Did you know that distance education in the U.S. began as early as 1728, when the U.S. Postal Service would deliver lessons by mail to rural areas using a horse and buggy? The International Correspondence School, which offered courses by mail to miners and iron and railroad workers, had 2.5 million students by 1923. Students studying business in the 1920s could receive monthly packets of materials such as receipts and ledgers to learn the skill of bookkeeping. And women were some of the earliest participants in distance education courses that offered a “certificate of expertise” in stenographic shorthand.
While we no longer need to use a horse and cart to deliver lessons in the digital age, distance learning remains an effective way to share educational resources, opportunities, and access to the teaching profession. Asynchronous online learning, where people work at their own pace and on their own schedule, offers the opportunity to broaden access to learning in much the same way that distance education through mail did in the past. For example, for some Native teacher candidates living on reservations, online learning programs have opened access to the profession in a time of on-going teacher shortages.
I wondered, though, how the pandemic had impacted views of online learning and found some interesting new research. A recent EdWeek Research Center survey asked teachers, principals, and district leaders about what technologies they were planning on using more of than in the past two school years. They found:
- 53% plan to use more devices
- 48% plan to use more digital formative assessments
- 44% plan to use more digital curricula
- 41% plan to use more educational games
Some teachers observed that technology has improved their in-person teaching by allowing for online materials to be made available to students who had missed school and for adding “another tool in the instructional toolbox” for engagement (Langreo, 2022).
NWESD 189 has recently expanded its professional development toolbox to include asynchronous courses on Canvas to support educators in obtaining clock hours. Course offerings will continue to expand in a variety of formats, including asynchronous, synchronous, and hybrid, so that you can engage in professional development opportunities when and how it works best for you.
View all NWESD Online Opportunities (https://www.pdenroller.org/nwesd/Catalog?TagId=1760)
