Bridging the Physical Gap in Online Education
- Posted by Gretchen Villers
- Categories Online Learning
- Date October 30, 2023
“Online classes are too hard, I do better with an in-person teacher. . . I don’t know how to do this. . . it’s too confusing. . . I can’t figure this out”. All phrases first-time online students may say as they begin navigating a class in the online sphere. Definitely all sentences we have heard as educators at Sevenstar. While this would be easy to brush off, these are not sentiments that we take lightly. Online classes can be overwhelming and confusing, causing first-time users to feel a sense of discouragement. Many students throw up their arms and are tempted to just give up. This response is understandable as online instruction is not the same as in-person instruction.
The common misconception is that online classes are simply a replacement for in-person instruction and an inferior one. We assume we are comparing apples to apples when we are actually looking at apples and oranges. Online classes were never intended to be a replacement for in-person instruction, but in fact be a solid alternative for families and schools looking for creative ways to educate their children.
“Online classes were never intended to be a replacement for in-person instruction, but in fact be a solid alternative for families and schools looking for creative ways to educate their children.”
Online education lives in a lane of its own and has every right to be there. It fills a need that in-person classes cannot meet and offers families and schools very real solutions to complex issues. Online classes allow smaller schools to offer a wide variety of class choices when they can’t afford to hire a wide variety of teachers. With online class offerings, in one classroom, students can be learning French, Korean, American Sign Language and Mandarin. It allows homeschooling families to choose from classes that would otherwise be out of reach. Online class options can allow parents to gain back control of their child’s education and their family’s schedule. It allows them to pick and choose what best fits their lifestyle and how they want to educate their children.
Many educators themselves are skeptics of online education seeing it as a Band-Aid fix and not an actual solution. It is easy to see all the potential frustrations of online learning and miss the creative answers online classes offer. Again, by comparing apples to apples, we miss the beauty and creativity offered by the online sphere.
Into this mixed bag of frustrations comes the question for online platforms: how do we offer quality classes and connect with our students? You know what? I love this question. I love that frustrations and confusion lead us not to throw our hands up, but to ask good, hard questions. How do we bridge the gap between the expectations of in-person education and exploring what school could look like in an online space?
This is why, at Sevenstar, we are so passionate about Welcome Calls and Discussion Based Assessments. Meeting our students face-to-face over Zoom allows us to put a face to the names in our gradebooks. It allows our students to put a face to the person behind the comments on their assignments. We can meet students who have frustrations and help them navigate the platform. We can meet students who feel overwhelmed and like giving up and support them as they grow in confidence in learning the new material and new tech skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives. We also get to meet students who are loving the class and celebrate with them as they showcase for us what they’re learning. These calls give us a chance to not just talk about our subject area, but also talk with our students about their lives.
A common reaction amongst new online educators is surprise and delight due to the connections they’ve formed with their students, many of whom live all over the world. Where else can you meet with students from California, Texas, Florida, and Taiwan all in the same hour? As we are working to expand our students’ knowledge and understanding, they are increasing our own.
“As we are working to expand our students’ knowledge and understanding, they are increasing our own.”
When we ask our students how we can pray for them, this is not just some trite question designed as a filler on an assignment. We truly consider it a blessing and a joy to participate in lifting our students to our heavenly Father. This connection of asking the Holy Spirit to guide and speak to our students bridges the gap in ways we cannot see here on earth. In Colossians 2, Paul writes to the church in Colossae how hard he is “contending for them and all those he has not met personally . . .” He prays that they will be united in love “that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ”. He goes on to pray that they will be rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith and overflowing with thankfulness (Col 2:6-7 paraphrase). This is more than a beautiful platitude. This is a reality that we as Christian educators can participate in today.
“We truly consider it a blessing and a joy to participate in lifting our students to our heavenly Father. This connection of asking the Holy Spirit to guide and speak to our students bridges the gap in ways we cannot see here on Earth.”
We can contend for our students, even those we have not personally met. We can pray that they will grow in love and knowledge and will fall more deeply in love with Christ our Savior. We have the rich privilege of lifting our students up in prayer and joining parents we have never met to pray against the attacks of the enemy on our students’ lives. This is not a calling we take lightly.
It is with great anticipation and joy that we embrace the online sphere of education. We are here because we want to be here, we believe good things are happening and God is using this space to further His kingdom. What an honor it is to partner with Him in this way.
It is with great anticipation and joy that we embrace the online sphere of education. We are here because we want to be here, we believe good things are happening and God is using this space to further His kingdom. What an honor it is to partner with Him in this way.
“It is with great anticipation and joy that we embrace the online sphere of education… we believe good things are happening and God is using this space to further His kingdom.”
I have been married for 31 years. We have three married children and two grandchildren. I am a former ASL interpreter turned teacher and have been in education for 30 years. I love my God, my family and teaching. I am happiest sitting around a table with friends or being outdoors with my family.
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