Remote Learning in Early Childhood and Elementary Schools: An Unprecedented Shift

Learning Objectives

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  To explain how important is the role of technology in supporting remote learning

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  To compare remote learning with traditional face-to-face learning

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  To identify various digital tools that can increase access to remote learning for young students

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  To determine how the remote learning process functions in developing countries

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  To highlight the importance of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic

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  To demonstrate whether transitioning to remote education will continue to further grow at lightning speed

Introduction

Technological innovation has brought a major shift in academic environments from traditional, manually operated practices to modern, automated practices. While technology is playing a vital role in creating a digital environment, recent global developments have welcomed the model of working-from-home, paving the way for remote learning. One of the greatest global developments is the deadly COVID-19 virus (SARS-CoV-2) that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The pandemic challenged educational institutions worldwide, leading to the closure of schools to help contain the spread of the virus and forcing the institutions to frantically switch from face-to-face to an online mode of teaching (e-learning) without much preparedness. There was great concern from teachers and parents about the short-term and long-term effects of remote learning on early childhood education, as remote learning in early childhood schools mostly involves play with a focus on social, emotional, and cognitive aspects of learning (Timmons et al., 2021). The sudden push towards the online learning style has granted educational institutions an opportunity to explore the gaps associated with this mode of learning. Thus, efforts are being made to further strengthen this teaching and learning style.

Distance education has also received vast support, and it has become increasingly popular among students (McBrien, Jones & Cheng, 2009). Similarly, academic institutions also rely on remote learning that allows students to study remotely from home with the opportunity to watch the teachers online. To achieve a greater level of efficiency in remote learning, more investment is required in the digital and pedagogical skills of not only the teachers and students, but also of parents, since parents are equally expected to guide young children during remote studies and their limited digital skills minimize their support and bring along negative consequences for younger children. Students learning at home, on the other hand, have complicated the parents’ economic condition because parents now have a double responsibility of providing education and preparing additional meals that the schools used to offer in the past (Tucker-white, 2021).

According to the Financial Times (2021), many teachers did not possess the relevant skills required in the transformation of classroom teaching to online teaching when the COVID-19 pandemic exploded overnight, so academic institutions were forced to review their IT support capability to be able to run educational programs remotely (Financial Times, 2021). The switching of education to remote teaching had a variation within the countries that resulted in confusion among the teachers due to the lack of policy towards delivering lessons (Timmons et al., 2021). As a result, academic institutions are working on new pedagogical practices to ensure smooth teaching and learning processes.