'This is hell': Parents and kids hate online classes. Going back to school likely will include more of it.
In his suburban New Jersey home-turned-classroom this spring, parent Don Seaman quickly found himself in the role of household vice principal.
While his wife holed up in the bedroom to work each day, Seaman, a media and marketing professional, worked from the family room where he could supervise his children's virtual learning. A similar scene played out in millions of American homes after schools shuttered and moved classes online to contain the coronavirus.
Now that the year's over, Seaman has strong feelings about the experience: Despite the best efforts of teachers, virtual learning didn't work. At least not uniformly, if his three children in elementary, middle and high school are any indication.
"The older kids were saying, 'This is hell,'" Seaman said. "My kids feel isolated, and they can't keep up, and they're struggling with it."
But like it or not, remote instruction and virtual learning are likely to continue for millions of children this fall. That's because most districts can't observe physical distancing with all students attending class together in-person.
Many reopening plans rely on hybrid learning schedules, where students attend school on alternating days or weeks and learn from home on the other days, on a computer where feasible.
Yet America’s educators know little about how to improve the online learning experience – and many districts CONTINUE READING: Back to school likely to include online class. How can we improve it?
