Given the state of education today, you may be curious, “What is remote learning?” or “What does a remote classroom look like?” Remote learning is learning from a distance made possible by online modes of education.

The success of remote learning lies in a supportive infrastructure maintained by the district, administrators, and teachers alike. Remote learning works best when all gears in the machine are turning properly and efficiently, when every component of the education world is ready and prepared to assist each other in the technical and general ins and outs of remote learning. 

Here, we’ve created a comprehensive review of distance learning, replete with remote learning examples, descriptions of how remote learning works, explanations of various types of distance learning, examples of remote learning, analysis of the advantages and disadvantages surrounding distant learning, and more.

What is Remote Learning? How Does Remote Learning Work?

Remote learning is, simply put, where the student and the educator are not physically present in a traditional classroom environment. Rather, instruction is disseminated through technology tools such as discussion boards, video conferencing, and virtual assessments. It is an attempt to recreate the in-person, face-to-face classroom over the internet. 

Unlike its close relative, virtual learning, which is a more official, established mode of online learning, remote education involves teachers and students who are not accustomed to education that takes place online. It is typically used during scheduling conflicts, illnesses, or, like today, disasters. This particular newness of remote learning, then, is what can make it tricky for both educators and students.

Between private, public, big, and small schools, remote learning looks fairly similar. While private schools may feature more direct instruction through video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Skype than public schools, all engage with remote learning in a similar way. 

Broadly put, remote learning is typically structured in this way: the teacher establishes a virtual connection with their students through an online class program such as Google Classroom or Khan Academy. Here, the teacher posts assignments, assigns reading, collects student work, provides feedback, and more. Students login daily to the virtual homebase for a scheduled amount of time and complete assignments, listen to lectures, or participate in activities. Having a virtual homebase is vital to the success of distant learning.

In addition to the instruction which takes place within remote classrooms like Google Classroom, many teachers meet with their students and classes through video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Skype. Some teachers give entire lectures through the service while some simply use it to check in on students and ensure they are understanding the material. The amount of time that Zoom, Skype, or any other direct virtual conferencing platform are utilized may differ among districts and schools, but it also serves as a significant tool in online learning. The district will likely inform you on direct video-conferencing requirements.

 

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Benefits and Disadvantages of Remote Learning

Benefits of Remote Learning:

Let’s go over four key benefits of remote learning.

• Distance learning provides access to education for those who otherwise may have no other opportunities.
  Perhaps above all, remote learning provides students with opportunities to receive an education. Whether it’s a sixth-grade student who uses Google Classroom to keep up to date on their math coursework or to touch base with their teacher during the time of COVID-19, or a college student tuning into an online lecture during off-time at their day job, remote learning opens doors for opportunities. Right now, remote learning is the best choice we’ve got to preserve education.
• Distance learning makes education flexible.
  When learning is moved to a remote classroom, teachers are given more flexibility in the way they structure their class and the way they develop and evaluate assignments. Students, too, can engage with their schoolwork when it is most beneficial to them unless there are set times for class, meetings, or lectures in which they must attend. Both teachers and students do not have to commute, too, which saves time, money, and energy that can then be harnessed into developing strong lesson plans and assignments. Overall, remote learning is a bit generally more flexible than coming into the classroom every day.
• Remote learning allows students to engage with their coursework at a more personalized pace.
  Instruction within the physical classroom can sometimes be too rapid since there is always so much material to cover in such a short amount of time. But remote learning allows students to engage with their coursework (relatively) at their own pace. Remote learning can equalize the disparity between different learners. Every student learns at their own pace, so the highly-individualized nature of distance learning makes the pace of education much easier to control.
• Distance learning can benefit students who are more visual learners.
  Given the visual nature of online education, students who prefer more visual mediums of learning often find remote education beneficial to their learning style. Online lectures, assignments involving computer-based text, and assessments developed through online modes can enrich students through visual-heavy pedagogical models.

Disadvantages of Remote Learning:

Let’s go over four disadvantages of remote learning.

