Virtual Learning, Now and Beyond

ABSTRACT

The pandemic-fueled expansion of online learning will certainly persist beyond the pandemic, and schools must ensure that the transition creates accessible, high-quality options for all students. Most recently, the surge in COVID-19 Omicron variant cases and persistent ambiguity around whether and how to close schools reinforces the fact that we have failed to build intentional on-ramps to virtual education. State and local leaders can employ evidence from past online learning efforts, emerging best practices, and data from the pandemic to understand how to build a path forward that capitalizes on the potential of online learning, while avoiding the pitfalls. Virtual learning is not going away, but it must improve, especially for students of color and those facing economic insecurity. The bottom line is that students cannot afford to repeat the emergency distance learning that took place in 2020 and 2021. This brief provides a guide for education leaders and policymakers building a path to sustainable and quality virtual learning. It includes four steps school system leaders can take in the short and longer term to harness the potential of online learning, avoid pitfalls that made it ineffective, and ensure students have equitable access to high-quality learning opportunities that meet their needs.