Wednesday, April 29, 2020

What Is Quarantined Education Teaching Us? Part 1






After two of my students emailed me to say that they were being more productive during their time of e-learning, I became curious.  These were not the highest performing students in class, and their comments came unsolicited.  One even admitted that he tended to distract other people and that other people distracted him at school, hence the greater productivity at home.  My curiosity led me to ask my AP students during one of our Zoom sessions, and they had a variety of thoughts on what was working well, what was not, and why.  It was time, I decided, to dig a little deeper.

For one week my students had access to a survey in which they responded to a range of questions about e-learning and in-person instruction.  Then came the fun part of thinking through their responses, both on my own and with colleagues.  What follows are the questions I asked and some initial thoughts and conclusions.  There will undoubtedly be more as I continue to discuss this with other educators.

Survey Questions


1.  Which grade are you currently in?

2.  Which class is working best for you during e-learning days?
  • Math
  • English
  • World Language
  • Humanities
  • Science
  • Performing Arts
  • Art
  • Other (please specify)
3.  What is working well in this particular class?

4.  Which class is working least well during e-learning?
  • Math
  • English
  • World Language
  • Humanities
  • Science
  • Performing Arts
  • Art
  • Other (please specify)
5.  What is not working well in this class?

6.  If there is a class that is working better for you as an e-learning class than an in-person class, which class is that and why?

7.  If there is a class that works better for you as an in-person class than an e-learning class, which class is that and why?

8.  Do you find yourself more or less productive during e-learning than in traditional, in-person learning?  Why do you think that is?

9.  Please share any other comments about e-learning that you think would be helpful to teachers and administrators.


Although I had been prompted to study the e-learning experiences of my students by two emails that spoke of greater productivity at home, their experience was not indicative of the whole.  Of those who felt strongly one way or the other, 73% said they were less productive at home, whereas 35% said they were more productive.

We must be careful about attempting to draw too firm a conclusion about anything from an unscientific survey such as this, but its results can direct us to further questions and reasonable speculation by those with long experience and a background of deep study in education.  One such person is my wife, Melissa Perkins, who holds both bachelor's and master's degrees in education and has spent thirty years as a teacher and administrator in K-12 public and private schools.  She observed that those who felt less productive during e-learning at home had not been sufficiently prepared for that level of independent learning.  This, she suggested, stemmed from an increasingly scripted and routinized learning experience in our schools, and I agreed.

And why should that not be the case?  With the increased emphasis on testing in all forms and for all reasons, testing that includes A.P. tests, I.B. tests, end-of-course assessments, state-mandated exams, and more, and with the close linking of student performance on exams with teacher pay, it is unlikely and unreasonable to expect that adults will entrust their livelihood and that of their families to the vagaries of independent learning.  The outline and the study packet become unquestioned necessities.  Many colleagues and I have remarked on the anxiety-filled question we receive more and more at the end of a semester, "When will we get our study guide?"

We have an unprecedented opportunity to study the nature of education and how and why we do it.  We also have a chance to explore new ways of leading students on that shared journey of discovery.  Already ideas are beginning to surface, and I will explore some of those in the next part of this series.

8 comments:

  1. I am looking forward to reading the next part of this series....what are your thoughts on starting a "think tank" of maybe a weekly or biweekly zoom of interested educators?

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  2. I love it! That is a great idea. Let's get together on this.

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  3. Things to consider: requirements and equity (availability of supplies and technology)

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    1. Excellent point! We have passed the tipping point in society where Internet-based activity is essential in many aspects, but we have not reached the point of nearly universal, reliable means to access it.

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  4. My own takeaway is that even students who have been productive are getting burned out- there is no creativity or redirection in e-learning, feedback comes way after a student has moved on to the next task and the social element (impressing others, being the class clown, etc..)is just absent.

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    1. Good point. I think that the timeliness of feedback is important, but, of necessity, varies with the task or subject. For example, it is easy to reply quickly on a worksheet, but an essay requires much more time to critique.

      You also make a good point about getting burned out. In fact, this may well point to the need for a variety of means of learning, even within the traditional setting.

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  5. It’s also a strong indication of how well students are prepared for college, which of course requires much more solitary, independent learning outside of the lecture hall. Not that collaboration isn’t still important but I certainly remember that being an adjustment. I’m not sure I would have done half as well at UT had I not taken some community college classes first.

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    Replies
    1. Agreed. And not just for collegiate success. Many jobs require independent work and self-motivation.

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