In this series of WGVU Education Conversations, Education Intern Yasmin Alemayehu, will explore the different voices and perspectives within West Michigan. This series of blog posts will involve critical education stakeholders such as parents, educators, students, professors, and community members. This blog will open a dialogue on various education topics revolving around the purpose of education. As education is a broad and diverse field, the importance of recognizing and centering the diversity of education ecosystems contributes to our ability to engage in respectful discussion and action in support of inclusive, equitable classrooms.
How did remote learning impact students?
I will never forget that week in 2020 when my university declared that the school would be shutting down for a week to ensure the safety of the students and professors. One week became two weeks, then through the end of the semester.
That second week of March, there was this universal experience within America where our new domain of speaking and connecting with each other would consist predominantly of video calls and text messages. March 2020 was a month of new experiences and never ending questions that continued to impact the world of education.
Leading up to this, I spent hours studying for a Spanish exam, and I felt such relief at being given an extra two weeks. I used the extra time to study for an exam that I would never be expected to take, and my semester concluded with a message from my professor to “take care of yourself during these new and difficult times.” Who knew that this temporary shutdown would last up to a year and half with teachers and students needing to adapt to education that would be completely done virtually?
As a future educator, I am curious: how did distance learning impact students, families and teachers? I wanted to know more about the personal experiences that came from remote learning, so I decided to ask others about their thoughts about their virtual learning experiences.
Perspective 1: Munira
Munira is a senior at a local high school who spoke about her freshman and sophomore year of remote learning. “I am a senior now, and I think that my experience within schools was a weird one. I can honestly say that I do not recall a single lesson from Freshman to Sophomore year and to think I am graduating is honestly kind of scary.” Munira expressed her worries about applying to colleges, saying that she often questions if she has enough of the knowledge to be able to continue to take college level courses. Munira reflected on her experiences regarding her learning during virtual schooling: “I remember during the fourth week of the school shut down watching my geometry teacher teach us how to solve the square area for a triangle through Zoom. I remember that literally no one had their camera on and only five of us were actually on the call, and while they were teaching, my only thought was why am I learning this when the world literally turned off?”
As Munira was explaining this, I couldn’t help but to think that the start of the shutdown was just the beginning of hard times. She said, “I wished I was able to learn during zoom, but it was not as easy as people thought it would be. I remember that I would help three of my siblings log on every morning, and the continuous fights over sharing computer chargers.” Munira spoke of the challenges that came within virtual learning with multiple students in one family trying to navigate this new domain of education. “My parents tried their best, but the idea of virtual classes seems to be an attempt at maintaining a normal, when nothing was normal.”
Perspective 2: Grace
Grace is a single parent of three school aged children and recalls the difficulty of online learning for her children while being an essential worker throughout the pandemic. “I work the day shift, and as a single mom I could not just give up my job because at the end of the day I had to feed my children and make sure the rent was paid.” Grace explained the hardship that came with being a working parent and trying to ensure that her children were receiving a proper education and not fall behind in their learning. “I think it was a hard time for everyone, but I will admit that I was not able to stay home and make sure my kids were on zoom.”
Grace goes on to examine that even if she was at home, her own lack of education would interfere with her ability to help her children, “I understand that teachers had a job too, but honestly placing everything on the parents was too much to assume or even trust that anything would get done. What was so overwhelming about this was that I didn’t even remember how to subtract fractions or even be able to recall the slightest information of history, but now my child will be affected by my lack of knowledge and it did hurt knowing I was not able to help my own children.” Grace shared her thoughts about the nature of online learning and effects on her own children. “I am sure my children went back to school last year with some type of lacking skill but I did the best I could and that was all I could do and I am at peace with that.” Grace concluded “at the end of the day everyone from the teachers, to the students, to the parents were only trying to do the best that could have been done, and we should make peace with that.”
Perspective 3: Logan
Logan is an elementary educator in Grand Rapids and spoke about the hardships and inequities that virtual learning brought during her time teaching in the midst of a pandemic. “COVID was just hard, I felt so unhelpful during this time to both the students and the parents.” Logan reflected on the population of students that she taught, and how virtual learning seemed to only fit the students that had the privilege of being home with a parent or tutor who could help navigate this online world. “The kids I teach aren’t students that have the opportunity to be able to excel within a virtual setting.”
Logan explained what her classrooms looked like during the peak of the pandemic - the emptiness of the virtual zoom classroom where her class of twenty-two would consist of only five students. “There were times where the same four students would log into zoom when there were supposed to be twenty-five and these were the four students whose parents were either home to help or hired a tutor to sit with their child.” Logan expressed her frustration of teaching virtually and the expectations that were still placed on educators. “I remember wanting to walk away from teaching during the pandemic, I was so frustrated and I know I was frustrating parents that already had so much to deal with, to remind them that their child had to be on Zoom by 8am.” Logan further elaborated on the struggles and frustration that parents would express when she would reach out regarding the lack of attendance on Zoom calls or the lack of work that was being completed during remote learning. “I remember when I asked a parent why their child was having difficulties attending Zoom, she broke down and explained that with a newborn and working full time, she has never felt more beaten down then ever before.”
Logan reflected that it was painful to realize that there was a significant added stress on the parents who had to adjust their home life for their child's learning. For Logan, this phone call was her motivations for the changes she made to remote learning for her 5th graders. “I think after that phone call and so many others, I only gave three assignments per week and started to pre-record the lessons for each lesson, and required a two check in writing prompts for my fifth graders to respond, and to this day I don’t know if that was the right decision, but I tried my best.”
Conclusion
When speaking with Munira, I could sympathize with her situation and even frustration when it comes to online learning as a student. As students there is a sense of expected flexibility and resiliency that is needed when adapting from teacher to teacher, and this expectation that students was still required to meet the state standards while living in a time where the unknown was so overwhelming for some that they shut down and never logged back into a zoom class.
My conversation with Grace was a humbling and empathetic experience. Grace went from a home life that was structured and consistent, without the worry of childcare. Grace often stated, “I know this had to happen but I just wanted more support.” This caused me to wonder after our conversation, what support could have been sent to Grace to be able to ease the added stress of being an essential worker, but also an at home teacher aiding and supporting her children during their time of remote learning?
Reflecting on my conversation with Logan, I understood the pressures teachers felt while being expected to teach during a pandemic that was sweeping the world in mass numbers. Teachers, whether tech savvy or not, had to still attempt to teach through a remote domain that would make teaching less impressionable and less effective. Logan often spoke about the inequities that virtual learning brought out, and recalled that the small number of students who would log into zoom logged in with a tutor or a parent right by their side. Logan explained her method about trying to make her classroom a bit more equitable without the strict zoom meeting times and instead did daily video check-ins one on one with students during school hours regarding the lesson, but Logan still continues to contemplate if there was anything more she could have done.
My conversations with Munira, Grace, and Logan had this running theme of the hardships and frustrations that came from remote learning and trying to adapt during a time where the unknown was expected. I can still recall the overwhelming feeling of realizing that the only options for my second year in college consisted of remote learning. I will never forget the days where I would hop on zoom, probably still in my pajamas, feeling disconnected from the lesson. The effect of remote learning seemed to bring a new appreciation for consistency, but also a realization that schools have this essential role of providing a community and a support system for students and their families. As much as educators tried to recreate this community virtually it could never equate to the classroom full of students sitting anxiously at their desks ready to be a part of the lesson.