What am I missing about the difficulty of distance learning?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I work for at a public university and we explored the idea of placing cameras in classrooms to implement a live hybrid model. The cost was $250K+ to outfit classrooms with cameras, AV equipment and quality microphones, plus labor costs. It would cost MCPS at least $1M. No way the county can cover the cost.

If they got rid of their bloated admin they could.

It doesn't matter-- the equipment is on backorder anyway, which I forgot to add. My friend who is the head of another university's IT department also tried this solution. They have the money (top private university) but can't get the equipment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are missing the problem of special needs kids who require special services to be able to participate in classroom instruction.

This is correct. Special needs kids are exceptions. All other students will be fine if they did 100% DL. It might be a bit challenging for an early elementary age kids (K-3rd) but 4th/5th should be ok to do DL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools are not set up for DL and the teachers don't have the experience to do DL. If DL was a requirement then you would need to fire all the teachers and hire certified DL teachers and buy a lot more technology equipment. It's like putting tesla wheels on a horse-drawn carriage and expecting it to perform like a tesla, not going to happen.

We'll see a shift, but it won't happen in a day. Probably we will end up purchasing curricula from private companies or otherwise creating efficiencies with districts around the country (and world,) and teachers will take on roles that are more like grad students in large undergrad lecture classes: They'll grade work, answer questions, and give individual attention, but won't be primarily responsible for managing curricula or delivering content.

This is more true for older than younger student: The younger they are, the more we'll stick with traditional in-person teaching (as we learn to appreciate the value of multi-sensory, group-based educational models.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are missing the problem of special needs kids who require special services to be able to participate in classroom instruction.

This is correct. Special needs kids are exceptions. All other students will be fine if they did 100% DL. It might be a bit challenging for an early elementary age kids (K-3rd) but 4th/5th should be ok to do DL.

Hahahahha. "Should". What planet are you living on?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are missing the problem of special needs kids who require special services to be able to participate in classroom instruction.

This is correct. Special needs kids are exceptions. All other students will be fine if they did 100% DL. It might be a bit challenging for an early elementary age kids (K-3rd) but 4th/5th should be ok to do DL.

Hahahahha. "Should". What planet are you living on?

It depends what you mean by "ok."

I mean, none of this is ok. But there is threat-to-life-and-limb not-ok, and suboptimal not-ok. The collective toll seems to be to be somewhere in between, but YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't they just have the teachers in the classrooms with a camera live streaming the classes? It would just be like a regular class except students would be at home.
The kids could then cycle through each of their 8 periods each day.

They can’t afford soap in my school district. How do you think think they can afford cameras in every classroom. Here is a partial list of things we need before cameras: air conditioning that actually works, clean bathroom, paper towels, soap, sufficient bottled water (lead in the pipes), a functional dehumidifier in our building (the walls and floors are slick with moisture when the a/c runs), no mold, no dripping water causing mold, a classroom for every teacher (we are close to 200% capacity), one-to-one devices, a FT nurse, more paras, substitutes so we don’t have to combine classes or pull other teachers in to sub), security at school, more money for supplies (we run out of copy paper by April), a good curriculum, effective rodent and pest control (who needs a class pet when you have lots of them), money to renovate our school because we are crammed in like sardines, technology in the classroom (most Smartboards don’t work because when the bulb blows out, they are too expensive to replace).....................

Don't you just need an iPad or a laptop with zoom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP DL can work ok for HS and middle school, but it doesn't work for ES at all. The younger the kid, the more quickly they tune out, need redirection and engagement, socialization and physical help. What you are describing sounds ok for 16 year olds - and even then it will still not work well.

Similarly, younger kids can't be expected to safely social distance at school either. So the lesser of the two evils is the one that doesn't risk their lives.

NP, and great news! Younger kids aren't as susceptible to COVID, nor do they transmit it as easily between each other and to adults.

The other factor, of course, is that younger kids need a ton of assistance from adults; when that's DL, it becomes their parent(s), who may or may not be home or able to supervise them. Not every household has a capable adult with nothing else to do but facilitate DL all day long.

Please stop parrotting this nonsense. It's dangerous and has not been proven true - in fact, the evidence has been conflicting. Have you not heard these cases of rampant covid spread in daycare centers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are missing the problem of special needs kids who require special services to be able to participate in classroom instruction.

This is correct. Special needs kids are exceptions. All other students will be fine if they did 100% DL. It might be a bit challenging for an early elementary age kids (K-3rd) but 4th/5th should be ok to do DL.

Hahahahha. "Should". What planet are you living on?

Reality. My kids did DL in the spring and are doing it this summer via DL. What's the problem? Is it forever? No. Will it permanently damage their ability to learn? No. Will it be unpleasant and frustrating at times? Sure.,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why can't they just have the teachers in the classrooms with a camera live streaming the classes? It would just be like a regular class except students would be at home.
The kids could then cycle through each of their 8 periods each day.

How would you do this and be interactive or Socratic?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School is boring enough for most MS and HS students as it is. In-person there are more stimuli and fewer choices. Plus there is peer pressure and teacher-pressure to tune in. So much harder at home, so much harder alone.

Why are they alone? Don't most parents make their kids go to school? How is this any different?

They are alone because their parents are...wait for it...working. The entire point is that parents cannot be home schooling, they have jobs.

