Online learning is important during pandemic

By Nellie Curtiss …

Online learning is a good place to be during this Covid19 pandemic.

I understand families are in disarray with school days when children are confined to the kitchen tables or student desks in the bedrooms. However, facing down a quarter million deaths throughout out our country is nothing to cough at and to ignore. Locally, our numbers are exploding as well with Alamosa in the red dial zone.

I wouldn’t want my child exposed to even one more morsel of aerosol droplets from anyone including teachers, other students, facility managers and on and on.  Mask wearing helps to prevent droplets from reaching the wearer; but the medical masks are better at preventing transfer.

The guidance from CDC says do not stay more than 15 minutes in anyone’s personal space or within six feet.  (https://www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center) But six feet is not the magical number it appears to be as research now shows the aerosols can fly well beyond six feet. Enclosed space like classrooms, commuting cars, college, office buildings, restaurants and day care can grow Covid19.

Distance and online learning have been around for a while—but maybe not so long for the local schools. 

I would rather my children learn in a safe environment—home—than to be sent on a school bus or dropped off at schools where their exposure to Covid19 germs is assured.  I do understand that heroic measures by teachers and school officials to assure students learn in covid19-free environments with regular disinfecting on all touch surfaces. To make this a smooth experience though, the schools and districts should provide online learning coaches or tutors.  This is a technique used in online universities too, like CSU Global, and North Central University. As an adjunct at Adams State before it was University, I provided tutoring and coaching for my students which included online platforms.  These techniques ramp up the personal one-to-one education that benefits children, adults and teenagers.

I can hear the complaints in the background that when a lot of parents are still working, these at-home services put a kink in the smooth flowing day.  How do parents at work oversee their at-home students. We will have to find solutions; providing more tutors for families might be one answer. We will have to navigate the personal costs, as well. We are battling a pandemic. Life has changed as a result.

I know without grandparents or others it would be hard for me.  I think I would vie for a telecommute job rather than an in-person position. As a professor, I would advocate for online learning, too.

Schools, community colleges and universities have been online for a while and could offer mentors to navigate some of the online conundrums, I would think. Libraries have been a source of how-to in the past, maybe they would have some guidance. If you care to email me, I could give you some encouragement and strategies: columnsbynellie@gmail.com

 I would rather have my children close, reading, writing, learning and free of covid19 than to have them admitted to the hospital, put on respirator and succumb to the pandemic.