Pause the remote

Covid may have accelerated the trend to shift learning online, but not everyone is convinced it’s the right move.

- DALE OWENS

Remote learning was once touted as the future of our education system - a way of dragging what some saw as an antiquated institution into the 21st century. But no one realised the future would arrive quite so quickly.

Almost overnight, Covid-19 forced schools and universities to shift their entire curriculums online, making fears about kids spending too much time in front of screens redundant.

Before the pandemic, distance learning was already a popular option for some, and considered by others as a way to unlock learning for the masses. Covid has accelerated its intended adaptation by several years, giving us what is often described as "emergency remote learning" from home.

We've become used to it, but there are now serious questions as to whether technology can replace face-to-face interaction so easily.

For many students and families, lockdown learning was a far from enjoyable experience. Although video calls on the likes of Zoom, and cloud-computing tools such as Google Docs, have become commonplace, Covid has been a crucial test for the remote learning model.

It's recognised by many that the technology we're using now was not built with education in mind (even if it has worked well for some). And with high "disengagement" levels reported both here and overseas, there are calls that it's time to pause, take a breath and consider the way forward.

"The big issue with online learning is that people have allowed it to be led by technology," says Steve Maharey, a former education minister in the Helen Clark government. "These tools were developed for all sorts of things, but they were not developed for education."