- A majority (64 percent) of parents agree that U.S. public schools have demonstrated that they are ill-prepared to shift from the classroom to online learning in the event of scenarios that lead to school closures.
- An overwhelming majority (89 percent) of parents believe that public schools should be prepared and equipped to shift to online learning in the event of future school closures.
- And it’s a safe bet that many will be reconsidering traditional learning in favor of virtual going forward: A staggering 91 percent of parents agree that it’s important for their children to have multiple school options.
As the school year remained online for much of the 2020-2021 school year, many parents set their sights on alternative education options for their kids going forward. This year, only 13 percent of K-12 parents used an online school option outside of their public school’s shift to virtual learning, but almost two-thirds of parents would consider full-time online public school as an alternative in the future; 45 percent would consider online private school, and more than 70 percent would consider a hybrid model that blends online and in-person learning.
While online learning remained the only option for many students, educators began to share their strategies for keeping students engaged in their learning. Those tips include:
1. Be realistic. Educators should limit their synchronous or “live” sessions per week, and those sessions should be 20-30 minutes to maximize students’ attention span. It’s tough for educators to read the reactions in the room in a digital lecture, so keeping things short helps to make instruction manageable.
2. Flip the way you taught in-person. Use the “live” time for face-to-face check-ins with students. Record your lectures and keep them short–no longer than 15-20 min–for students to watch when they can, because the same time doesn’t work for everyone anymore.
3. Don’t micromanage integrity. Set clear parameters for take-home assessments: allow calculators, make sure questions are original and unique, and allow open notes. If you make the assessment original, but not impossible, and give students a way to call out to you and ask questions, you can ensure accountability.
Material from a press release was used in this report.
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