COVID-19 Reveals the Need for Education Innovation – Real Clear Education
By Arthur Keiser
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many politicians and education officials questioned the value and quality of online learning and criticized many of the schools offering online classes.
Vice Presidential candidate Senator Kamala Harris has a long history of suing schools offering online classes while serving as Attorney General of California. She once claimed that students attending virtual classes were, “…far behind their peers in math and reading.”
Public Education officials openly lament how online education erodes their student numbers and their power to control education curricula. The President of the Idaho Education Association argued that expanding online education is, “…about getting a piece of the money that goes to public schools.”
Six months later, much has changed. K-12 school systems and colleges and universities that did not invest in online education are desperately rushing to do so now. Schools not offering a quality online learning experience are losing students to the schools that do.
Many traditional schools are struggling with a transition to online learning. Michigan State had a difficult reopening this fall, while dozens of private, career-focused colleges and universities were better prepared. It has become clear that the COVID pandemic has permanently altered the way students learn in America. Once scorned by some as second-tier education, virtual classes are now a valued part of many students’ regular education experience.