What will we learn from a worldwide experiment in distance learning?
We are in the midst of an unexpected, uncontrolled, worldwide experiment with distance learning. Some educators appear to have arrived fully prepared based on past experiences. But most seem to have had to just jump in ready-or-not, making it up as they go along.
My fear is that most teachers did not benefit from adequate training and coaching in any number of important areas. These might include: how to transition to new online platforms and tools, how to adapt the curriculum, how to support parents, how to accommodate different learning needs remotely, and how to attend effectively to the important social-emotional benefits of school.
Nevertheless, even from my limited vantage point, I’ve seen an explosion of innovation and creativity from organizations that we know and love who are finding ways to keep moving education forward. The Four Winds Nature Institute immediately shared ideas to help parents get their kids learning outside, The Hitchcock Center for the Environment created a “Virtual Hitchcock” page to connect their community with many ways to stay engaged through online offerings, and schools around Vermont figured out how to keep students fed at home.
Leading organizations created clearinghouses for resources such as NAAEE’s Online Learning Tools and Resources page and Children and Nature Network’s Stories and Insights page.
Even my local Forest School, something I could have never imagined happening remotely, quickly figured out a distance learning model. Parents are provided with a weekly curriculum including links to engaging, homespun videos and content including poems, songs, and photo contests. Students are invited to gather with friends and mentors via Zoom at the start and end of their ‘usual’ Forest School gathering day to offer each other highlights from the day or the week--nature sightings, mysteries, questions, and camaraderie filled with general silliness.
As an evaluator, I’m hoping that someone manages to capture the key findings from this giant and sudden experiment. What worked well, and for whom? What didn’t? What were the unexpected outcomes? How can we best prepare ourselves, and our formal and non-formal institutions, to be ready for unexpected events like this in the future?
I’m especially interested in success stories in distance approaches to place-based and environmental education, pedagogies that have often relied heavily on hands-on techniques.
I already see a lot of people thinking and asking questions about how this is going to impact the future of education. Might this crisis create an unprecedented opportunity for educational reform?! I was just invited to a webinar from the futurists at KnowledgeWorks (check them out, interesting thinkers) about this very topic.
Do you have a story of something you have done or seen in the world of distance learning that was especially effective or inspiring? Tell us about it, we’d love to hear from you! Stories are our favorite sort of data (when systematically collected, analyzed, and reported, of course).
- Andrew Powers