Remote vs. In-person Learning

Author: Arlene Vinion Dubiel

March of 2019 was a pivot point for educators everywhere. When Covid-19 got its foothold in the United States, and schools left for spring break never to return, we had to scramble to switch to fully remote learning. As remote learning continued through the 2020-2021 academic year, we grew to embrace this new way of learning. There's no denying it has been a challenge for educators, but we rose to that challenge and made it work (for the most part).

The proverbial Pandora's box has been opened for remote learning. Now that we're resurfacing from the pandemic, many stakeholders are pushing for remote learning to continue. Indeed, there are advantages to remote learning, and it does need to be utilized. Still, there are situations where being physically together in the same room can offer exceptional learning opportunities. I offer here my experiences and suggestions for balancing remote and in-person learning.

Remote Advantages

As an instructor, there are some distinct advantages to teaching remotely. You save time and money by not commuting to campus or paying for parking. You can wear yoga pants and slippers to class, plus go off-camera whenever you want to grab a cup of coffee. In short, remote teaching is convenient, keeping us in a good comfort zone.  

Likewise, students enjoy these conveniences too. Fully remote learning helps parents who may not have access to child care and supports students with disabilities who may not be able to access on-campus spaces or who use technologies to communicate. Add to that the reduced time and cost involved with commuting to campus, and there are very real advantages for students to learn remotely. Indeed, students want to access their educational experiences anytime and anyplace, and if higher education institutions want to attract students, this is what they will offer. 

With the pandemic, we’ve seen that it’s possible to teach fully remote courses. Delivering top-down content through videos, readings, lecture notes, and more can certainly be conducted remotely and asynchronously. To further engage students and assess their learning, I like to pair short video lectures and course readings with quick quizzes, written assignments, and asynchronous discussion boards. These asynchronous learning experiences allow students to engage in the content independently and be reflective of their learning. 

Conferencing technologies allow us to hold synchronous class meetings remotely, but we need to consider these experiences carefully. When students are together in real-time, they can connect and actively learn by working on complex problems collaboratively and engaging in breakout room discussions. If learning can be done asynchronously, then it needs to be so, reserving synchronous sessions for experiences that cannot be replicated any other way.  

Distracted

Because many instructors use synchronous meetings to deliver content, students are often surprised when they attend my synchronous class meetings and discover that they are required to participate. I don’t lecture outside of making announcements and giving instructions for the work to be completed. Any top-down content is delivered using asynchronous formats, reserving synchronous meetings solely for active learning. These experiences fall into two basic categories - either students are collaborating and learning together through problem-solving activities or discussing topics that may be polarizing and require some depth of thought. In both cases, students spend most of the class time in breakout rooms with me popping into different rooms to listen, redirect, guide, etc. 

During remote synchronous class sessions, I noticed multiple students leave class or are off-camera and muted the entire class period - not contributing to small group discussions. I routinely email these students, sharing what I noticed and requesting an explanation. I have had more than one student respond, “I’m at work,” “my child is with me,” “I was driving,” or other such excuses that arise from poor scheduling management. If the class had been in-person, these students would have had to make other arrangements to attend class. But because the class is held remotely, students believe they can do both. 

As an instructor, I find this lack of respect for a synchronous learning experience frustrating at best. However, I recognize that this is not entirely my students’ fault. We, as instructors, do not often use this precious time together wisely. We sometimes use these sessions as easy ways to deliver content. Students can make up a class by half-listening to what is going on and then asking a colleague for the notes. To have students be engaged in remote synchronous learning, we need to focus this precious time together on collaboration and discussion and explain the importance of these learning experiences to our students.

In-person Experiences

Since the waning pandemic has allowed in-person classes, I’ve been teaching in a blended format with online content and in-person class sessions. More than one student has requested to be fully online for the semester because of various challenges or inconveniences. I have denied those requests. I’ve also had students who have missed class sessions due to quarantine, illness, or other circumstances. These students are occasionally given make-up work, but it comes with a gentle warning that they cannot replace the missed learning experiences. 

Remote synchronous class meetings can be effective, but they are a poor substitute for the rich learning experiences in person. When students are physically together, there are fewer distractions, allowing increased attention to the learning. Social cues like body movements and eye contact cannot be replicated in online synchronous discussions, even with requirements of cameras on and mute off. These social situations can also build camaraderie and connections with others. 

One of my classes for preservice teachers is held in the evening with students who spend all day in classrooms. By the time they get to my class, they are tired. In one class meeting, the students worked for over an hour on a complex and challenging activity. When I pulled out the answer key to go over it, one student expressed exasperatedly, “There was an answer key!” I immediately responded with, “Yes, but if you hadn’t struggled first, you wouldn’t have learned.” This prompted a good discussion on the productive struggle as a learning strategy with the Learning Pit as an image.

Going off on tangents like these is another benefit to in-person learning. Sometimes your students, and you learn more when you’re off-script. I’ve had productive full-class discussions on various topics like racism in our community, how cancer treatments work, and competency-based education. These topics were not on the syllabus but were relevant and catered to students’ interests. Allowing students to ask questions and explore their interests creates irreplaceable “teachable moments” in the in-person classroom. When remote, most students are off-camera, on mute, and are reluctant to interrupt the flow of class, preventing these natural conversations.

Learning Objectives

When making decisions about remote asynchronous, remote synchronous, and in-person learning, you must first consider your learning objectives. If you aim to focus on content delivery like showing steps to solve problems, explaining a concept, or defining vocabulary, then asynchronous remote is ideal. Students can access these learning experiences at their convenience. Asynchronous assessments like online quizzes, written assignments, and discussion boards allow students to demonstrate what they have learned on their own time.  

If you want students to collaborate on problem-solving or concept applications, it’s possible to use remote synchronous learning. Completing problem sets or engaging in activities with a clear end-point can be conducted synchronously and remotely. It’s beneficial for students to work together, but the learning is not necessarily dependent upon social cues. Explaining that collaboration is key to effective learning, plus the material can help increase student buy-in, ensuring that they come to class ready to engage in the experience without distraction.

In-person learning experiences should be reserved for those times where remote options are not as effective. Conducting experiments, plus utilizing manipulatives, design work, and in-depth discussions, cannot be replicated remotely. These objectives involve the physical manipulation of materials or the need for social cues to support learning. For example, my preservice teachers are asked to design a grading policy that works best for them and their students. The preceding class discussion allows students to consider other students’ experiences, challenge each other, and orient their own thinking. In my experience, this discussion is most effective when students can be together in-person. 

In short, remote learning is here to stay. It is convenient and supports marginalized students like parents, those with disabilities, and those who work while attending school. However, asynchronous experiences alone rarely allow us to achieve all our learning objectives. It is essential that we, as instructors, identify those learning experiences that can be delivered remotely and do so. It is equally vital for us to identify and capitalize on in-person learning experiences that remote formats cannot replace.

Respect your students’ and your time and attention by reserving remote synchronous and in-person learning experiences for instances where they are the ideal option for achieving the learning objectives. And communicate the importance of these experiences with your students so they can be motivated to leave their houses, drive to campus, and be prepared to work and discuss together. 

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