework of Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO. cosn.org. https://www.cosn.org/sites/default/files/Framework%20December%202018.pdf

 

"Failure - Try again" by Tatiana12 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

 

"From Cash To Digital" by FamZoo is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

 

Giphy. Deal With It Godzilla. https://giphy.com/gifs/deal-with-it-godzilla-d0SEajOmMna1i/embed 

 

Giphy. Failure Mortal. https://giphy.com/gifs/failure-mortal-HKch5zpaH97ck/embed

 

Morrison, J. R., Ross, S. M., & Cheung, A. C. K. (2019). From the market to the classroom: how ed-tech products are procured by school districts interacting with vendors. Educational Technology Research & Development, 67(2), 389–421. https://doi-org.ezproxy.montevallo.edu/10.1007/s11423-019-09649-4

 

Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2 nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Educational Technology Leaders: Every Bit Counts!

Every bit counts. Will you be the one or the zero?

     What does it mean to be a technology leader? To me, it means not waiting for someone else to do a job you know would help others. My continuing education at the University of Montevallo exposed me to the ISTE Standards for Education Leaders. What is ISTE, you may ask? ISTE is the International Society for Technology in Education. More specifically, I think of standard 3D for educational leaders which states, "Support educators in using technology to advance learning that meets the diverse learning, cultural, and social-emotional needs of individual students" (ISTE, 3 Empowering Leader). ISTE is not the only area for guidance; educational leaders look to the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN).  Educational technology "leaders have the responsibility to encourage and support teachers to integrate technology in learning and to teach especially when the Internet of Things is rapidly making its way into classrooms in ways never before imagined" (Raman & Thannimalai, 2019, p. 1).  I chose to embark on an idea to assist my school district's social science educators. My idea to support social science educators across the district fell into the arena of strategic planning within the CoSN Leadership and Vision framework to "integrate technology with curriculum and instruction to provide an appropriate teaching and learning environment" (Consortium for School Networking, 2018, p. 4). 

Every path leads somewhere.

     How do we decide the direction of technology in each school district? This may seem like an easy question, but is it? Yes, we have technology plans and directives for technology delineated through the technology ranks within each school district, but I believe there is room for latitude. School districts need their technology coordinators to take directives and also bridge unforeseen gaps to help the educators they serve. Every educational technology leader realizes "technology should be utilized to innovate learning and teaching experiences in classrooms" (Raman & Thannimalai, 2019, p. 10). I decided to help the social science educators within my district, and I took steps toward a larger role as a technology leader. Please do not think I act as a maverick, I adhere to technology plans and my administrator, just as anyone else does. I took the initiative to fill a need of my fellow social science educators within my school district. 

See a need, fill a need!

      Like many school districts during COVID19, the educators in my district were compiling as many digital resources as possible for our learning management system (LMS), Schoology. Schoology permitted educators to link their Google Drive, and this is what caused my eureka moment. I had four years of digital resources to share for grades nine, ten, and eleven. I also had traveled the school district providing Google Classroom training in the years before Schoology. I chose to create digital resources aligned by curriculum and began to reach out to secondary schools in the district. It was not enough to just share files; I began to create resources for differentiated instruction, reading materials, and assessments. What started as just trying to help turned into educators calling me to thank me for what I was doing. The Google Drive files became a repository for educators to share their information with others as well. Over time, every social science educator of 9th, 10th, and 11th-grade was incorporated into the larger group.

Educators Running to Technology

     Again, what is an educational leader?  Educational leaders understand "transforming schools into digital-age places of learning requires leadership from people who can accept new challenges and embrace opportunities, which is at the heart of digital leadership" (Sheninger, 2019, p. 79). I want to be an educational technology leader, but I still have far to go. Creating the shared Google Drive and digital resources turned into a professional learning network (PLN), but I didn't know if it would work. I am very thankful educators in my district were willing to try something new. Communication among peers and sharing resources show that PLNs enable "leaders to harness the power inherent in innovative technologies in order to create a professional growth tool that is accessible whenever and wherever necessary" (Sheninger, 2019, p. 150). Did everything go smoothly with the creation of our PLN? No, but that is a blog post for a later time.

References

Consortium for School Networking. (2018). Framework of Essential Skills of the K-12 CTO. cosn.org. https://www.cosn.org/sites/default/files/Framework%20December%202018.pdf 

ISTE Standards for Education Leaders. ISTE. (n.d.). https://iste.org/standards/for-education-leaders. 

"Internet's universe..." by CLUC is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

LSN Tutorials(2014, August 23). Robots see the need fill the need [Video File]. Youtube. https://youtu.be/nFVlyKRVgwg  

Raman, A., & Thannimalai, R. (2019). Importance of Technology Leadership for Technology Integration: Gender and Professional Development Perspective. SAGE Open, 9(4).

Sheninger, E. (2019). Digital leadership: Changing paradigms for changing times (2 nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

"Space Escape Grunge Sign" by Free Grunge Textures - www.freestock.ca is licensed under CC BY 2.0

"The meaning of follow" by dhammza is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0