There is no doubt that the shift in educational practices due to the COVID-19 pandemic caused upheaval for teachers and students alike. The sudden transition to remote learning lasted longer than was expected and students were forced to share online zoom rooms rather than physical classrooms. Whilst educators around the world worked to accommodate for the increased distance between themselves and their students, a McKinsey and Company study found that these efforts did not prevent widespread learning loss among K12 students.[1] Research into learning loss conducted by Gedit has found five key reasons for learning loss during the pandemic:
1. Difficulty in adjusting to physical distance between educators and students
The urgency with which the transition from face-to-face learning was made meant that schooling systems were forced to use already existing online tools to build a virtual learning experience for students. However, the lack of established educational strategies for remote teaching and learning made it difficult to ensure student receptiveness to learning material. A Grade 6 & 8 Math teacher expressed how remote teaching ‘made it hard to hold everyone accountable’ and ensure all students ‘were constantly participating and active in lesson’.[2] This issue was largely due to the ‘lack of direct interaction’ between learners and teachers in the online learning context.[3]
2. Poor infrastructure in place for learning at a distance
The lack of teacher training of online teaching platforms and learning management systems (LMS’s) also resulted in poor communication between educators and students. Whilst many teachers found office hours and online chats with students advantageous, there were clear disparities between those who utilised such channels of communication vs those who did not. It became harder to conduct check-ins at a distance, and there were far less opportunities to strike spontaneous conversations with students who may have needed learning support. Having spoken to teachers about their time during the pandemic, it was highlighted that ‘teachers rely on proximity’ – this was not only highly compromised but also difficult to accommodate.[4] As a result, student concerns often went unaddressed by educators who were working to adjust to new teaching platforms and a variety of settings such as remote and hybrid.
3. Anxiety for students adjusting to new learning methods and settings
Dr Tamar Kushnir suggests that the lack of peer interaction during remote learning will have had a negative impact on the social skills and mental health of students nationwide.[5] The sudden shift to remote learning led to isolation for students and apprehensiveness about whether they could share concerns with their peers and teachers. Just as teachers ‘rely on proximity’, students also require direct interactions which could prompt interventions to support learning gaps.
Gedit found students generally disliked remote learning for reasons such as ‘increased workload’ and constant ‘internet issues’.[6] These concerns often resulted in increased pressure on students who then struggled to share their concerns with peers and educators.
4. Disparities in learning environments for students
With online learning inextricably tied to the home environment, many students faced difficulty in finding a ‘conducive learning environment’.[7] A McKinsey & Company study on remote learning environments and student performance found a lower number of low-income household students had access to a space where they could study uninterrupted, high-speed internet, and devices of their own. Therefore, learning loss was expected to be greater for low-income household students with Curriculum Associates reporting only 60 percent logging in to remote learning environments regularly.[8] However, there were 90 percent of students logging in from high-income households – a clear indicator of the negative impact online and hybrid teaching had on students from low-income backgrounds.
5. Achievement gaps went unnoticed for an extensive amount of time
Whilst achievement gaps have long existed in classrooms, they grew wider for many students who experienced learning loss during the pandemic. When left unaddressed, learning loss filtered into subsequent lesson topics and other class subjects. Whilst data on learning loss due to remote learning has been slow to emerge, surveys and assessment results have shown a decrease in grades for multiple subjects instead of a single subject. This contrasts the impact of achievement gaps pre-pandemic which were linked to a student’s ‘lack of proficiency in, or grasp of, a particular subject area’. A study published in PNAS suggests that, due to the pandemic, smaller achievement gaps led to wider learning loss which ‘accumulate[d] into larger disadvantages over time’.[9]
The coming school year will put substantial pressure on both students and educators to make up for the learning losses which occurred during the last year. For educators, this will require a more personalised approach to teaching where greater efforts are made to understand their students’ readiness to learn. Gedit offers teachers a social-emotional learning (SEL) lens through which the needs of students in the classroom can be assessed and addressed. The transition to in-person learning after a year-and-a-half of uncertainty will prove an anxious time for the schooling system as well as students and parents. Tools such as Gedit will assist in alleviating the stresses which come with barriers in communication platforms between teachers and students and the various different responsibilities for educators. Through learning more about each student, educators will be able to recognise and respond to learning loss and achievement gaps before they worsen and impact academic growth in the long-term.
References
[1] Emma Dorn, Bryan Hancock, Jimmy Sarakatsannis, Ellen Viruleg, 'COVID-19 and student learning in the United States: The hurt could last a lifetime', McKinsey & Company (2020) <https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/covid-19-and-student-learning-in-the-united-states-the-hurt-could-last-a-lifetime> [last accessed 5th August 2021].
[2] Gedit, ‘Interview with teacher by Gedit’ (Gedit, 2021).
[3] Athena Vongalis-Macrow, Denise De Souza, Clare Littleton, and Anna Sekhar, 'Chapter 1: Covid-19 Emergency Education Policy and Learning Loss: A Comparative Study' COVID-19 and Education: Learning and Teaching in a Pandemic Constrained Environment (California: Informing Science Press, 2021), p.40.
[4] Gedit, ‘Interview with teacher by Gedit’ (Gedit, 2021).
[5] John Capwell, 'Growing Up in a Pandemic: Struggles With Virtual Learning and the Widening Educational Achievement Gap', UWIRE Text (2021). Web. <https://go-gale-com.libproxy.ucl.ac.uk/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=ucl_ttda&id=GALE|A658217508&v=2.1&it=r> [last accessed 5th August 2021].
[6] Gedit, ‘Interview with student by Gedit’ (Gedit, 2021).
[7] Andrew Bacher-Hicks, Joshua Goodman, and Christine Mulhern, 'Inequality in household adaptation to schooling shocks: Covid-induced online learning engagement in real time, Journal of Public Economics 192, (2021): Journal of Public Economics, Vol 193. Web.
[8] Debbie Smith, ‘Distance-Learning Data Provides a Window into the Persistent Equity Gap: A View into the Digital Divide by State’, Curriculum Associates <https://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/i-ready/digital-divide> [last accessed 18 August 2021].
[9] Per Engzell, Arun Frey, Mark D. Verhagen, ‘Learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic’, PNAS (2021) <https://www.pnas.org/content/118/17/e2022376118?fbclid=IwAR0B0gKSv_jBS3SdoSJpgPQWkFezms20Z2vkEKcNgPggCVlfMhJTAXrxa7Q> [last accessed 18 August 2021].
Comments