The Zoom Lesson

[jon-nyc]

I find Emily Oster's data on keeping kids in school quite compelling. Though I think every school needs a remote option.

[Klaus]

I agree with the article.

Remote teaching at universities isn't working well, but at least it's working somewhat.

But at school it's a disaster.

I can experience this with my own kids. They barely get anything out of the remote lectures. My children tell me that most of their friends watch random Youtube videos or something during those "remote" school lessons. Also, for some reason remote schooling seems to correlate with homeworks that aren't enforced or rely on the kids playing along (e.g. solution to the math task is on the exercise sheet). It just doesn't work for most kids.

[Loki]

So, the article is right in many respects but without zoom the disaster would have been so much worse. Zoom works really well for certain things and is better than nothing for other.

Anyone who despises Zoom 100% is not really a user. Those who depend on it know it’s often a good thing.

[Axtremus]

The school district here uses Google stuff rather than Zoom, but I take it you just mean remote/virtual schooling in general.

Yeah, virtual schooling is most likely still better than no schooling.

Got a piano teacher friend who laments that he cannot really teach good tone production through Zoom, but still pretty much all his students and their parents insist that lessons continue, so he obliges knowing full well (and telling the students/parents) the limits of music lessons through a computer screen.

[Klaus]

Yes, video lessons are better than no lessons, but many politicians seem to think that they are an adequate replacement for physical lessons for indefinite amounts of time.

[Loki]

@klaus said in The Zoom Lesson:

Yes, video lessons are better than no lessons, but many politicians seem to think that they are an adequate replacement for physical lessons for indefinite amounts of time.

Seems odd as those educational systems are going to get crushed economically. The great reckoning is beginning.

[Mik]

It is better suited to business than education, but yeah - better than nothing.

My daughter has seen both sides, as she was a teacher last year and a student this year. It works ok for upper level education, but was pretty much a disaster at the high school level.

I do think teachers and other school employees in the building should be 1A in vaccinations. Schooling is one of the most pressing issues.

[Axtremus]

@klaus said in The Zoom Lesson:

... many politicians seem to think that they are an adequate replacement for physical lessons for indefinite amounts of time.

Not sure how it was in Europe, but over here I think our policy makers have mostly missed the mark in the early summer by focusing on getting restaurants and bars and sports venues reopened rather than planning to get schools reopened.

[Friday]

For a while, some school districts here were doing half remote/half in-person lessons. A couple of friends of mine who teach elementary grades said the majority of the kids were so happy to be back in school. But that stopped in the fall in anticipation of the surge.

[Aqua Letifer]

@mik said in The Zoom Lesson:

I do think teachers and other school employees in the building should be 1A in vaccinations. Schooling is one of the most pressing issues.

I think so, too. Teachers, the elderly, healthcare workers. I don't know how I'd break that down further but they'd be my 1A choices.

Another problem is that idiots cite shit like this to bolster their "no remote learning under any circumstances" narrative. If you're in a district that's decided that the schools stay remote, well then, sorry, unless you're willing to really dig in with homeschooling, remote learning is better than nothing.

Many parents are in a shit situation, but complaining about remote learning on Facebook is the least effective thing they could possibly do.