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School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

bostonherald.com

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Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#71

Post by RealityVoid »

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #62
donw wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m going to expose my ignorance here, but in 2020, how many low-income families are there without internet? Also, would it the solve not just be to provide loaner 4G access points to those families? The US is one of the top per-student global spenders on K-12 education, so the money is there.

In California, at least, students are eligible for subsidized ($20/month) LTE hotspots. Apparently it is provided by Sprint as part of an agreement they made when they leased spectrum that had previously been set aside for educational use. These could and should been made free for low-income families. https://foundationccc.org/What-We-Do/Student-Success/Califor...

I'm not from the US, but it sounds like the state could and should leverage this to the maximum.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#72

Post by m4rtyr »

My school district sent out an email basically saying they won't educate us on anything new for the unforeseeable future. They're not going to give any graded assignments or really collect any work from us. Essentially, it's just us reviewing things for the next month or so.

On a side note, College Board plans to make students take AP tests from home (presumably they have a plan to stop cheating): https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/about-ap/news-changes/cor...

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#73

Post by mlyle »

m4rtyr wrote: post #72

My school district sent out an email basically saying they won't educate us on anything new for the unforeseeable future. They're not going to give any graded assignments or really collect any work from us. Essentially, it's just us reviewing things for the next month or so. On a side note, College Board plans to make students take AP tests from home (presumably they have a plan to stop cheating): https://apcentral.c…

Some school districts have chosen this path (focusing on enrichment or review) because they're concerned about legal compliance, given that they are no longer able to provide all federally mandated special education programs.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#74

Post by LinuxBender »

This would be an interesting time if a company developed a very affordable VR headset and software to let teachers give virtual classes in 3D. Maybe even have a free-roam time for students to interact with each other. Bell rings, and they get a portal back to their desk.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#75

Post by mlyle »

bb611 wrote: post #59
irrational wrote: post #8

In my school district they still haven't figured out how to proceed. The problem is there are a lot of low income families that they know don't have internet access or a computer. They can give those kids a chromebook, but that isn't very helpful with no internet access. Legally (and morally) they can't move ahead with online school if a big chunk of the students are left out. On the other hand, I was talking yesterd…

Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) is a federally recognized civil right, states and districts can't opt out of it. Unfortunately it takes lawsuits to resolve these kinds of disparities, but there is no legal basis to proceed without making appropriate accommodations for students in low income families.

The Department of Education disagrees. Look, let's do what we can to cure disparities --- special education, access, etc, but we should still be providing services to as many kids as possible.

My kids in a private school are getting high quality services and distance education right now; we shouldn't deny it to most kids in public education because a few might be left behind.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#76

Post by ddlatham »

irrational wrote: post #8

In my school district they still haven't figured out how to proceed. The problem is there are a lot of low income families that they know don't have internet access or a computer. They can give those kids a chromebook, but that isn't very helpful with no internet access. Legally (and morally) they can't move ahead with online school if a big chunk of the students are left out. On the other hand, I was talking yesterd…

So the most equal solution is no school for anyone.

Of course, that likely has more impact on the kids without family support than those in families that can manage some education on their own, and actually makes inequality worse than starting with best effort and working to fill in the gaps.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#77

Post by irrational »

donw wrote: post #60
irrational wrote: post #8

In my school district they still haven't figured out how to proceed. The problem is there are a lot of low income families that they know don't have internet access or a computer. They can give those kids a chromebook, but that isn't very helpful with no internet access. Legally (and morally) they can't move ahead with online school if a big chunk of the students are left out. On the other hand, I was talking yesterd…

I’m going to expose my ignorance here, but in 2020, how many low-income families are there without internet? Also, would it the solve not just be to provide loaner 4G access points to those families? The US is one of the top per-student global spenders on K-12 education, so the money is there.

Apparently in my school district it is estimated to be between 20-35% of students.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#78

Post by andrepd »

testfoobar wrote: post #70

Serious question: will schools and universities reopen in the fall? A large university with dormitories is kind of like a cruise ship on land: everyone eats, sleeps, plays and works together. Elementary and High schools are somewhat better in that kids go their own homes at night. But they still eat, play and study together. Hallways of high schools between classes see lots of cross-campus shoulder-to-shoulder traffi…

That depends entirely on how long it takes for the pandemic to cease. If, like some studies show, the virus gets stopped by the warmer weather, it could be in May that we return to normalcy.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#79

Post by whatshisface »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #68
kedean wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On the other hand, I was talking yesterday with a family member in another state where they have been doing online school almost since the first day It's highly likely they aren't supposed to doing that. A lot of school districts around me decided to go their own way when the state didn't give specific directions after shutting every school down, mainly really rural ones interestingly enough. They are now having to…

> there were a number of individual teachers who tried to immediately start doing remote instruction with their kids and were quickly reprimanded by their district as soon as they were found out. That sounds very odd.

Not if you spend enough time chatting with teachers. From what I have heard, oftentimes they find themselves blocked by administrative busybodies at every turn, as a matter of course.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#80

Post by pergadad »

donw wrote: post #60
irrational wrote: post #8

In my school district they still haven't figured out how to proceed. The problem is there are a lot of low income families that they know don't have internet access or a computer. They can give those kids a chromebook, but that isn't very helpful with no internet access. Legally (and morally) they can't move ahead with online school if a big chunk of the students are left out. On the other hand, I was talking yesterd…

I’m going to expose my ignorance here, but in 2020, how many low-income families are there without internet? Also, would it the solve not just be to provide loaner 4G access points to those families? The US is one of the top per-student global spenders on K-12 education, so the money is there.

Many people have internet, but only on phones. So you could ask them to use the phone or tether a loaned laptop, but this will raise costs and other equity issues.
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