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Technology has impacted every aspect of the world, with education being no exception. With the onset of Covid-19, teachers everywhere had to transition seemingly overnight to distance learning. During that time, teachers were presented with numerous options to utilize, but not a lot of direction or professional guidance. A lot of the distance teaching at that time was through trial and error, using what we have learned to impact how we teach online today. Nowadays, online teaching isn’t such a foreign concept, as schools learned that this method of teaching actually held some merit and worked for many students who may not otherwise excel in a traditional classroom.
Online teaching opened up a world of possibilities for both teachers and students. Many new experiences were gained and relationships were forged through distance learning. People across the world were able to communicate with each other, allowing for new experiences, viewpoints, and ideas to broaden their horizons. Samuel-Azran, et al. (2025) state, “...that the insights and resources gained from interactions with strangers and weak ties during online distance learning courses, in the form of bridging social capital, may be more beneficial and may add more value to course satisfaction than interactions with closer friends and acquaintances whose opinions are already known to the student.” (p. 5)
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Growth Opportunity
On March 13, 2020, I was teaching first grade in a large catholic school. We were told that afternoon that we would be closing our doors and transitioning to online learning. At first we were expected to create a packet of worksheets and books for the students to take home, not knowing when we would return. The days turned into weeks and it became obvious that we were not returning to school in the near future. That was when teachers had to shift to a more fully integrated online learning.
As a first grade teacher, my students had not experienced Google Classroom or even using Chromebooks. We were forced to use a platform they were comfortable with, which for our school was Seesaw. Simonson and Zvacek (2024) state, “It is important that students demonstrate learning outcomes by using a variety of technology-based activities.” (p. 106). We knew that we needed to switch to more technology-based learning, but we didn’t know exactly how to actually do that. Those few months, each teacher recorded themselves on their phones teaching a lesson, usually in their kitchen or home office. These recordings were simply videos that we then uploaded to Seesaw so that kids could view the video to receive instruction for that lesson. Although this did work, students were left with just a one-way video that they could not interact with or ask us questions to clarify. This became difficult for students to truly grasp the concepts that we as teachers were trying to get across. Looking back, we realized that we needed a more interactive way for students to learn and that a lot of instruction was lost using this method.
Positive Outcome
While we were teaching via videos that we posted, students were also tasked with completing assignments. Since we weren’t able to utilize Google Classroom with our first graders, we were left without many options. As a school, we decided to use Seesaw for their work as well. Students were each assigned activities, assignments, and projects through the Seesaw platform. Teachers could even scan pages from the student workbooks and upload them to the platform so that students can work directly on the pages online. This was then sent to us where we could comment, make suggestions, and grade straight from our computers.
While this method was great, it was the first time students were using this portion of the platform, so we had to allow for a learning curve. Although there was some time spent becoming comfortable with the activities and assignments, it was the best option for my first graders during that time. Simonson and Zvackek (2024) further state, “When the teacher who is designing online instruction selects the correct media, it maximizes efficiency and makes available more resources for other learning experiences.” (p. 106).
Conclusion
Looking back, this was definitely not the most effective use of technology, but it led to a positive learning environment for the students and teachers who were navigating the unknown. We now know how to better teach through distance learning and many new technologies and platforms were created from this experience to better online learning. Although it was a crazy time, there were many opportunities for growth in online learning and the world of teaching with technology has changed for the better.
Through distance learning, students are able to collaborate with others who they may never have the chance to meet in person. Online learning allows for students to become comfortable with new technology and creates new social interactions they may otherwise never have. Samuel-Azran, et al. (2025) further state, “... [students] tend to have higher levels of course satisfaction when they manage to form social ties with other students in the course, and lower levels of course satisfaction when they are unable to form social ties with other students in the course.” (p. 5)
While the beginning of online learning was starting to develop years before, Covid-19 helped bring distance learning to the forefront of education and opened many new doors for teachers and students to interact, learn, and socialize with each other.
References
n.a. (2021, April 16). How to foster kindness during distance learning [Video]. Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/video/how-foster-kindness-during-distance-learning.com
Samuel-Azran, et al. (2025, January - March). The social side of online learning: How social
capital can enhance online learning. Sage Open, 1-7. DOI:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/21582440251325600
School Poster Printers. (2025, Feb. 4). Edtech trends for 2025 [Infographic]. Education Graphic
Solutions. https://schoolposterprinters.com/the-future-of-learning-edtech-trends-in-2025/
Simonson, M., & Zvacek, S. (2024). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (8th ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteThose positives of socializing went to whole new levels during the pandemic! I remember a lot of our students being so excited for Zoom calls because it meant they got to see each other. It's bittersweet to think about. Using those real-time video conferencing tools is a great way to make a distance-learning lesson more interactive (Simonson & Zvacek, 2024, p11). Weiyi, et al. (2023) agreed, saying that "Academia should use online and virtual channels to engage students during emergencies to maintain learning continuity."
-M. E. Sammis
References:
Simonson, M., & Zvacek, S. (2024). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (8th ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.
Weiyi, L., Zaman, S. I., Jamil, S., Khan, S. A. (2023). Students engagement in distance learning: How much influence do the critical factors have for success in academic performance? Psychology in the Schools 60(7), p2373-2394. DOI: 10.1002/pits.22858
Laura,
ReplyDeleteI remember the uncertainty of the Pandemic very vividly. I work in a Pk-2nd grade Title I school where we were not 1-1 with technology so unfortunately our students and teachers were not prepared to learn and teach remotely. We did not have the time needed to develop appropriate distance learning that is needed (Simonson & Zvacek, 2024, p.9). It was a learning experience for teachers across the world. Now that we've experienced such pandemonium, we can prepare our teachers and students by learning to use digital devices to extend learning. Teachers can now use a flipped classroom approach that "simplifies learning by making concepts more digestible and enables both the students and teachers" (Usman, K.O., Ogunkunle, S.J. Abdulsalam, O.A, 2023).
References
Adebayo, E. O. (2023). Reinvigorating and popularising technology-enabled education in the 21st century: A Book of Readings in honour of Dr. Oladiran Olabode Kayode Omoniyi. In Reinvigorating and popularising technology-enabled education in the 21st century (pp. 101–112). Peerless Grace Prints & Publishing. https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/111235117/omoniyi_book-libre.pdf?1707271976=&response-content-disposition=inline%3B+filename%3DReinvigorating_and_Popularising_Technolo.pdf&Expires=1749574784&Signature=CKupvVjXc-1p5zn8vr7YylzixUKG41IVrhp0k4E-6UZFnCBweT75CCTs-QiRFLteB7J3Sg5~6PY0BIk3hygllThGSBdy7JeDAkonCcZdAjDxlUbNeVOYpR6LsV7bRfQtWxCtqxy~fpB5U5DnoMfNEz5BIFsBCF~5aQhIcb4low97c3mUkzhIiFc1DQFF9pu-R-6d0L21X0BJwn9yuDctJTydKWrwo57YGciDeqlWlNNFBuh5CX2EzK8XPfoaiqZWBgIbUjjJb6zQ~ELtj0Xw6zkgiC2FRZBg0Wtw~zgREgc5lIRf4VUMjotGuxwLUGSG6NhAFHdtoMDWFo6uW19rSQ__&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJLOHF5GGSLRBV4ZA#page=118
Simonson, M., & Zvacek, S. (2024). Teaching and learning at a distance: Foundations of distance education (8th ed.). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.