What do teachers like about online instruction?

The large majority of media reports treat remote learning during the pandemic as something new. In one sense, emergency remote learning as it is being implemented by mainstream school districts is new. All previous online learning—full schools or individual courses—was selected by students and teachers who chose to teach and learn online. The situation in spring 2020, with all teachers and students online (or not engaging at all), was unprecedented. In the current fall semester, a mix of online, onsite, and hybrid instruction exists. But many students and teachers are still selecting from limited choices.
 
On the other hand, many of these articles never mention that hundreds of thousands of K-12 students were enrolled in online public schools pre-COVID, and millions of students were taking online courses from supplemental course providers. I personally have had multiple conversations with reporters, parents, and educators who had no idea, for example, that online schools serve elementary students, including at the youngest grade levels. One particularly important aspect of this missing link is that when these reports discuss how difficult remote learning is for teachers—and it is—they fail to mention that thousands of teachers have been teaching online, and often with high rates of job satisfaction.
 
What do these teachers like about teaching online? A recent survey from post-secondary education suggests some answers. Many of the reasons discussed align very closely with the ideas we hear from K-12 teachers.
 
Why Continue to Teach Online? Interview Results from Experienced Online Instructors is based on a recent study from Oregon State University with post-secondary faculty who have taught online for 10 years or more. These are clearly among the most experienced online professors, and their views demonstrate some of the positive aspects of teaching at a distance. This is of course a self-selecting group, as a professor who did not like teaching online would not have done so for ten years. Therefore, the study shouldn’t be read as showing that professors like to teach online, but instead as showing reasons that successful online professors enjoy their craft.
 
One of the ongoing themes in the responses is that “many of the [reasons for satisfaction] were not specific to online education.” Instead, the professors “showed passion for teaching and pedagogy” regardless of the modality. They “appreciated how teaching facilitated new ideas and viewpoints within their content areas,” and “enjoyed seeing their students learn, grow, and succeed.”
 
These ideas are all similar to what we have heard from K-12 teachers in online and hybrid schools. In addition, related to the point of teachers enjoying watching their students succeed, many teachers talk of their specific satisfaction with watching students thrive in a new learning environment after under-performing in a traditional setting.
 
A second set of benefits were specific to online teaching. Many professors “appreciated the flexibility teaching online allowed, in both their personal and professional schedules,” while others “preferred the teaching methods and pedagogy they could utilize online.” Both of these points are particularly striking during remote learning, because teachers from traditional districts are often not receiving these benefits. States, districts, and schools that require extensive live video streaming are asking teachers to put in the extra work to teach online, while taking away a key benefit of scheduling flexibility. In addition, a teacher who is required to live stream video for many hours a day is unlikely to have the time or energy to take advantage of online teaching tools, such as discussion boards.
 
The final points in the study findings are especially compelling. Professors “believed that teaching online made an impact on their students and society more broadly,” largely by “providing individuals access to education and resources that they would not otherwise have.” Again, this finding has parallels in K-12 education, in that many online schools and teachers recognize that their students are doing far better in a new learning modality than they were in a traditional setting.
 
Online learning isn’t for everyone, as we have been saying for decades. Remote learning isn’t ideal, even when it may be the only option. But in the midst of all the legitimate concerns about remote learning (equity, access, learning loss, etc), it’s critical to realize that online learning is an excellent option—maybe the best option—for many students and teachers.