Lessons learned from a year of online education

We all get bored with our work sometimes, regardless of the medium. (Painting by Johannes Vermeer)

This week, one of our students completed a year of online school.

It’s certainly a milestone for her — it’s always a big deal to move from one grade to the next. However, it’s also a milestone for my team and me. She’s the first one to do the entire year online. We knew that our approach could work, and now we’ve seen it work.

While maintaining my student’s privacy, I wanted to share some of the takeaways from our second year in existence.

The parents’ attitude makes all the difference. Parents don’t have to be involved in every aspect of school, but they have to set up the environment that will allow their child to succeed. This includes such basics as setting up a workstation in a public space in the house (for example, the dining room, not their child’s bedroom) but also extends to their willingness to let their child experience discomfort and the consequences of his or her own actions (for example, allowing a child’s work to extend into the evening if time was not used effectively during the day).

Parents benefit from coaching, too. Our program is a bit different, and educating parents about their role is a process. We have an opportunity to support them in creating a harmonious family life — even with an adolescent in the house! We can help parents make space for their child to learn from his or her mistakes in a way that leads to competence. We can offer some perspective on what kind of growth to look for, which undesirable behaviors are normal for adolescents and not to be taken personally, and how to encourage good habits. It took a long time for me to feel comfortable offering this kind of guidance to parents, but it makes a difference.

We’re playing a long game. Our version of online school can offer a lot of independence if desired. And the more independence a student has, the greater the likelihood that things will go off track.

At first, this was scary. How were we going to make sure our students were on task? However, we learned that we could see pretty easily when students got distracted, and we could support them in correcting it even from afar. We could help them to be more intentional about deciding when to take a break and when to work — and how to stay focused while working. Self-management is an important skill in a world where there will always be the lure of a smartphone notification, a fresh browser tab, or even the time-honored activity of staring out the window. We all have to figure out how to minimize distractions to get our work done, and we might as well practice doing that when the stakes are relatively low.

It takes extra time when to teach not only the content, but the process behind learning it. It may slow down a student’s progress in the short term. However, the long-term benefits of this approach are significant. Over time, it creates a bond between teacher and student when distractions are handled as an opportunity for problem-solving rather than punitively. We saw that students became more proactive, dealing with distractions and “off days” openly instead of secretively.

Progress is cyclical. In traditional school, students have a keen awareness of upcoming school holidays and breaks. Teachers often struggle to manage the energy of a large group of kids the Friday before a vacation week. However, when students are learning online, at home, this dynamic is missing. Each student has his or her own rhythms. A few slow days can be followed by a burst of energy and activity. A concept that was maddeningly out of reach can suddenly come into focus.

Every day could look the same, but it doesn’t. There are waves of energy and progress that become visible. I have learned that this is normal and natural and can be built into the program moving forward.

A team is best. At first, I did most of the curriculum development work on my own, tailoring it to students’ needs. But even though I had a clear vision for how the plan would be executed, I eventually got tired and needed to tag in a teammate. Things were far better when multiple teachers were working together for a student’s success. Other people are much better at creating projects and assignments that have a bit of razzle-dazzle, so learning was more fun for our students. Plus, we then had multiple people encouraging the students and cheering them on.

You can build a relationship remotely. Chatting with our students, whether on Zoom or Slack, has become a highlight of the day. It is a joy to have a peek inside their lives to see what they’re interested in, what makes them tick, and how they see the world. There are surprising opportunities for genuine connection outside of the typical classroom.

Over the course of the year, this project went from being an interesting experiment to a vitally necessary solution due to current events. We’re looking forward to putting our insights to work for us in the coming year — and eager to see what else emerges as we move forward with an education alternative that has become surprisingly mainstream.