Unit 11 Assignment

May Cortez-Beatty

BUS 311-1900

Professor Buckler

Unit 11 Assignment: Reflection and Opinion Post

Currently, the question whether to reopen schools or study remotely is one of the most pressing decisions being faced. All students have been affected by school closures and remote learning especially the most vulnerable children. The decisionwhether we should go remote or have students of all ages come back to the classroom is the key focus here. Moreover, the question of who should have a stronger voice, or rather, who (parents or educators) should make the decision on this matter is still a concern. The conversation about how to reopen schools is a full swing that is likely to proceed throughout the 2020-2021 academic year as the pandemic and covid-19 disease accumulates. The ethics of school reopening are steered by the question of whether the education of the students is more important than their safety. To explore this ethically unsettling discussion, one must examine what is at stake in case schools decide to go remote or resume to classroom learning.

Undoubtedly, education of students can never be prioritized over their safety. That is an obvious moral and ethical sense. Thus, it would be logical to argue that remote learning should be the best option during these pandemic times. Although this may sound true, the question remains, at what cost? Studying from home would be safer for students and school staffs but what will be at stake for students. In fact, remote learning not only poses a threat to children academic progress, but also their safety and social lives. The challenges of remote learning outweigh the benefits especially considering that not all educators are experienced with remote learning as running a classroom digitally is much harder. Although most teachers and exceptional and talented, not all of them are prepared to move their instructions online. Online classes require well-written instructions and themes for students to understand easily. That said online classes could disproportionately affect low-income students as well as those who require special needs.

One of the key reasons for going back to classroom learning can be argued from a socioeconomic point of view. The inequality means that not every household has a computer or access to high-speed internet. Although many homes with school going children have broadband internet, there are still huge disparities in terms of income, race, and the education level of parents. For instance, poor families are more likely to depend on smartphones for internet access and children in such households may be unable to use sophisticated remote learning software that requires computers or tablets. Younger children would need adult supervision, which would be difficult for parents with low levels of education and low-income. Parents would have to assists their children to learn online with tasks such as turning on devices, reading and understanding instructions, login into an app, typing, and staying on tasks. Even adults with computer skills would find this difficult to provide the entire necessary assistance required by children. Due socioeconomic inequality, a group of students has suffered greater setbacks and will continue to experience challenges in remote learning environments. In fact, therefore educators have long understood the significance of tailoring classroom environments and curriculum to the needs of different students, age groups, as well as school systems. In essence, one-size-fits-all strategy is not applicable for creating an effective model for learning during the covid-19 crisis. With the already existing learning gaps and inequality, remote learning increases the gap even further stacking odds against some students. This calls for students to resume classroom learning instead of remote.

Furthermore, the decision to resume classroom learning should be based on the idea of balancing interests of children (both academic and safety) as well as the rest of society. As such, one must consider the precautions that need to be taken for in person learning and the distractions being experienced at home during remote learning. To resume in person learning, precautions such as hand sanitizers, using of masks, plexiglass, flex days, and frequent temperature checks ought to be taken. Such measures must be taken to prevent the spread of corona virus to ensure that children education is not sacrificed. Learning online from home would be difficult considering there is lack of rules and structures necessary for effecting learning. In addition, the existence of both internal and external distractions such as depression, anxiety from lack of social gathering, television, music, pets, social media, and doorbells poses a threat to remote learning. In terms of resources and lack of motivation, fewer students are logging into online classrooms and systems to access and complete school assignments. Even those with necessary resource lack the motivation to continuously attend virtual classrooms and pay attention to teachings being offered.

Obviously, schools offer more than just academic valuesand skills. Even considering a hypothetical scenario where all resources are available such as devices, high-speed internet, adult supervision, and software are in place; a lot is lost for children. For instance, virtual learning ensures that children lose a vital social outlet. In other words, students do not go to school just to learn academic subjects such as English and Mathematics. Although this are equally significant, children learn social skills such as conflict management, emotional regulation, and discipline all which are difficult to learn while studying remotely. Self-management is another crucial skill that students learn in school such as meeting deadlines and following a schedule. Schools play a vital role in both social and emotional development of children. For students with special needs, they require individualized education programs, emotional, and behavioral support. Hence, these children are more likely to perform better in a school environment rather than alone at home. In other words, students with special needs are difficult to teach virtually. This can be challenging particularly for students with learning disabilities and have problems that impair learning in areas such as reading, comprehension, spelling, mathematics, and writing. Some things provided by schools are hard to do virtually such as social interaction with peers. Thus, returning to school should be considered for students to succeed academically and be able to enjoy the social dynamics at in-person schools.

In conclusion, the safety of both learners and teachers should always be more important than education and should always come first. However, in a world where safety can be ensured by taking necessary precautions, learning should remain in schools in schools instead of homes. In fact, the challenges of learning virtually from home are extensive compared to the benefits students reap when they attend classrooms in schools. From a both ethical and moral point of view, students should go back to classrooms and safety precautions must be taken.