by Bruce Friend
Tornados and floods have wreaked havoc across the United States this spring. Images of homes and schools destroyed and families uprooted from their communities are reminiscent of scenes from after Hurricane Katrina.
As someone who has championed the virtues of online learning for two decades, these scenes bring to mind a question that I think needs to be asked, “What have we done, as a nation, state, and at the local level, to address how students’ education can continue when a natural or man-made disaster makes going to one’s physical school impossible?” Regrettably, I think the answer to is “not enough” even in the post-Katrina era of disaster preparedness.
Certainly some progress has been made in terms of more teachers being trained to teach online. There are certainly more educational leaders and students who are better informed about online learning options than there was five years ago. And there are far more online programs, be they local, state, or private options which provide some degree of extra capacity to enroll students into online options when disasters strike.
Even with this progress, one of the major obstacles to using online learning as a strategy in such times of crisis is the fact that our educational systems at large have not been proactive in weaving online learning into disaster planning. Instead we are left with a reactionary approach of “what now” in terms of how to ensure that students can seamlessly continue their education, and this lack of planning often leaves online learning as an underutilized strategy.
If you have questions about the use of online learning and what options may be available to you, feel free to email me at: bruce.friend@sas.com
Bruce Friend is the Director of SAS® Curriculum Pathways®, an award-winning education resource that provides online lessons, engaging tools and activities at no cost to U.S. educators. Bruce has spent the past decade working in the field of online learning. He is a national pioneer in helping to establish the country’s first statewide online program and has been the chief administrator of two state virtual schools.
In 2003 he was honored with the “Most Outstanding Achievement in Distance Education” award by the US Distance Learning Association. Prior to joining SAS, Bruce was the Vice President of the International Association for K12 Online Learning; a non-profit organization that provides support to students, parents, and online learning programs.
Tornados and floods have wreaked havoc across the United States this spring. Images of homes and schools destroyed and families uprooted from their communities are reminiscent of scenes from after Hurricane Katrina.
As someone who has championed the virtues of online learning for two decades, these scenes bring to mind a question that I think needs to be asked, “What have we done, as a nation, state, and at the local level, to address how students’ education can continue when a natural or man-made disaster makes going to one’s physical school impossible?” Regrettably, I think the answer to is “not enough” even in the post-Katrina era of disaster preparedness.
Certainly some progress has been made in terms of more teachers being trained to teach online. There are certainly more educational leaders and students who are better informed about online learning options than there was five years ago. And there are far more online programs, be they local, state, or private options which provide some degree of extra capacity to enroll students into online options when disasters strike.
Even with this progress, one of the major obstacles to using online learning as a strategy in such times of crisis is the fact that our educational systems at large have not been proactive in weaving online learning into disaster planning. Instead we are left with a reactionary approach of “what now” in terms of how to ensure that students can seamlessly continue their education, and this lack of planning often leaves online learning as an underutilized strategy.
If you have questions about the use of online learning and what options may be available to you, feel free to email me at: bruce.friend@sas.com
Bruce Friend is the Director of SAS® Curriculum Pathways®, an award-winning education resource that provides online lessons, engaging tools and activities at no cost to U.S. educators. Bruce has spent the past decade working in the field of online learning. He is a national pioneer in helping to establish the country’s first statewide online program and has been the chief administrator of two state virtual schools.
In 2003 he was honored with the “Most Outstanding Achievement in Distance Education” award by the US Distance Learning Association. Prior to joining SAS, Bruce was the Vice President of the International Association for K12 Online Learning; a non-profit organization that provides support to students, parents, and online learning programs.