• Remote learning lacks social interaction.
  Since remote learning is, well, remote, opportunities to totally engage with your students on a personalized, face-to-face basis are more challenging. This lack of social interaction can be a downer for both students and teachers, and it can also stunt student growth in areas such social emotional learning, leadership, social skills, public speaking, and more. In this way, remote learning models of education can be difficult to maintain student accountability, too.
• Technology can be complicated and fickle.
  We’ve all experienced those moments of utter frustration when technology simply does not work during moments when it must. The dropped WiFi service. The frozen computer. The disconnected printer. Remote learning is susceptible to many technological difficulties and disruptions, and they can be extremely frustrating to navigate as a teacher when you’re in charge of hundreds of students.
• Distance learning can be distracting.
  Since remote learning takes place primarily on the computer, it can be easy to get sidetracked or distracted by your favorite websites, online shopping, news notifications, or emails. This can make remote learning difficult to keep up with at times, and it can also lead to a decline in the quality of student work. This perpetual distraction is certainly one of the more difficult remote learning challenges.
• Remote learning does not allow for those particular moments in class which make teaching such a wonderful and rewarding profession.
  There are moments during a typical school year that remind a teacher why they came to the profession in the first place. The look on a student’s face when they finally grasp a concept. A joke that results in classwide laughter. The collective sigh of relief expressed when the teacher postpones a quiz or test. These are the moments that elevate teaching from a mere profession into something truly profound and rewarding. And unfortunately, these moments are few and far between in the world of online education.

 

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5 Remote Learning Examples 

1. Example English/Language Arts Remote Learning

After students complete a reading assignment, have them answer a brief comprehension quiz or survey using Google Forms. Then share a pre-recorded lecture filmed through a video app like Panopto with the class, offering detail and explication on the reading and any other questions you anticipate students to have. Then have the students respond to the reading assignment, your lecture, and each other using Google Forum. Use their responses as grades.

2. Example Math Remote Learning

Begin the day with a review of previous content using an online quiz platform like Google Forms and Kahoot. Use the results as daily or quiz grades. Then include the class in a 15-20 minute Zoom lecture to cover a new lesson plan or to describe a new assignment. Use Google Forms or Docs to share an assignment to the students and have them complete it. Evaluate and provide feedback using Google.

3. Example History Remote Learning

For an assigned reading, share a message on Google Classroom detailing key points, vocabulary, dates, and other significant information to focus on. After the students complete the reading have them take a timed quiz on Google Forms or TypeForm for comprehension. Then have the students meet virtually either through Zoom or through a collaborative Google Doc to engage in a debate with assigned roles in a group discussion. Or you could have students work on a collaborative short response or essay, too. Evaluate the writing, and then share feedback through Google Classroom.

4. Example Science Remote Learning

Have students meet and do collaborative reading or a lab assignment in a student-discussion program like Perusall. Have them record their observations or answer questions through Perusall or Google Forms. You can make the assignment collaborative or independent, either will work. If you choose to have students engage with the reading or lab independently, you could have them also collaborate and discuss their findings on a discussion board and collect their responses as a daily grade. Grade their main assignment and share feedback. By the way, check out our free teaching strategy discovery tool.

5. Example Social Emotional Learning via Remote Learning

Remote learning makes it difficult for students to develop social and emotional skills because of its distant nature, so it is important teachers continue to address this category of learning. A simple way to maintain this is through a daily survey through Google Forms that asks students to reflect on their social and emotional well-being. You could also have students fill out SEL-style questions such as:

• Who will I connect with today?
• What positive activity will I engage with today?
• How will I avoid engaging with bad habits today?

 

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What is a Typical Structure for Remote Learning? 

The structure of distance learning varies among schools and districts, but it typically revolves around a strong online homebase, a learning management system like Google Classroom where teachers can disseminate information, news, assignments, feedback, and more. Therefore, it is imperative that schools and teachers choose a simple, reliable digital homebase.

On a daily basis, students login to whatever learning management system the school or individual teacher has chosen. From here, they can view the syllabus, their grades, contact the teacher, classmates, or other course and support materials. Typically, teachers post weekly or daily assignments on the learning management system which students are to complete. To avoid getting caught up in remote learning challenges, disseminate a remote learning how-to guide to students and parents detailing the ins and outs of technology, learning apps, and software. 

Most districts and teachers will require a certain amount of time that students are required to be online. These times differ from state to state. (More on this below.) Many schools utilize zoom lectures or Skype meetings to maintain a personal connection and to conduct (semi-)face-to-face instruction in addition to general coursework. It’s a flexible and somewhat loosely-structured approach to education, but it all centers around a strong, simple homebase.

After students complete the daily or weekly assignments posted online, teachers evaluate and assess the work, and then share the feedback with students on an individual basis using the online classroom. Most general online education systems compile student data like a typical gradebook, and they also usually allow teachers to privately conference with students.

Though the basic structure of remote learning is fairly straightforward—log on, complete work, evaluate—its flexibility leaves room for innovation and adjustments. For instance, many teachers also carve out time to meet with students via video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Skype to render online education more hybrid and personal. There are so many different models and types of distance learning, so flexibility and innovation are fairly easy to come by. 

If you’re looking for sample distance learning schedules, check out our post on this topic here.

 

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How to Implement Remote Learning at your School or District? 

