Are We There Yet?

As the current pandemic has dragged on and on (and on and on and on…..sigh) I often tell the story of the early days of television – as an analogy.

When television was new, some of the first programs were people on camera reading radio scripts.?

The content was fabulous for radio, so programmers thought it would be fabulous for TV.?It wasn’t.?It was awful.?It took a while for people to realize that a new medium requires new content.

If you’ve watched television since that was realized, yes, there are still awful shows, but that’s not because the medium isn’t understood.?We’ve seen plenty of both soul enriching and heartbreaking content, and experienced plenty of learning, laughing and crying during the process.

What does this all have to do with the Pandemic??Well, a lot really.

In early 2020 schools were closed.?We were all told to “stay home and flatten the curve.” Many classrooms went virtual – meaning teachers sat in-front-of a webcam and read their lessons exactly as they used to, but to a remote audience.?And, for the most part, it was awful.?When 2020’s summer break arrived most everyone was relieved that the ‘failed experiment’ was over.?After a much deserved summer break most educators looked forward to getting back to real classrooms that autumn.?We didn’t.?The pandemic didn’t end.?Many educational institutions installed relatively inexpensive modern camera systems in their classrooms that automatically tracked the educator as he or she walked naturally in front of the room – teaching both to in-person students and at-home students.?This hybrid learning model was far superior to teachers that were figuratively chained in front of webcams, and it helped (and still helps) bring students who can’t be in classrooms an equivalent experience to those present in the room.

But again after that, there was perceived relief.?The summer of 2021 came, the pandemic numbers were dropping, and educators were again getting ready for a return to in-classroom learning.

And then – well, you know – the Delta Variant.?More contagious...affecting younger people as well...and throwing a bucket of cold water on most of our fall plans.?

Educators that were preparing to ditch all of the remote and hybrid processes are now just beginning to see it’s hardly over yet.?Many of the school districts that have not taken the precautions of requiring vaccinations and/or masks are closing as quickly as they open, with sadly huge numbers of virus exposures.

So, completely leaving the science, health and politics to those more qualified than I to comment, my simple ask today is just Are We There Yet?

Are we at the point that we realize that some form of distance learning is actually here to stay, and that it’s time for us to stop the equivalent of reading radio scripts on camera??

Distance Learning has been around for decades.?(Just ask the great folks at the US Distance Learning Association – a group I’ve been involved with in one way or another since the 1990s.)?There is a huge knowledge base around what works and what doesn’t when using technology to teach remotely.?Sticking teachers in front of webcams is definitively in the does not work category.?It’s time we stop hoping that the need will pass and start creating compelling content for this new medium.?

Of course, the world of education has plenty of other problems (including underpaid and underappreciated teachers and 'privileged' districts for a start) but we all have to look in a mirror and finally acknowledge that after approximately two years of a pandemic with no end in sight, it’s well past time to begin to figure out how to work in this new medium.

Are we there yet? No, not at all. Too many of us have been wishing for the circumstances to end to realize that we need to get started adapting and evolving. That's how humans survive and thrive.

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This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions. David has over four decades of experience providing problem solving leadership and innovation in media and unified communications technologies for various firms in the corporate, broadcasting and academic worlds including AT&T, Bloomberg LP, FNN, Morgan Stanley, NYU, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Chase. He now works as The Director of UC Strategy and Research for Poly. He is also the IMCCA’s Director of Emerging Technology. David can be reached at [email protected] and his full bio and other blogs and articles can be seen at Danto.info.