New Lessons for Remote Education
Students and teachers were forced to adapt to online learning this past year. The pivot gave them a chance to rethink how we teach - and how we learn.
Education was one of the pandemic’s first casualties. When schools closed overnight, students and teachers switched to virtual classrooms—a massive social experiment that hasn’t been easy on anyone. But it also revealed opportunities to rethink the ways in which we teach and what is most valuable in education.
Host Sonari Glinton speaks with students and teachers to find out how their lives have changed when it comes to school. Eight-year-old Escher Olson moved to a new country with his family, so that he could go to school in person rather than virtually. His mother, Sophie Olson, talks about why they made that decision. Olivia Clarke, a 16-year-old student - and new author - opted into remote learning at her private girls school. She noticed that, like her, everyone else in her grade who did the same was Black. Ilana Drake and Pratham Dalal talk about what they fear losing when they can’t attend high school in person. Professor and teacher Lindy Elkins-Tanton says online learning will fail if we don’t change how we teach. And elementary school teacher Eppie Miller built an outdoor classroom to help her students through the pandemic. Special thanks to YR Media for helping us connect with the high school students featured in this episode.
