Through the lens of a teacher, the everchanging technological landscape can open up feelings of excitement, curiosity, destabilization, terror, and uncertainty all at the same time. Not only for concerns of funding, appropriate training/resources, and keeping up; but also the worry of public perception as to whether teaching could ever be replaced or replicated by online supports. All of these questions are valid, but the technological boom has opened up teaching in a way that has never been possible before. No longer are educators restricted to the four walls of the classroom, and the student clientele in the nearby vicinity. The opportunities to reach distant learners and utilize new teaching tools have expanded the toolkits of teachers and students everywhere. As a result of these innovations, it has changed the way in which we can learn and how the instruction is delivered. With the freedom to choose how one takes a class: in-person, online (synchronous and/or asynchronous), and hybrid models, it begs the question: what is the future of modality in the classroom?

Here is where I am torn. I love the idea of having the option to attend class in-person, online, delivered in a self-paced manner, or in some combination of the potential offerings, but I don’t think the freedom of choice, or even offering different modalities for certain classes works for all learners. I can see the benefits of having the option for different modalities for students in the later half of their public education journey, or adult learners, but as of now, I pretty staunchly believe that early education should include consistent in-person instruction.

I come from an elementary background teaching computer science for the K-5 level. It is my job to teach all of the students at the school how to use a computer (turning it on/off, logging on/off, typing skills, word processing, presentation creation, email usage, etc.), digital literacy/citizenship, and the applications of computer science (coding, video game design, robotics, 3D printing, etc.) From the almost 10 years of experience teaching students, I can safely say that any use of technology for learning at this level needs to be face-to-face. There are often times where hand over hand is need to teach finger/hand/cursor placement, or where I need to intervene when a student has accessed something they don’t know how to fix. A lot of times, my learners are pre-readers or early readers where even looking at or for text is a difficult task. If a class like mine were to be offered online to my students, even the basic concept of typing a message to me would surely invoke tears and frustrations from a student. At that point, you would need a parent side by side with them where they would have to take on the role of my proxy. That runs the risk of having a parent do everything for their student, or leaving them to sink or swim. That would defeat the purpose of having a student learn how to use the computer in order to have the supports in place to be independent when different modalities of learning are offered. Only when students have developed the basic skills to navigate around their device, can blended modalities be integrated. In many of my classes, I do put students on self-paced learning journeys through typing practice and coding concepts where everyone works at their own pace, but that in itself needs to come with a lot of in-person teaching to support the learners when they come across technological difficulty such as logging in to the course landing page. There are opportunities for semi-asynchronous learning to be done, but all of these basic computer skills are so fundamentally rooted in the need for someone to be physically there when a student is learning the basics of computer utilization. I do not believe that courses like these could ever be offered in an online setting.

It is not just my courses that I think could never include in-person, but elementary school in general. So much of what we do in the school at this level is social. Social-emotional learning is such a huge component of the elementary experience. It requires constant practice at every grade level and with peers that have also been exposed to the same learning. If a student is unable to create and maintain positive social relationships in real life, it will be even more difficult if elementary school was offered online. Again, there is so much that goes on in school that requires teachers and students to share a physical space to make the learning meaningful. My school is also a Montessori school where student independence is taught at an early age in order for learning to be semi-asynchronous where what a student learns during the work cycle could be very different from a peer. There are specific materials that students must manipulate in a specific way that often need to be modelled by the teacher. There are online Montessori materials, but the Montessori way heavily emphasizes the act of physical manipulation. The work cycle also acts as a training ground to build up stamina to work for extended periods of time. The idea of teaching the Montessori elementary method online would be very cumbersome when the allure of opening a new tab for something high-interest can severely impact the very act of building stamina through learning. After the effects of teaching online in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff at my school noticed a huge gap in our students’ learning across the board because even with all of the online tools available to us, there was no substitute for face to face interaction with the teacher and peers. In the years after the pandemic, the school had to reacquire stamina for learning during scheduled times and basic technological skills beyond using devices as a tool for play. Our school struggled with this shift and only in these past 2 years are we seeing more positive shifts to independence all around.

If a student has the solid foundation of computer literacy (technical and social), and has built the stamina needed to focus on work, then I believe that flexible modalities could be offered and be beneficial for the greater educational landscape. For students who are interested in different courses offered outside of their central school hub, the online course in its many forms could be very beneficial. The asynchronous course where one could go at their own pace could help accommodate for scheduling conflicts in one’s personal life, and the hybrids of all of the possible configurations expands the learning community to degrees previously unimaginable. In the past, I was given the opportunity to TTOC at Cyber School in SD42. 2 days out of the week, students were at home online and would work semi-asynchronously. There would be scheduled timed check ins and mini lessons throughout the day, but assignments were worked on at the student’s pace and in which ever order they chose. Students were also given the option to work at school if parents and students preferred. The other 3 days of the week, students were in-class continuing to work on the assignments given during the online days where they had face-to-face interaction with teachers to utilize materials, ask questions, or seek guidance. I was amazed at how many modalities were being offered to make the best learning situation for everyone. Mind you, these school model was only offered to grade 6/7 students at a specific school at the time. In order to enroll, it was a prerequisite that students needed a strong computer foundation to utilize the technology and had the skills to work collaboratively with peers online and offline. Again, these skills often were built upon in the earlier grades where face-to-face instruction was the necessary norm. This seems to be the standard when I see other online schools where the youngest grade often being serviced are around grade 6. Any student younger most likely would encounter a lot of hardships.

Though all of these modes for instruction and learning cast their net wider to make spaces for teachers and students all over the world, there is still a need for the old school methods of in-person instruction, especially in the early years of schooling. I would be interested to learn if there are school models where online learning in any of its forms are offered to younger students and have it be successful. I’d want to know what are the expectations on the student, parent, and teacher ends for these modalities to work. How does one make accommodations for students with diverse abilities whether that be physical or cognitive. Would EAs, Skill teachers, or counsellors be provided and it what capacity (sharing the online space, being in the same physical room…)? Would the consistent online learning sphere impact their social emotional development in reality or virtual? If I have the time, I’d love to get the input of my own students to see if even they think multimodal education could work at their grade level. I’d be curious to hear their benefits and concerns.