Why Video Games are Better Than Distance Learning in This Moment
How Covid changed education overnight and how video games fill the gap
While no one ever expected that nearly the entire K-12th grade school system in the United States would switch over to distance learning, they certainly never could have imagined that it would happen practically over night.
The new school day
While programs like Google Classroom, Zoom and Blackboard are great, and offer a solution to traditional classrooms being closed indefinitely, these programs were never meant to keep K-12th grade students engaged and focused during a country-wide lock down. They were not designed to provide a full day’s worth of school on an ongoing basis nor was adequate training provided to teachers, parents or students to help children learn and excel under this educational model.
The modified daily schedule in my house looks like this: my 1st and 3rd grader have 1 hour of instruction time per day, 4 times a week. So while the distance learning classrooms may be able to provide a place for brief instruction, it does not provide nearly enough time to expect comprehension and retention from the younger students.
