Remote learning for the pre-k set - a historical perspective

May 23, 2020 6:53 PM

Joy Thomas recalls her school shutting down for the 1925 polio epidemic, and how she did remote learning by mail. It was a positive experience for her. (I definitely recommend the video, but the article covers the basics). She also has some good advice for students doing remote learning today.
posted by Salamandrous (9 comments total)

Her advice to children to spend just the first hour in the morning learning and then to have fun shows how different the experience of learning by mail and learning by screen is. (And perhaps also how different remote learning was in an age where one parent probably didn't work).

From my friends who have children I hear that the kids generally have scheduled times where they have to sit in front of a computer and do real-time lessons. Maybe that is helpful to parents in that it keeps the kids occupied for a bit so they can do something else, but it also loses the opportunity for families to build their daily schedule in a way that suits them.
posted by lollusc at 8:52 PM on May 23, 2020 [3 favorites]

I can't imagine it would be possible for teachers to teach dozens of students by having randomly scheduled times for each kid.
posted by axiom at 9:03 PM on May 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

That's the point. So in some ways the old model worked better: delivering a packet of lessons for the kids to do asynchronously, and then they do it in a time that suits the family.
posted by lollusc at 11:40 PM on May 23, 2020 [2 favorites]

As a teacher going through this now, I marvel at any current online learning arrangement that requires kids to be online for lessons at certain times (aka synchronous) - there are so many reasons that is unfair to kids in different situations, with access to different tools and resources. (Has to babysit siblings, limited WiFi, limited # of devices in home, mental health & anxiety, etc) I do live lessons 1-2 times per week, and I get less than 1/3 of my students showing up and consider that a huge success. Everything is available as independent activities with videos, answer keys, etc. The live lessons are also recorded for asynchronous viewing after the fact. And it still sucks for everyone... (I’m at a high school level - maybe synchronous meetings at the elementary level make more sense to try and require, so kids can see/hear encouragement from their teachers.)
posted by chr1sb0y at 3:55 AM on May 24, 2020 [13 favorites]

In New Zealand I believe they've been doing national broadcasting of (mainly primary school aged) children's lessons on a special TV channel, which is an interesting approach.
posted by lollusc at 4:31 AM on May 24, 2020 [5 favorites]

I homeschooled my son through 6th and 7th grades using Florida Virtual School in 2015-2016. It was almost entirely asynchronous, you had to do a 15-minute phone call with a teacher once a week per class and live online lessons were available a few times a week, but you were only required to do one per semester per class (and they were incredibly glitchy and clunky - I can't imagine having to do them every day, it would have been such a waste of time.) It worked surprisingly well, but I was able to make it my full-time job, which is a luxury most people don't have.
posted by Daily Alice at 5:23 AM on May 24, 2020

In my district, it's required to be completely asynchronous because half the kids don't have computers and/or internet. They also hand out paper versions of all the lessons once a week for those who aren't able to get them online. It requires parents to be full time teachers, which is difficult when the parents are also full time something else.
posted by soren_lorensen at 6:59 AM on May 24, 2020

This did really make me wonder who is benefiting from the insistence on *online* learning. Like, just because we have it, doesn't mean we have to use it. Especially for the little ones.

I wonder how much of it is a (justifiably) panicked school system feeling like they have to justify their budget, plus a very well established and politically connected ed tech industry.
posted by Salamandrous at 7:50 AM on May 24, 2020 [1 favorite]

how different remote learning was in an age where one parent probably didn't work

1925? Pre automation; for much of the US, pre electrification, and a significant fraction of housing had no indoor plumbing. A SAH parent then is not doing less work than a parent home now in Zoom meetings, and we know they’re overwhelmed. Maybe the 1925 reproduction of labor allows more control over her exact schedule, unless livestock or cooking on wood, both common.
posted by clew at 10:56 AM on May 24, 2020 [2 favorites]