Online Learning: Lessons From The Pandemic

Three years ago at this time, no one had ever heard of COVID-19. But since then, the world has changed, and so has education—in particular— online learning. Like everywhere else in the country, Akron Public School students were forced to stay home and do their lessons online. They had live teachers leading the virtual class sessions, but then once the COVID case numbers dropped enough; the vast majority of the district's 20 thousand plus students went back to the classroom in person. Now, though, there are still a small number of students who are still doing all of their classes online, and we wanted to find out what lessons teachers have learned as a result of the pandemic, about how to reach, engage, and inspire them. So, we talked to Akron Public Schools Online Principal, Cheryl Paradise: