Coronavirus is radically broadening what teaching and learning looks like

In the wake of school shutdowns across the nation, even the biggest skeptics of education technology are being forced to reconsider their views. Coronavirus is also prompting recalcitrant “luddite” teachers to submerge themselves in virtual learning options in an attempt to maintain some semblance of classroom instruction.

We know how teachers react in times of great change. Their first impulse is survival. As teachers try to make sense of a new reality they cling to some vestige of continuity. For many, a teacher’s role is to impart knowledge, to instruct students. Not surprisingly, most at first are gravitating toward video-conferencing platforms in the hopes of reconstructing their classroom -- that place where they “teach” students.

Ironically, instructional innovation is now happening within this desire for continuity. Teachers and schools are quickly recognizing that their students can’t (and shouldn’t) be expected to sit hour-after-hour in a videoconference. 

Over the last ten days, EdTechTeacher has seen thousands of teachers sign up for its webinars on video-conferencing -- featuring Zoom, Google Meet, and other platforms. That’s no surprise. Teachers are scrambling to somehow recreate the teaching environment they have known for so long.

But an interesting transition is happening. Teachers now want to make instructional videos, record audio, start podcasts, and otherwise create multimedia instructional content. Sure, some teachers were already do so, but now large masses are signing up for “how-do-we-make” webinars. That’s a big change from the norm.

And the change is going deeper. Teachers are now exploring create-and-make-with-technology ideas for their students to undertake. They realize that students need to be active participants in their virtual learning environments. Teachers are figuring out how students can demonstrate their learning in unconventional ways. And they also realize that they can’t be there with them! Students must largely learn on their own.

Of course, that’s the “trick” to getting teachers to innovate. You support them in getting what they want. In the process, they change what they do. 

Organizational psychologist Robert Evans points out that teacher resistance to change often comes from fear of redefining what it means to be proficient. And teachers are now under enormous pressure to redefine themselves. They are now beginning to modify their own basic assumptions. They are reconsidering what it means to teach. They’re also reconsidering what it means to learn. They want to be proficient.

And schools are recalibrating. They are reconsidering their balance of formative and summative assessments. With standardized tests and end-year exams being canceled, and online multiple-choice tests impractical, schools must examine how to leverage the wealth of information about the student thought process that can be cultivated in virtual classrooms. After all, student activities can be recorded. Students can even explain what they are thinking and doing while they complete a task. This is a moment that may finally force schools to confront their over-reliance on summative assessment and multiple-choice tests.

Schools are also being confronted with the challenge of digital equity. How will we reach students without access to devices? How will we rethink the relationship between our special education students and educators? A wider educational conversation is starting to emerge to address these pressing questions. 

So, in the coming weeks, when teachers look to technology to reinforce the past or cling to traditional practices, let’s not be too quick to criticize. They may actually come away with a new conceptualization of what teaching and learning should look like.  And it’s exciting to see.