People keep circulating this article from the Wall Street Journal about remote learning. “The results are in” it declares.  “Remote learning didn’t work!”  Results?  Was this an experiment?  Funny, I don’t recall there ever being a hypothesis, or any kind of preparation to ensure that the resultant data had any real value.  There was no set up of an experiment, or distribution of supplies and training to ensure that teachers even knew how to do online learning.  This was not an experiment.  

What online learning was, from about March to June, was disaster response.  And teachers responded in heroic fashion!  With very little (and sometimes no) warning, teachers went from teaching in-person, in classrooms, with all their supplies and equipment, to teaching from home, from their kitchen tables and makeshift home classrooms, with their own technology, and sometimes no training in online learning best practices — often while trying to help their own children with online classes. 

Of course, this “experiment” failed — like so many “experiments” in public education. But since this was an experience and not an experiment, we should do just what we encourage our students to do when things don’t go the way they want them to — reflect on our experience and learn from it.  Here are some takeaways from the shutdown.

1. We need to invest in digital learning.  Like everything else in schools, our technology budgets are squeezed to the max.  Students are learning on broken and outdated equipment, and teachers lack tools needed to do online learning justice.  
2. We need to close the digital divide.  Students hurt the most with online learning are students who lack access to technology and internet services.  Though there were many clever workarounds during the shutdown, success was spotty.  In a world where digital access is no longer a luxury, this divide is an equity issue that needs to be addressed in order for all our students to learn, whether we are learning in-person or at home.  This also applies to teachers, who need digital tools to work from home.  Many teachers were also hamstrung by lack of access to digital tools, especially those who live in and serve marginalized communities.  
3. Students and teachers need digital literacy skills.  This may be surprising at a time when students are creating impressive Tik Tok videos and teachers are using computers to teach every day, but the way we use technology in our lives and in our classrooms does not always translate into successful online learning.  Many of the programs that we use in schools are designed to be very intuitive for every student, but don’t exactly teach important skills needed for learning online — creating content, uploading, knowing how to protect ourselves online, digital citizenship, etc… — so we may be using technology all the time, but we are not building skills important for learning online. Also, because we live in a digital world, these skills are important for more than just online learning.  We all need these skills to be productive citizens.  By not teaching these skills, we are limiting our students’ success in life.  
4. We need to understand that online learning includes offline learning, too!  It is possible — and encouraged — that we find ways to move students offline, even while learning online. Too much screen time is unhealthy for kids and teachers.  But online learning can still work because not every task can and should be done on a computer.  Some learning just works better with analog tools.  For example, I teach art.  Many teachers asked me, “how do you even teach art online?”  I could have taught for the entire 11 weeks doing nothing but online zoom lessons about famous artists with students responding in Google Classroom with what they have learned.  But that would be torture — for students and for me!  Instead, my students watched my videos, responded with written or video reflections, then went offline to create art with things they had at home.  They would then photograph their art and submit it on Padlet.  All the resources were available for my students 24/7 on our Hapara Workspaces, so students could log on and learn anytime they felt like it, and though uploading work required learning some new skills, they quickly conquered them.  Students logged in for Zoom studio hours to get assistance and feedback, but for the most part, they learned on their own — offline!
5. We need to empower students and teachers to become content creators — not just content consumers.  Again, this applies to learning in-person or from home.  Online curricula are wonderfully convenient but the best learning experiences happen when teachers can design resources and learning spaces specifically for their own students’ needs.  We talk a lot about differentiation, but it’s hard to differentiate without teacher-created resources.  By training teachers to create and curate digital content and design good digital learning spaces, we are truly giving our teachers the tools to differentiate learning.  Better yet, when we empower students to be content creators, we are promoting deeper understanding through the authentic learning experience of sharing their knowledge with others.  
6. We need technology decision makers who are informed about online learning.  Many districts employ IT personnel but not digital learning specialists.  These are two very different fields.  When people are making choices about digital learning tools with only an IT background, they are looking at an entirely different set of criteria than a person who is trained in digital learning best practices.  Often this results in some of the nightmares we found during the shutdown, like compatibility issues between Learning Management Systems (LMS) and content creation tools, or issues with systems not working properly from students’ homes or learning devices.  Also, many teachers complained of not knowing how to choose appropriate online learning tools, or how to use them to teach online, so a digital learning specialist would be able to spot and provide appropriate professional development and resources to minimize shortfalls.  
7. We need time to shift from primarily in-person learning to online learning.  Time is unfortunately our biggest challenge, when students need to be able to learn right now.  But shifting to using more technology, even with face-to-face learning, is important, to provide students with important digital skills, understanding and practicing good digital citizenship, information literacy, and to provide the differentiation students need to succeed in school.  And, with issues such as wildfires, continued periodic shutdowns from COVID-19, and natural disasters, it’s good to have a solid digital learning system in place so that our next shift to online learning won’t be disappointing.

It’s safe to say that this experience (not experiment) was a learning opportunity for all of us  — from the most tech-averse to the blended learning super-teacher.  But to write off our first foray into online learning as a “failure” is like grading a rough draft as a final research paper.  We wouldn’t do that to our students, so let’s also cut our teachers some slack.  Moving our teaching entirely online without much warning was an impressive feat, and though there were major problems, there were also great successes, and even more opportunities to reflect on our in-person teaching and learning practices and the inequities that exist in our day-to-day schools.  We need to look at our experience through a growth mindset lens, and apply what we’ve learned to improve our work — just like we teach our students to do.  When we return to face-to-face learning (hopefully, when it is safe to do so), let’s not forget what we learned, and use our knowledge to improve school for all students, no matter where they are doing the learning.