By Prithvi Parthasarathy
Who would have thought that school would become completely virtual, with assignments online, connections with peers disrupted, and social interaction reinvented because of needs for physical distance? No one could have predicted this pandemic, and yet our school district has responded effectively, providing online learning to the best of its ability, and understanding that its students, resilient rather than resistant, would adapt to this new normal.
To provide more insight into the workings behind online learning, Dr. Stephen O'Toole, a Great Valley Technology Administrator, shared his thoughts. He felt that the pandemic managed to "accelerate and implement much of what we had as a plan, stemming from the One-to-One program that has been done through the years."
Since 2017, Great Valley has been distributing Kajeet Hotspots, a type of Wi-Fi educational network, to families that qualified for free or reduced lunches, as part of the One-to-One program, Dr. O'Toole explained. He felt that even without a pandemic, eventually, the technology and programs being used regularly now would have been thoroughly implemented in the future.
Programs like Canvas and Microsoft Teams were already being introduced, but, as Dr. O'Toole mentioned, implementation moved "very slowly and methodically in the learning and trying of new things." However, "COVID-19 took all that off the table and we had to change faster to meet the needs of the district," he stated.
Many of these plans to deploy new technology and implement successful methods of learning were developed in the spring of 2020. Ideas to aid teachers in hybrid learning, such as the carts in class which can be used as a mobile podium, were developed.
It is intriguing to observe the inner workings of school administration, faculty, and online learning tools in this time. The new links between education and technology will likely develop massively in years to come, elevating learning and providing secure and inventive pathways towards a robust education.