Carla's Techy Campus

To be the best place to live and work for the next generation of Texans, and the generations after them, we will need to come together to think strategically and forge the right solutions.

Texas 2036. (2021, June 23). Tracking COVID Learning Loss. Texas 2036. https://texas2036.org/posts/tracking-covid-learning-loss/.

The coronavirus pandemic has undeniably changed our world. In a few short weeks, the everyday routine for millions of Americans came to a sudden halt. For the government, implementing strategies aimed at prevention and containment of the disease became a priority. People shifted to working remotely from home, nonessential businesses shut their doors, and students were sent home to quarantine, all with little to no warning. It has now been a little over a year since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic. The world has learned a lot in that time. Now we need to start embracing the new normal. 

In order to truly appreciate and learn from what happened during the pandemic and what it would mean for the future of education, we have to look at our failures. Many schools believed they were future-ready only to witness that they were not as prepared as they had thought when their students were sent home. It is not a question of whether students have fallen behind in the era of distance learning. Instead, it is this: how much are they missing, and how do we correct it? New data from the Texas Education Agency (TEA) shows the pandemic caused students to lose more than 3 months of learning. These findings are based on an optional beginning-of-the-year assessment which was given to more than 600,000 students to measure the impact of virtual learning. (Texas 2036, 2021)

So how do we move forward to a future-ready school? What are the necessary tools needed to translate the goals and objectives of our education systems into acceptable learning outcomes? For a school to be future-ready they need to develop the necessary steps to ensure that technology can be used as a basic resource.  It is imperative that we create a vision of digital teaching and learning, adhered to by the students, teachers, parents, and community. To achieve this, our starting point must be with the administration and teachers. Making a strategic plan of technology integration is vital in order to prepare the students for their post-COVID future. 

As teachers, we get so involved in making sure our students are meeting standards that we forget that we, too, need to take time to learn in order to better serve our students. We often look for technology that is easily and seamlessly integrated into the classroom only to get frustrated with change. The common thought is that it takes longer to use newly implemented technology than it does for a conventional lesson. But we must remember that our instinctive return to traditional ways of teaching is not always for the best.

Prior to COVID-19, many teachers would have confidently said that they were competent with technology. After school districts began to go fully online, I often heard the complaint that teachers were unsure of how to be digitally effective in their teaching. I believe that the number one thing school districts could do to help teachers with technology is proper training. The training would focus on how to actually implement technology into their classrooms and how it can be beneficial and effective to the teacher and student. By enhancing professional development for teachers on technology use in the classroom, the teacher would feel more empowered. That feeling alone can translate into a more innovative classroom in which students can grow and learn in a highly digital world.

Resources:

James, J., & Sam, K. (2021, January 15). New data from the Texas Education Agency shows pandemic caused students to lose more than 3 months of learning. https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/tea-highlights-impact-of-covid-19-pandemic-on-students/502-69d7636f-c10f-41fa-9e18-9082b23f9ada. 

Texas 2036. (2021, June 23). Tracking COVID Learning Loss. Texas 2036. https://texas2036.org/posts/tracking-covid-learning-loss/.