July 25, 2020
This spring Ohio’s educators quickly pivoted from in-person to online instruction in response to the public health needs of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In some cases, educators stood up entirely new learning technologies in a matter of days, mastered the technology and then introduced it to students and parents. Nothing goes exactly as planned in such situations, but it is a testament to the dedication of our state’s educators, parents and students that they made such dramatic changes in teaching and learning in a short amount of time.
Despite these efforts, some significant learning roadblocks remained. We would all be remiss if we failed to acknowledge that online learning wasn’t equitable for all students across the state. Unacceptable disparities in access to technology, especially broadband internet, deprived too many students from receiving the education they need and deserve. We cannot ignore this reality, and we must prepare for the results.