I mean, they are alone because they are distance learning individually in their homes. Is that difficult to understand? Teens are pack animals. Just being in a group setting makes things easier for many of them.

We are choosing DL for our teens, but I don't think it's easy at all. And sadly I think that the attempts to basically replicate IP learning at home via the internet does a lot to expose the flaws in the system without leveraging the opportunities posed by DL. That will come, in due time. But in the meantime, it's going to be very challenging for all of us.

And, hey, if DL is easy for you and your family, then great! That is a good thing and I'm genuinely glad that a good option is open to you.

My kids are participating in pack activities online for hours a day. They're playing on line games with groups of other kids. How is this different?

Sigh. I can never quite understand questions like this. Or -- then maybe I do.

Because you're not really asking, are you? You're not dumb, you're just playing the part online as part of a self-reinforcing game you play with yourself in which you make yourself feel superior.

It's a rhetorical question for you, designed to prove a point. You've already arrived at your conclusion and you're arguing backwards.

Otherwise, why would you be deliberately obtuse about this?

See, I can ask rhetorical questions, too.

Here are my questions:

Do you really think DL and IP learning pose identical challenges and opportunities?
Is email the same as an in-person conversation? Is texting?
Why travel when you can see everything online?
Why go to restaurants when you can order out?
Why see family when you can zoom?

I'll tell you what. You go back to congratulating yourself on your perceived superiority -- I mean, your childrens' capacity to play online video games for hours a day is really quite an achievement -- and the rest of us will have a constructive discussion about the challenges posed to other, less video-game-successful students and how to meet them.

You are insane. My comment was about kids being isolated during DL. No, they are not. My kids are online for hours, having lots of fun with other kids. That is not the same as being isolated.

Again, you are nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School is boring enough for most MS and HS students as it is. In-person there are more stimuli and fewer choices. Plus there is peer pressure and teacher-pressure to tune in. So much harder at home, so much harder alone.

Why are they alone? Don't most parents make their kids go to school? How is this any different?

Because they are sitting alone in a room with a screen. They are also missing the teacher who is walking around the room telling them to stop talking and start working. They may have the zoom on, but that doesn't mean they are actually paying attention and tuning in.

In high school????

I have a friend whose daughter in 8th grade basically failed her classes this spring because the parents were busy working and assumed she was doing her online classes (she wasnt'). It was a different state and they were still assigning grades for spring.

I bet she learned her lesson. Time to buck up. Childhood is over.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why can't they just have the teachers in the classrooms with a camera live streaming the classes? It would just be like a regular class except students would be at home.
The kids could then cycle through each of their 8 periods each day.

How would you do this and be interactive or Socratic?

Uh, zoom?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School is boring enough for most MS and HS students as it is. In-person there are more stimuli and fewer choices. Plus there is peer pressure and teacher-pressure to tune in. So much harder at home, so much harder alone.

Why are they alone? Don't most parents make their kids go to school? How is this any different?

Because they are sitting alone in a room with a screen. They are also missing the teacher who is walking around the room telling them to stop talking and start working. They may have the zoom on, but that doesn't mean they are actually paying attention and tuning in.

In high school????

I have a friend whose daughter in 8th grade basically failed her classes this spring because the parents were busy working and assumed she was doing her online classes (she wasnt'). It was a different state and they were still assigning grades for spring.

I bet she learned her lesson. Time to buck up. Childhood is over.

There should be just one method of assigning work, turning it in, seeing grades, etc. With each teacher doing their own thing in MCPS, it was stupidly complicated for parents to keep on top of what was going on, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP DL can work ok for HS and middle school, but it doesn't work for ES at all. The younger the kid, the more quickly they tune out, need redirection and engagement, socialization and physical help. What you are describing sounds ok for 16 year olds - and even then it will still not work well.

Similarly, younger kids can't be expected to safely social distance at school either. So the lesser of the two evils is the one that doesn't risk their lives.

NP, and great news! Younger kids aren't as susceptible to COVID, nor do they transmit it as easily between each other and to adults.

The other factor, of course, is that younger kids need a ton of assistance from adults; when that's DL, it becomes their parent(s), who may or may not be home or able to supervise them. Not every household has a capable adult with nothing else to do but facilitate DL all day long.

Please stop parrotting this nonsense. It's dangerous and has not been proven true - in fact, the evidence has been conflicting. Have you not heard these cases of rampant covid spread in daycare centers?

Rampant COVID spread in daycare centers? Now you're the one parroting nonsense. Yes, I've seen reports of some outbreaks *in states where cases are increasing daily*. I've also seen this data, which, while not perfect, is better than nonsense: https://explaincovid.org/kids/covid-19-and-children-our-crowd-sourced-data

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are missing the problem of special needs kids who require special services to be able to participate in classroom instruction.

This is correct. Special needs kids are exceptions. All other students will be fine if they did 100% DL. It might be a bit challenging for an early elementary age kids (K-3rd) but 4th/5th should be ok to do DL.

Hahahahha. "Should". What planet are you living on?

Reality. My kids did DL in the spring and are doing it this summer via DL. What's the problem? Is it forever? No. Will it permanently damage their ability to learn? No. Will it be unpleasant and frustrating at times? Sure.,

Thank God someone normal.