Educaton - Did Remote Learning Technology Work for or Fail Children During the Pandemic? : UNESCO / NYTimes / Tom McDermott

 https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/06/technology/unesco-report-remote-learning-inequity.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

Click here to read or download the summary of the report (23 pages)

A new report by UNESCO is likely to rekindle debates over whether governments took the right approach during the COVID-19 pandemic in closing schools and attempting to fill the gaps in schooling by turning to remote digital learning.  

A NY Times article today about the report  - Dependence on Tech Caused ‘Staggering’ Education Inequality - notes that : 

* that remote learning during the pandemic has widened educational inequities globally. Students from poorer households and rural areas suffered the most due to lack of internet access and technology.
* 147 million students worldwide missed more than half of their in-person instruction over the past two years.
* In parts of South Asia and Latin America, around 80% or more of students from poorer households had no internet access and missed out on online education.
* Wealthier students with better connectivity benefited more from remote learning. This has led to learning losses and reversed decades of progress in school enrollment and literacy rates.
* Girls, refugees, and students with disabilities were disproportionately affected by school closures and remote learning challenges.
* urges governments to take action to bridge the digital divide. It recommends investing in connectivity and devices for disadvantaged students, training teachers in online instruction, and developing hybrid learning models.

The article, however, does little to answer the policy questions most in everyone's mind :
- the next time the world (or our country) faces a public health crisis caused by a fast spreading and little known virus, should we or should we not close schools?
- if we do close schools, should we or should we not try to fill the gap by offering remote learning possibilities for pupils?
- in widening discrepancies in learning between those who can access digital technology and those who cannot, are we damaging public education as a whole?

- would non-digital support for home learning (study packages sent home, support for small parent teaching groups) have been as effective?

UNESCO's own summary of the report focuses more on the future of digital technology for education and less on the role it played during the pandemic: 

"Technology’s role in education has been sparking intense debate for a long time. Does it democratize knowledge or threaten democracy by allowing a select few to control information? Does it offer boundless opportunities or lead towards a technology-dependent future with no return? Does it level the playing field or exacerbate inequality? Should it be used in teaching young children or is there a risk to their development?

The debate has been fueled by the COVID-19 school closures and the emergence of generative artificial intelligence.

This new report recommends that technology should be introduced into education on the basis of evidence showing that it would be appropriate, equitable, scalable and sustainable. In other words, its use should be in learners’ best interests and should complement face-to-face interaction with teachers. It should be seen as a tool to be used on these terms."