E-Learning- The new normal

Across the world, both teachers and students have had to adapt to learning in a time of change and uncertainty. In Brevard County and in many other places across the country, students have been given the choice of returning to school in-person or online. The responsibility for carrying out this new educational technique falls on teachers. COVID-19 has forced teachers to reimagine and restructure their teaching style in order to accommodate the many students who learn from home. Teaching hybrid classes of in-person and at-home students is not a skill teachers have been taught. They are struggling to adapt to the new environment and schedule, and with no precedent to reference, they are pioneers in what could become the new style of teaching.

With school in session now, everything is new and different- especially for teachers. Switching from a single classroom to a juggling of in-class students and digital learners has been a hard task for many teachers around the country.

“It’s tough to balance both because I feel like I am running around trying to do two jobs at a time,” said Ms. Krystal Ingleton. “Checking in with E-Learning and live learners back and forth is exhausting.... One group has to wait while I help the other. It is just really hard!”

In addition to the struggles of coping with online students, many teachers have felt overwhelmed facing the prospect of condensing their course schedules to a semester with the introduction of block scheduling. This new scheduling method emerged in order to enable students to space out more in class following social distancing, Teachers had only a few weeks to learn all the new COVID-19 protocols before coming back to school in August to teach students.

“As a science teacher I like the idea of block scheduling,” said Mr. Ryan Clisick. “It gives science classes more time to conduct labs. The problem, though, is with COVID it is really hard to conduct safety labs.”

As schools face these new challenges, they have to devise new lesson plans, protocols, and more.

“Lesson planning is a whole different level now,” said Ingleton. “Anything that I have done in the past has to be revamped and made digital.I am always running back and forth to the computer to help out the E-learners.... Unfortunately, I feel like my classes are pretty boring compared to the past.”

E-learning will continue to take an active role in the learning experiences of teachers and students alike. There is no denying that it will take time to settle into this new way of doing school, whether you’re learning at home or in person. However, over time, the e-learning style of education will become less alien and more familiar, enabling new kinds of classroom experiences and teaching methods, until it doesn't feel strange at all, but rather like a new normal.