More than 96% of California students will start the school year with distance learning, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news conference.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to bear down on the west coast, schooling remains a top concern for students, teachers, and parents.
“We don’t just want people to take lectures and just videotape them and put them online,” Newsom said. “This has to be a much more interactive process where we want students brought into the screen, truly engaged peer-to-peer and not just with the interaction of the teacher.”
How remote learning will work: Only 71% of districts are confident that students will have the technology needed for online learning. As such, California has partnered with many tech and office supply companies to ensure each student has a laptop or tablet and access to Wi-Fi.
There is a run on supplies nationwide, but many companies are prioritizing schools in providing the needed devices, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said.
“These circumstances are not ideal as students return to school,” Thurmond said, “but students continue to learn, even under these conditions.”
Educators are leaning in, State School Board President Linda Darling-Hammond, said.
“We've come a long way since spring," Darling-Hammond said.
She believes that when it is time to go back to the classroom, students and teachers will return more technologically proficient.