This article was originally posted on Chalkbeat by Yesenia Robles on March 3, 2020.
As schools grapple with responding to the new coronavirus and the federal government’s recommendation to plan for extended closures, one thing is becoming clear: remote learning remains a remote possibility.
An escalating number of COVID-19 cases are being confirmed in the U.S., and at least nine deaths have been reported as of Tuesday afternoon, making extended school closures in some communities more likely.
Most school districts do not have plans for continuing instruction during an extended closure, but several are considering it after the Centers for Disease Control last week urged districts to prepare. This has opened up an opportunity for tech companies trying to market products enabling distance learning, though experts caution districts not to rush into making big investments.
Several challenges stand in the way besides the cost of new software or infrastructure. In many communities, large numbers of students don’t have internet access at home. Other students, such as those with special needs, may need the services they would get in person at a school. All of this means that a switch to remote learning could worsen longstanding equity problems.
In areas where the virus has appeared, some school districts have already cancelled class for a couple of days to clean buildings, or to let teachers spend time learning how to conduct online lessons. That includes the Northshore district in Washington state, which has the most confirmed coronavirus infections in the country. And an Oregon district that employs that state’s first COVID-19 patient closed the school that person worked at, while keeping kids in class in other schools.
Children do not appear to be at high risk of getting seriously ill themselves, but may be able to spread the virus to others, including school staff.
In New York, where two cases have been confirmed this week, the State Department of Education “strongly encourages schools to send classroom work” to students who are under quarantine. The department recommends posting assignments online or the old-fashioned way: by mailing work to students’ homes.
New York City officials have not indicated whether any plan is in place for remote learning.
“I think we’re not there yet,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday. “The model we’re working on right now does not involve school closures.”
He added: “We’re not doing alternatives until we have to.”
Still, companies are jumping at the opportunity to showcase products in districts that are at least considering remote learning. This week, the for-profit education company K12, one of the largest providers of online curriculum in the country, started contacting school districts in counties that have been affected by the new coronavirus in Washington and California to offer their services in the event that schools are closed.
Scott Durand, a K12 senior vice president, said the company is prepared to offer access to its online learning platform and curriculum for free for the first month or so, though districts would have to pay for training on how to use it. If schools were closed for longer than that, Durand said, they’d have to work out a longer-term agreement that would cost districts money.
“The goal isn’t ‘Geez, let’s have something awful happen so that people think that virtual education is a great option,’” Durand said. “But I do think … one outcome of this could be more people are aware of what we can do.” And if districts take K12 up on its services and are satisfied with them, “maybe they’ll want to continue with us in some form.”
Other ed tech players are taking steps to make their tools more accessible, but at no cost. The company behind the popular online quiz site BrainPOP is offering free use of its tools to schools closed due to the virus. Outschool, an online learning program that’s often used for home-schooling, is offering free teacher training about how to hold classes online by video. And Khan Academy, a nonprofit that offers free online lessons and quizzes, is drafting a page aimed at helping new users get started if they are facing school closures.
Research has generally shown that instruction delivered online is much less effective relative to in-person learning. There are few studies on virtual instruction in the wake of school closures, though. Other research has found that students don’t suffer much academically from occasional snow days, but they do post lower test scores after longer spells of closed school.
Doug Levin, an educational technology consultant who was previously the executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association, said that companies are likely to use the coronavirus outbreak to hawk their products, both because district administrators may feel pressure to prepare and because new money may be available.
“Marketing executives in ed tech companies are anxious to get the attention of school district administrators, particularly in a time of crisis,” he said. “That is something we have seen in the response to school safety concerns around in-school shootings.”
Levin said additional challenges to widespread remote learning include students who have responsibilities at home, like caring for younger siblings, and school districts that lack the infrastructure to effectively deliver instruction.
“If they have not already laid the groundwork to deliver courses online, the notion that they could outsource that — it’s fanciful,” he said. “To do it well, this is something that takes a good deal of time and training.”
Levin also warned school districts against making big purchases in response to potential closures. “Would I spend a lot of money and buy new technology and invest millions of dollars on a solution that the odds are very high I would never use?” he said. “That’s not how you would responsibly spend your money.”
Even charter networks where schools already have a lot of technology available for students, and the infrastructure to support it, are not quite ready…
Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.