Online Learning Impact on Students & Families, An Educator's Perspective, Francis Hernandez-Chawlani
Today’s Woman Dreamer is in Houston, Texas. Francis Hernandez - Chawlani, originally from Venezuela, shares her experience as a college educator during the pandemic, and what she expects for the Fall semester.
On March 12, I finished my last face-to-face class. I felt very thankful to get over and done with the course, since more COVID 19 cases were being diagnosed in the greater Houston area, where my campus is located. By the end of Spring Break, we learnt that all classes have to move online.
Over the following three weeks we had to prepare for what was next. My colleagues and I worked late every day to see how our dining areas, study, and living rooms could became classrooms and labs. We were preparing to see how we could humanize technology. April to June 2020 were the most productive and challenging months of my 10 years teaching career.
We had lunch meetings on WEBEX, recreated classrooms in Kaltura, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams while setting up course shells in Canvas. The only goal was to keep active learners engaged while trying to bring some sense of normalcy in these very atypical times. Some colleagues eloquently describe the whole experience as assembling a plane while flying!
Five months into this tragedy, there have been a lot of discussions on how to go back to classes in Fall. Online only, online anytime, online on schedule (live), flex, face to face with 1/3 of students, with 1⁄2 of students, you name it and we looked at it! All plans were considered because we really don’t know what’s the best path forward, after the fiasco of premature reopening of economic activities with the consequence spike in cases and deaths.
Online learning has been highly criticized by everyone,including teachers. But moms have been most vocal. They feel kids are missing socializing with their peers. It has been especially hard for kids with special needs. Many moms have to send kids to school this Fall because they need to work, as some companies aren’t flexible anymore about the family disruption in their clients meetings. There’s a real fear that hard-won career gains can be lost, especially among middle age professional women.
Schools have to open by fall, as a friend of mine told me, “because I can’t handle work and family life in the same room”. She is right, it is extremely difficult.
Online learning has also been criticized because students are less diligent, and the teachers pace is slower than in person. Even in smaller size classes, taking a quiz or a test can be extremely difficult for students and teachers when frequent screen “freeze” or “echos” take control of the classroom dynamic.
Online Learning is also challenged by no so ideal digital infrastructure to support the new high demand, maybe because the growth in some areas has been so explosive in recent years. Online learning has been criticized because lack of digital education exacerbates achievement gaps. Many students and teachers do not have access to internet or personal computers. Schools districts and colleges have been working to accommodate this unexpected demand but time is of essence.
We are in a hurry but the virus asked us to slowdown and reinvent ourselves. Rethinking education isn’t new and has been a hot topic especially in USA. We have the opportunity to thrive in this new environment. We have to give a chance to different educational highways, and one of them is Online Learning.
