A Call to Address Academic Difficulties Resulting from the COVID-19-Related Change in Education Delivery

Abstract

As the corona virus pandemic forced school closures worldwide, online platforms have become invaluable tools for allowing instruction to continue smoothly and, hopefully, for mitigating the severity of any student learning disruptions associated with the COVID-19 forced school closures. Although distance-learning is currently necessary, it is a blunt tool that may prove to be inadequate, compared to face-to-face teaching content delivery, for meeting students’ educational needs resulting from COVID-19-forced school closures. It is very likely that the sudden shift to distance-learning has will disadvantage many students who are not experienced with or prepared for the dramatic changes that have occurred in the delivery of formal education. Here, we proffer a call to education-scholars to engage in investigations designed to provide research-informed knowledge and understanding of what pedagogical methodologies are needed for addressing learning deficiencies inherent in distance-learning instruction, and to effectuate the changes needed to provide an equitable educational experience to all students, during the uncertain times of the COVID-19 pandemic.