Problems With Online Education and Possible Remedies
Yetkin Yildirim (Rice University, USA), Kamil Yildirim (Rice University, USA), Emin Alp Arslan (Rice University, USA), and Ibrahim Eren Bisen (Rice University, USA)
Copyright: © 2022
|Pages: 13
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7776-9.ch011
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Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to explore how COVID-19 has widened the achievement gap between students of different socioeconomic statuses. The chapter will demonstrate that students from lower socioeconomic classes received lower-quality education than students from higher socioeconomic situations who in some instances received an even better education than they had pre-pandemic face-to-face learning. These widening achievement gaps along with chronic absenteeism and lower student motivation are some of the biggest problems that the pandemic has brought to online education. This chapter goes on to explore how to remedy some of these problems. By fixing these issues, online learning and even education as a whole can emerge stronger than it was before the disruption of COVID-19.
TopIntroduction
The coronavirus has brought on some of the biggest changes the world has seen in recent years. One of the most impacted institutions has been education. When emergency online learning took over in early 2020, many believed it to be a momentary disturbance and the proper precautions weren’t taken. When education continued exclusively online, the precautions that some institutions had ignored came back to bite them and cost many students their education. The failure of institutions to adapt to a virtual environment was a detrimental factor for many students’ education. The prevalence of online learning in 2020 caused the quality of education to suffer, and achievement gaps have started to widen even further, especially for struggling families.
There are many types of online learning, including classes that transpire entirely over the internet, video conferencing, and stand-alone educational software programs. But this chapter will use online learning to refer to learning that takes place partially or entirely over the internet through the help of an instructor. We can also distinguish online learning into two categories: learning conducted totally as a substitute or alternative to face-to-face learning and online hybrid learning that is blended with face-to-face instruction to provide learning enhancement.
Online learning does allow for flexibility, and it does make learning more accessible, at least to a point. However, the rate at which this shift has happened due to COVID-19 has been staggering, and the results of that rapid adjustment have been mixed. In fact, by April 2020, more than 1.4 billion students in over 190 countries around the world were abruptly shut out of their schools (Sheppard, 2021). This is the difference between online learning and emergency remote teaching. While online learning, if done right, can in many cases be just as fruitful as face-to-face instruction, and in some cases more fruitful, the forced shift to an online environment due to this unprecedented shutdown accomplishes the opposite. Not only is the quality of education falling, but the gap in education between those of different socioeconomic levels, disproportionately Black and Hispanic students, has also been increasing.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Achievement Gap: This refers to the gap between the academic success and advancement between students of certain socioeconomic levels.
Student Motivation: This refers to students’ willingness to learn and be a part of the class.
Remote Learning: This refers to learning that happens in an environment where the students and instructors/teacher are not in the same place.
Synchronous Learning: This refers to learning where students engage in learning together at the same time.
Asynchronous Learning: This refers to learning where students engage in learning in separate times and places.
Chronic Absenteeism: This refers to missing a large number of school days (generally 10 percent of the school days or more) throughout the year.
Emergency Online Learning: This refers to the emergency shift from in person education to online education in early 2020.
Self-Regulated Learning Skills: This refers to the skills that enable someone to understand and control their own learning such as time management.
Procrastination: This refers to delaying schoolwork till its due date.