While education is certainly facing unprecedented challenges in responding to stay-at-home orders, educators are rising to the challenge. A history of constant evolution in U.S. education – from Common Core to asynchronous learning – may have helped educators hone their skills as problem solvers. That’s one conclusion from a recent survey MDR conducted with educators on how they are handling distance teaching and learning during COVID-19.
The survey, conducted via our WeAreTeachers community, drew over 2,000 responses from teachers and administrators. While answers to our question, “How are you feeling?” ran the gamut from anxious and frustrated to hopeful and appreciated, the most popular response was: adapting. Knowing educators, this isn’t surprising.
As we’ve noted before, education is more of a calling than a profession and educators are committed to the task of teaching and to improving outcomes for “their kids.” No matter the circumstances, they will figure out a way to get the job done; pandemic or not. But that doesn’t mean it’s all going swimmingly. Through our survey, educators identified several areas where they need more support, and ways the companies that supply them with products, tools, technologies, and resources can step up to help them.
For example, switching Zoom into gallery view so you can see all your students is one thing; figuring out how to engage students with the subject matter via remote learning is another. In fact, over 50% of survey respondents said they’d like more training on how best to teach remotely and engage their students. Some other areas of need:
- Free remote learning resources and technologies
- Tips for engaging parents in remote/online learning
- Opportunities to connect with other teachers virtually and share best practices
While their commitment and positive attitude can take educators a long way, innovative ideas, smart work-arounds, and resources adapted for the moment will be much appreciated from providers and will be needed to help educators re-imagine school and help kids get the most out of the ‘new normal’ in education.
