By Kim Henneberry Glover and Dale Hardy, adult education teachers, Maple Ridge

There is a prevailing myth that people today are tech savvy. However, being able to scroll Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter does not always translate to successful learning online. Adult education teachers are all too familiar with this: we have been using online learning to reach students long before the start of COVID-19. Some of our students can only access public education through online formats because of their work or family commitments; but, as we have always known, online learning is not for everyone.

This school year, because of COVID-19, our small school lost eight face-to-face classes and gained fifteen online classes. This proved to be a very difficult time for teachers in our school. Many have had their teaching time reduced, and, for others, the only way to maintain a full-time position was to move into online teaching. First-time online teachers are scrambling to navigate virtual instruction. It is not as simple as putting your course materials online.

We are also struggling to keep track of all students enrolled in online classes. Unfortunately, there is no class-size limit in digital learning adult education classes, so there are some teachers with a class load of 500-plus students. There are only so many hours in a day and finding a way to connect with each student to build a relationship and monitor progress has proven to be extremely difficult. Establishing rapport, which is so vital for students who have been out of school for some time, is often lost.

As difficult as this has been for teachers, their biggest concern is the impact on students. For students, the self-discipline required to go online and do assignments can be daunting. Students also miss the rich connections with their teachers and classmates and often find online learning isolating and discouraging. Online instructions can be difficult to decipher, and often students need personal support. 

One of our students, who is representative of many, graduated in 2010 with Communications 12 as his Language Arts 12 requirement. This was not his choice, but at the age of 16 he deferred to an adult who felt English 12 would be too difficult for him. Seven years later, as an adult working full-time, he found himself in need of English 12 to enter a post-secondary program that will help him move out of a dead-end job. He registered for English 12 online feeling it offered more flexibility. Round one: he was not successful in completing more than 15% of the course. A year later he tried again. Sadly, round two was no better, and his frustration mounted as he missed another post-secondary enrollment deadline. Discouraged, he reached out to our counsellors who strongly suggested he try the face-to-face class. The additional support from teacher interaction was the missing piece. He is now in his second year of post-secondary studies. For adult education counsellors, this is an all too frequent scenario.  

Besides grappling with the written online instructions, some students face a more difficult challenge: they lack the devices required to complete online learning courses. We have students who are only able to access and complete course work using their phones. Can you imagine writing a 500-word analytical essay or solving quadratic equations on your phone? We simply don’t have the resources needed to provide devices for our students. 

We hope for a return to normalcy in a post-COVID-19 world, but we are definitely worried. Our primary concern is that districts will be satisfied in maintaining the online-only model for adult education. Our lived experience over 20 years shows us that adult education teachers leaving or retiring are not being replaced, and their classes are moved online; districts appears to prefer this model. In-class adult students are funded significantly less than both under-19 students and online adult students. Hence, when budgets are tight, adult education face-to-face classes are an easy line item to cut. However, learning online can be the obstacle that keeps adults from improving their lives, which, in consequence, adversely affects them, their families, and our communities.