Back to School or Not? Options Abound

By Charles Castelly, SLED Analyst

With the expected return of students back to school in the fall, most counties are trying to figure out the best way to facilitate a safe and orderly process.

School systems are facing many challenges right now — the first being how to keep social distancing. Secondly, they will need to manage remote learning environments — and find a way to pay for new technologies that are required to support them.

Lots of decisions still need to be made and school systems are using all available resources to resolve outstanding issues — and they are reaching out to parents for their input. 

For example, Fairfax County, Virginia has given parents two options. A virtual learning option would involve students logging into a virtual classroom for interactive instruction four days a week. The second option would require students returning to school three days a week and spending two days a week at home learning virtually.

Whatever the decision, virtual or hybrid classroom, there will need to be technology enhancements to successfully adapt to the new reality. Other school systems will likely face similar challenges.

Cybersecurity will be a crucial piece. With students and teachers accessing information from multiple devices, endpoint protection is vital. Students will need to be able to access the school’s network virtually or in the classroom without putting their data at risk.

Cloud applications are another crucial piece of the puzzle. With many school systems transitioning to the cloud over the past couple of years, classroom management and learning applications have become great tools for students and teachers alike. With the potential of a fully virtual or a hybrid experience, being able to access resources from wherever students are located will be vital to success.

As school systems work through what the best course of action will be for the fall, the safety of students and teachers will continue to be the top priority. Vendors will need to partner with school systems to understand their specific needs to find best the solutions for them. There will need to be a true collaborative effort between all parties to make the remote learning experience successful.

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