We need more innovation to close the gap between physical and virtual learning

The use of Zoom and products like it has skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic began as we look to remain in digital proximity of one another while we are forced to stay socially distant. For some industries such as professional services and healthcare, the use of video is a slam dunk. for others such as restaurants and retail, video doesn't work.

One of the more controversial segments is education, particularly K-12, where there is great debate as to whether kids can be educated effectively over Zoom. At its recent Zoomtopia digital conference, Zoom dedicated much of the show to a handful of industries - education one of them.

I've talked to dozens of parents and teachers who have tried to educate over Zoom and have reached epic levels of frustration. One of the Massachusetts-based teachers I interviewed, Jillian Santucci a sixth-grade teacher with the Leominster School District, recently took a leave of absence because the process of teaching virtually was so onerous.

"One aspect that has proved most difficult is collaboration with peers in small groups," Santucci told me. "This is an essential part of learning in any classroom. Although I implement 'small groups' through breakout rooms, it's extremely difficult to effectively manage four meets at once. In a classroom, I can easily hear what groups are discussing, whether they are on task or not and am able to redirect in a moment when necessary. While I can check in on my groups during breakout rooms, it is much more time-consuming and labor-intensive than in a classroom."

Short attention spans

Because of these problems, one of the sessions that caught my eye was the education keynote, "The Future of Secondary Education and Fresh Ideas on Keeping K-12 students Engage." I liked this topic because the technology isn't the problem; we know Zoom works. It's keeping kids, particularly younger ones with short attention spans, engaged in an environment that isn't like a classroom.

The typical day for a K-12 student in public school starts with some type of virtual classroom, marking attendance, switching among different class tabs to find which assignments are due and clicking on links to join Zoom meetings, or a tool like it, with teachers several times a day. The setup varies in every school district, but the dilemma is the same.

It's worth noting that some schools don't provide live online instruction to blended students - those who attend school in person some days and learn virtually other days - but that's a whole separate problem with distance learning.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic forced everything to shut down in March, schools have been trying to figure out an effective strategy to keep students learning from home. Zoom is the videoconferencing platform of choice for most school districts because of its ease of use. Zoom allows multiple participants to meet in a gridlike format and share information on-screen or through chat.

One thing nobody, including Zoom, has figured out is how to keep students engaged during video calls, especially in lower grades. Elementary school students learn by following teacher cues, such as hand gestures and facial expressions when they're in the classroom. Students want to be able to provide feedback and teachers want to receive feedback, not just verbally. The way students sit in a chair, the emotion they're showing during class the teacher's response - all that's missing in a virtual environment.

"It's difficult for my first-grader to stay focused when he's on a Zoom meeting," said Elena Malykhina, a mom of two elementary school students in a NYC public school. "He fidgets in his chair, walks away from the screen, and constantly complains he is bored. Distance learning doesn't compare to in-person learning. Despite being connected to all these virtual resources, my kids seem more disconnected than ever."

Engagement strategies

Zoom has recently developed a number of features that can be used to keep kids engaged. Since they can't do this physically, teachers and students will need to leverage virtual methods.

For example, Zoom has a feature called "Meeting Reactions" that can let for teachers and students express themselves virtually in a way that students are familiar with. The feature allows participants to communicate with emojis, which disappear after five seconds, without interrupting the meeting. Emojis are fun, relatable and effective in engaging with kids since they're used in their everyday lives, panelists explained during the Zoomtopia panel.

Another effective engagement strategy, mostly for older kids, is using polling to assess a student's level of understanding. Teachers create polls to gauge whether students get a particular concept either during or after class.

Teachers can also communicate with students directly via chat. Some students feel uncomfortable using video, while others may have a poor internet connection. Chat is a good alternative in those instances.

These tools keep getting better and richer with features, but ultimately they're just tools. The biggest missing piece is hands-on learning. Prior to the pandemic, students didn't sit at their desks all day. They worked collaboratively in groups and participated in art projects, science experiments, team sports and much more.

New software

"Kids learn by using tangible objects and we're seeing them struggle right now because that has been taken away from them," said Zoomtopia panelist Brian Miller, senior director of global strategic outreach for Wonder Workshop. "So we have to take a step back and think about what's best for our learners."

Wonder Workshop is a Silicon Valley-based education and robotics startup that teaches kids how to program with toy robots, Dash and Dot. The startup turned Dash into a virtual tool, so kids can use their physical space to engage with learning by building play environments and dioramas, among many other things. There are several education-focused toolkits available that extend learning at home with or without a robot.

Although hands-on learning is an important part of keeping kids engaged at home, what parents want is the real classroom experience. On most remote days, interaction with teachers is limited. Teachers spend too much time during meetings taking attendance. They cannot distribute quizzes or talk to students one-on-one. It becomes very frustrating, said Malykhina.

Michael Chasen, former chief executive of the educational technology company Blackboard and a father of three, was in a similar situation when his kids moved to distance learning. So, Chasen used the Zoom software development kit to build Class for Zoom, which comes closer to an actual classroom experience.

The new software comes with teaching and learning tools currently lacking in Zoom, such as the ability to distribute live assignments, quizzes and tests for students to complete right away. The improved user interface displays the student roster in a list format for easy attendance-taking, and it gives teachers a dedicated spot on the screen.

"What I dislike about Zoom is the grid view where the teacher disappears every time someone unmutes themselves," said Malykhina. "My fourth-grader tends to pin his friends instead of focusing on the teacher. He also gets lost in the crowd when he raises his hand, which discourages him from participating. If there was a way to fix these issues, my son would be more engaged during meetings."

When Class for Zoom launches in January, students will not be lost in the crowd. With a new "hands raised view," teachers will call on students in the order they've raised their hands. Students who lose focus will be redirected back to Class for Zoom if they don't have it as the primary app on the screen. Finally, those who have questions will be able to join one-on-one discussions with teachers without leaving the Zoom environment.

Will schools ever go back to normal? The consensus among Zoomtopia's panelists is we should not go back, but rather move ahead toward synchronous learning that allows educators to provide an in-person classroom experience online.

Here is where Zoom and companies like it need to step up. We can't continue to throw generic tools at the problem and expect teachers such as Santucci and parents such as Malykhina to close the gap. Instead, the vendor community needs to bring features to their platforms that create a dynamic and immersive experience that doesn't try to replicate a classroom, but instead changes the way kids learn to keep them engaged in a world that will be predominantly virtual for the foreseeable future.