Lesson from COVID-19: Classroom instruction
In the United States, there is a long history of students having different learning opportunities and support for their development, resulting in large disparities in students’ educational environments and learning. The pandemic exacerbated some of these pre-existing problems, with educators currently teaching many students who had widely disparate virtual learning experiences. Some excelled without much support, others excelled with support, while others had little support and became disengaged. Educators also had varying levels of knowledge about virtual instruction resulting in classrooms with greater differences in academic skills. For many, the pandemic and the virtual learning environment also led to more social–emotional challenges as students’ normal social interactions were limited, and many faced stress, fear, and anxiety. Therefore, educators must find ways to help all students grow, while also being sensitive to their own and their students’ social–emotional needs and possible lingering traumas.
Lessons from COVID-19: Community outreach and connection
While the covid-19 pandemic gave families a new perspective on teaching, it also served to highlight curricular content that some viewed as objectionable. As the balance of instructional responsibility moved more toward families, some began to believe they should have more influence over the curriculum. This also gave rise to the notion that the community has an important role in leveraging education reform. As the pandemic started to wind down, community advice-giving intensified and, in many ways, became dramatically hostile.
Lessons from COVID-19: Mental health and well-being
As a result of the covid-19 pandemic, students’ mental health and well-being have become top priorities for schools. While prior to the covid-19 pandemic, there were some systems in place to support students’ mental health and well-being, now even more, schools are investing in infrastructures and systems of support to prevent and respond to students’ mental health needs. Although these systems of support guide not only students but also their families due to the pandemic, more staff, educator training, and resources have been used to address disparities in student learning and how the pandemic has played a role in increased sense of uncertainty, depression, and anxiety. Educators continue to pay close attention to the needs of their students in the classroom, the continued impact on how the pandemic has affected overall learning, and how this impact has carried over in the students’ capacity to prevent and manage mental health and well-being concerns. As a result of this pivot the focus for educators has been prevention.
Lessons from COVID-19: Promotion of science-based information
Students now have access to more information than ever before, and this trend shows no signs of slowing down. Before, during, and certainly after the peak of covid-19, students were inundated with information from technology, social media, print publications, television, and other sources. While many students were able to distinguish between accurate (trustworthy) information and misinformation (i.e., fake news), this challenge continues to be difficult.
Information in and of itself is not harmful, but inaccurate, deceptive, hyperbolic, and self-serving information that is not grounded in psychological science may be detrimental to students of all ages because they may believe, for example, that vaping is not very harmful when indeed it is very harmful. To promote the use of science-based information and to assist students in discriminating between what is true and what is not true, we briefly discuss two topics and provide resources for educators and students as they navigate the oceans of information available at their fingertips.
Lessons from COVID-19: Technology
The covid-19 pandemic forced schools across the world to move from in person to remote instruction, resulting in extreme variability in the speed and quality of implementation. Some schools were able to make the switch quickly because they already used online tools like Google Classroom and had devices for each student. But other schools had a more challenging time. They had to find devices for each student and make sure everyone had access to the internet. Some students, like those with disabilities or who were learning English, experienced a harder time succeeding in an online environment. We learned much about using technology in schools during the pandemic. Here are six important lessons we learned and some resources to help you learn more. These lessons will be useful in the future when schools need to use online classes again because of a snow day or a natural disaster.