COVID-19 Lockdown: Online vs Traditional Education

Slides by Trey Heckaman

My project spotlights the research question: “How has the shift in education delivery methods impacted students across all age groups, but particularly those of a younger age?” During the early phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools were among the first to have to modify their operations because these environments are traditionally home to large groupings of people. However, before they were able to do this, they had to recognize the severity of the pandemic and how long the lockdown could potentially last. This was a very difficult task for many schools, as federal and state guidelines varied significantly with the ongoing development of knowledge regarding the disease. Amid the spread of misinformation about the pandemic, it became evident that extensions of the initial lockdown period were necessary for the health and safety of everyone. This led schools to adapt by developing and implementing virtual methods of education delivery. It is important to note that while many schools have now returned to traditional classroom settings with new measures in place, for the purpose of this project, I considered only the impact of the virtual methods of education that were in place prior to this return. Scholarly articles and studies reviewed for this project mostly focused on students who are in post-secondary schools. This goes to show that there is a need to conduct research on how virtual school impacts younger students, many of whom would find this transition to be more challenging than those who are of an older age. This is likely because online education was much more prevalent for post-secondary students than it was elementary students prior to the lockdown. However, this does not negate the need for more people to be aware of research on how this lack of a traditional education environment affects younger students’ mental health, social skills, and even knowledge development. It is crucial to foster a strong and successful education system, especially for those that are younger and still developing.

Bibliography

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Online Learning vs. Traditional Learning. Easy LMS.

Pros and Cons of Online Education vs Traditional Education. Classgap.