Online Schools Are Here to Stay, Even After the Pandemic
Rory Levin, a sixth grader in Bloomington, Minnesota, used to hate going to school. He has a health condition that often makes him feel apprehensive ( ) around other students. Taking special-education classes did little to ease his anxiety.
So when his district created a stand-alone ( ) digital-only program, Bloomington Online School, last year for the pandemic, Rory opted ( ) to try it. Now the 11-year-old is enjoying school for the first time, said his mother, Lisa Levin. He loves the live video classes and has made friends with other online students, she said.
In December, Bloomington Public Schools decided to keep running the online school even after the pandemic subsides ( ). Lisa Levin plans to re-enroll Rory for this fall.
“It is such a good fit ( ) for him,” she said. “We’re really hoping they can continue it for the rest of his school career.”
A year after the coronavirus set off ( ) a seismic ( ) disruption ( ) in public education, some of the remote programs that districts intended to be temporary are poised ( ) to outlast ( ) the pandemic. Even as students flock ( ) back to classrooms, a subset ( ) of families who have come to prefer online learning are pushing to keep it going — and school systems are rushing to accommodate ( ) them.
The districts are racing to set up full-fledged ( ) online schools even as concerns mount ( ) that remote learning has taken a substantial toll on ( ) many children’s academic progress and emotional health. Parents and lawmakers, alarmed by the situation, have urged ( ) schools to reopen.
Even so, at least several hundred of the nation’s 13,000 school districts have established virtual schools this academic year, with an eye to ( ) operating them for years to come ( ), education researchers said. Unlike many makeshift ( ) pandemic school programs, these stand-alone virtual schools have their own teachers, who work only with remote students and use curricula ( ) designed for online learning.
Yet a surge ( ) of online schools comes with risks. It could normalize remote learning approaches ( ) that have had poor results for many students, education researchers said. It could also further divide a fragile ( ) national education system, especially when many Asian, Black and Latino families have been wary ( ) of sending their children back to school this year.
“My fear is that it will lead to further fracturing ( ) and fragmentation ( ),” said Jack Schneider, an assistant professor of education at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
即便疫情過去 線上教學會繼續
美國明尼蘇達州布魯明頓市的六年級學生Rory Levin曾經討厭上學，他有健康問題，常讓他和其他學生共處時感到焦慮，上特教課程對於紓解他的焦慮幫助不大。
因此，當他的學區去年因疫情而設置獨立的全數位學程「布魯明頓線上學校」時，羅利決定試試。他的母親Lisa Levin說，現在這個11歲的男孩首度能夠享受上學了，她說，他喜愛直播影音課程，也和其他線上學生成了朋友。
去年12月，布魯明頓公立學校決定，疫情趨緩後讓線上學校繼續營運。Lisa Levin計畫今年秋季再幫Rory註冊。
「這實在非常適合他。」她說，「我們真心希望能繼續辦下去，直到他的學校教育結束都不要停。」
在新型冠狀病毒開始大大顛覆公立教育的一年後，學區原本規畫為暫時性的一些遠距課程，如今似乎會比疫情更持久。儘管學生紛紛湧回教室，一小群本就偏好線上學習的家庭正推動讓它繼續，而學校系統也忙著配合。
雖然各界日益擔心遠距學習已使許多兒童的學業進步和情緒健康大受影響，各學區仍爭相設立完整的線上學校。對此狀況有所警覺的家長和議員，呼籲學校重新開放。
即使如此，教育研究人員說，全美1萬3000個學區中，至少數百個本學年已建立虛擬學校，並著眼於持續營運多年。不同於許多因應疫情的臨時性學校學程，這些獨立的虛擬學校有自己的教師，只教遠距學生，且使用專為線上學習設計的課程。
不過線上學校激增伴隨著風險，教育研究者說，它可能讓遠距學習方式常態化，而這種方式對許多學生而言效果極差。它也可能進一步分化脆弱的全國教育體系，尤其是在許多亞裔、非裔及拉美裔家庭對於今年把孩子送回學校感到遲疑的此際。
「我擔心的是，這將導致(教育體系) 進一步的斷裂與破碎。」洛厄爾麻州大學教育系助理教授Jack Schneider說。
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