I started the Fall 2020 semester learning about blended and online teachers and learners at a very appropriate time: I became an online learner at the same time that my school district was implementing distance learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. EDIT 760 started with an orientation to online learning--a necessary support structure for new and veteran online learners. Teacher learners, like our K-12 students, are not natively skilled in online learning. Successful online learners have good time management, motivation, and communication with the online course instructor. As I learned more about the characteristics, benefits, and challenges of online learning, I became more aware that the distance learning, which my students are currently doing, is not online learning. I discussed the differences between distance learning and online learning on my EDIT 760 blog in great detail, and also celebrated application of online learning pedagogy to my distance learning practice.

One benefit of the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning is that we are now aware that flexibility in learning options should be more widely considered and advertised. I learned that my district's and state's online learning options are supplemental to the brick and mortar curriculum of face-to-face schools. I wonder if the move to distance learning will inspire more public school districts to develop more permanent online learning options. With the development of more online learning options comes the need for quality online learning. School districts that wish to develop online learning options must invest in accredited online learning options, which are developed and evaluated with reference to the National Standards for Quality Online Learning, and in online learning pedagogical training for online teachers. The distance learning teachers of Fall 2020 could also benefit from online learning pedagogical training. Many of us tried and failed to digitize our traditional classrooms in Spring 2020 because we did not know what quality online learning looked like.

The most important part of this course for me was the focus on the people: the learner and the teacher; building relationships; effective communication; community engagement; collaborative peer learning; and nonacademic online spaces for student and teacher interaction. You can remove the learner from socializing in a brick and mortar classroom, but you cannot remove the social aspect from learning. Good learning is social; humans need to interact with others to build, construct, and share knowledge. Teachers and learners need to connect and be connected with other teachers and learners in order to feel engaged in the online setting. Although EDIT 760 was an asynchronous online course, I had weekly opportunities for dialogue with my course instructor via email and assignment feedback and with my peers through my blog posts. This fall, I have provided opportunities for positive communication, community building, thoughtful individual feedback for student work, learner control over pace, and more, as I applied what I learned to my own practice. I am inherently aware of differences between my classroom practice and my distance teaching practice as I design lessons for my Latin and AVID classes. I keep dialogue open during synchronous classes, asynchronous work days, and after school hours to engage learners and their guardians. Communication is key to connection--now and moving forward as we continue distance learning for the foreseeable future. Sure, I would love it if my students learned a little Latin and were prepared to apply to colleges at the end of this school year, but I am choosing to prioritize the people over the submissions.