BUFFALO, N.Y. — When the New York State government ordered schools closed because of the coronavirus in the spring, districts were forced into trying to educate students remotely. Much of it online.
But over the summer, there has been preparation anticipating the new school year would bring more remote learning.
Will it work? Will students learn, especially if the entire school year is with some component of learning at home?
This week, 2 On Your Side sat down for the dean of Buffalo State College’s School of Education, Wendy Paterson, to get her assessment.
Is virtual instruction ever as good as in-person instruction?
“That’s a really good question. It is never the same as. Is it as good as? in some aspects it’s better. In some aspects it’s not even close. In some aspects it’s reasonable,” Paterson said.
What’s good about remote instruction?
“There’s a more highly individualistic attention to those students. Now, that is going to require a lot more teacher time which is why school districts are working with us in higher education to try to increase the number they have available to work with students,” Paterson said.
What about those who that find learning difficult, who may not adapt and may not succeed?
“Yes. That’s very true," Paterson said. "The school districts are justifiably anxious for their students with special needs. We find that children that are on the autism spectrum, for example, are truly not doing well. The longer this goes on the more likely it is that they will not be served as well as they should. It’s gonna require extra people, small groups, individual instruction, tutoring help, daily contact … and we may not have enough instructors to go around.”
Is it too much to ask to reinvent education in a calendar year under the circumstances?
“I think we’re going to have to. We don’t really have a choice,” she said.
But can we be successful as a school system, a state, a nation on a crash course in reinventing education?
“Yes, we can, because we have to. We don’t really have a choice. Kids are not lab rats. We are not experimenting with them. I don’t want to get to the end of the semester and find out all the damage that we’ve done,” Paterson said.
But aren’t we doing that now?
“We are hoping that we don’t do that now. I think that the school districts and teachers are trying to master this environment to the fullest extent that they can,” she said.