Remote Learning Was Not a Failure. It’s an Opportunity to Revolutionize Education

Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash

It’s too early to give up on remote learning. In recent weeks, news articles and editorials posted online and in print have howled about the failure of remote learning. In addition, many articles have focused on restarting face-to-face instruction, showing models of in-person learning resuming in faraway places, such as Japan, Israel, and schools across Europe. There are some issues with these comparisons: the United States, home to just 3% of the world’s population, now hosts 25% of the novel Coronavirus infections. By contrast, Japan, one of the models touted as a way to return to in-person learning, has 1.62% of the world’s population, and has only .001% of the world’s COVID-19 cases. It is no wonder that Japan felt secure in opening its schools — clearly, it is doing something right to keep infection rates so low. Many politicians and parents across America are complaining vociferously, saying in-person school must resume. On July 7, the President weighed in as well, going so far as to threaten withholding federal funds for states that don’t reopen school. Their reasons? We must get back to normal, quality of instruction online is poor, kids are lonely and require the socialization opportunities that in-person schooling provides, students with disabilities and those who live in poverty are at a severe disadvantage, students are…