The first step to moving toward total remote learning is typically initiated by the district and school administration. Both teams work together to ensure that each student within the district has access to a computer and a laptop. Most districts will distribute personal laptops to each and every student, while others may go about it a different way. But the first step toward remote learning is ensuring that students have access to online curriculum via correct and usable hardware. 

Once all students are equipped with the proper hardware, the next step is to choose an online learning management system, or in simpler language, a virtual classroom platform. Google Classroom and Flipgrid are some of the more reliable resources for this, and students typically find their interfaces intuitive and simple. Google’s entire G Suite platform, its collection of work-based software programs, is also a remote learning go-to. Check out our own page featuring 131 Distance Learning Tools for more ideas and resources involving the ins and outs of remote education.

Once the hardware and software components are taken care of, the next step to implementing remote learning is meeting the students’ curricula needs. Most likely, the district and admin team will be assisting teachers in determining what to teach like any other school year, but the recent push toward remote learning has made navigating curriculum even more difficult for teachers. If you find yourself totally lost, we offer tons of helpful practice questions covering ranging from math to history, so we are an excellent resource to start with when designing online syllabi. 

Most schools and districts will require that students remain online working on coursework for a certain allotted amount of time, so deciding this should also be addressed in addition to curriculum. The amount of time varies from state to state, making it difficult to arrive at a general consensus surrounding how long a remote education workday should be. 

Illinois’ online plan, a much-discussed and lauded example, argues for no more than 90 minutes of work per day for younger students, and no more than 4.5 hours of work per day for high school students, which roughly equates to 45 minutes per subject. While this plan isn’t set in stone, it can be used as a basic guideline for determining how long students should be required to spend online. 

Finally, in order to implement remote learning at your school, you must develop a method and system of assessment and evaluation. Most online learning management systems contain features that allow teachers to collect and compile student data and disseminate feedback through individual lines of communication. Google Classroom, for instance, offers a turn-in feature that sends student work straight to the teacher and then the teacher’s feedback to the student. Once you’ve developed a method of assessment and evaluation, you should be able to compose a more complete, finalized mode of remote learning and begin implementing it in your school. Providing concrete examples of remote learning will work best for implementation.

 

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Remote Learning vs. Online Learning: What’s the Difference?

Remote learning and online learning are often confused, and for good reason. The two modes of education indeed possess many similarities. But there are a few substantial differences that make the two models of learning quite unique from each other. 

Online learning, as opposed to remote, has always been rooted online, meaning the course was intended from the beginning to be administered online. It has an instructor who knows the ins and outs of online learning, a syllabus that was created with online learning in mind, and courses that use video lectures or self-paced assignments as the central modes of instruction. 

Online learning occurs most at the adult level where adult learners are working to earn a certification, develop a new skill, or work toward a degree. In this way, it typically tends to be more flexible than remote learning, allowing for online learners to tune into lectures and online courses at their own time within certain deadlines.

 

Remote learning, on the other hand, attempts to recreate the classroom environment as the student engages with their education through the computer and the Internet. Typically, the student follows a schedule similar to a typical in-person school day by logging into a virtual classroom to complete assignments, listen to lectures, or participate in group activities. Essentially, remote learning is an embodiment of the in-person classroom moved to the realm of the virtual. 

Both online and remote learning are often confused because they are very, very similar. But remember that online learning often denotes a mode of education that is rooted firmly within the computer and the Internet. Conversely, remote learning is what happens when in-person education must be moved online because of scheduling issues, sickness, or in our, most current case, disaster.

 

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Wrapping Things Up: What is Remote Learning? What You Need to Know

Let’s face it: we live in an age of unpredictability. That’s why we must be ready to meet changes and adversity with flexibility, determination, and a willingness to adapt. The 2020-2021 school year is going to be one we’ve never experienced before, and it will likely include at least moments of remote learning. 

It is imperative that we as educators understand remote learning through and through and are able to adapt to the world of virtual education. 

While remote learning can be socially stultifying, technologically frustrating, and distracting, it also opens doors for more people to get involved in education by making it more accessible and flexible, and it can work wonders for students who are more visual learners. It’s not all bad! After all, many teachers found successes while working from remote classrooms this year. And with the advent of COVID-19, many schools turned toward some form of remote learning to carry out the school year, and it will likely remain in-place for the time being. 

Moving from in-person education to online or remote learning can be tricky, and that’s why we’re here to help. We offer hundreds of online courses, tutoring, assessment tools, and more. 

Visit our subject course library, explore our online learning features, and read our case studies to see what we offer. You can use the button below to start trying Albert for free at your school.

How do you plan to engage with remote learning during COVID-19?

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