It’s too early to say what long-term impact remote learning might have on children in the age of the coronavirus. But experts say whether a child learns at home or at school, parents should be working with them to determine how to best meet their needs.

“When you talk about long-term effects (of remote learning), we don’t know. That’s what worries people,” said Dr. Abigail Schlesinger, chief of child and adolescent psychiatry for UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital and UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. “In the current situation, the way you can prevent negative long-term outcomes is by thinking carefully about your own child and your own environment and their needs, and doing your best to meet their needs.”

While pediatricians and education experts have said children learn best when physically in a classroom, Schlesinger said it’s important to remember home­schooling and remote learning have been around for years and some families prefer those methods. The coronavirus presents a unique situation, however, in that it may be the first time parents and children have ever considered those learning options or been forced into those options.

Leslie Savage of Irwin acknowledged there are students who do well with remote learning. But she worries that her son Luke, a senior at Norwin High School, may face learning roadblocks as a result of the district’s hybrid learning program. Luke goes to school two days a week and learns remotely the other three days.

“There are some kids that actually can learn online, and that’s their choice,” Leslie Savage said. “We didn’t opt for that. Never have we opted for a cyber education in any way shape or form, because that’s not how my son learns.”

Savage said her son is taking calculus and trigonometry. He needs to be able to see problem demonstrations and work with teachers directly when he has questions.

“I don’t know how he’s going to learn that in 42 minutes time, two (days) a week with face-to-face contact,” Savage said. “He’s got anxiety. He is worried. He is relieved, though, that this is his last year.”

Social, emotional skills questions

In addition to academics, being in school helps children develop social and emotional skills, gives them access to healthy meals and exercise, and provides them with mental health support and other services that can’t easily be replicated online, pediatricians and education experts said.

Dr. Joseph Aracri, chair of the Department of Pediatrics for Allegheny Health Network, said face-to-face, in-classroom learning is especially beneficial for children ages 3 to 5 who are learning to develop relationships with other children and listen to adults who aren’t their parents.

“Having them being separated from other kids and from other adults could seem to stunt their development, as far as that goes,” Aracri said. “As far as the long-term effects, this is our first pandemic. We won’t be able to know those long-term effects until we actually see it play out.”

Schlesinger said updates in technology allow children to interact with others in remote settings and develop skills without being in schools. Schlesinger said many schools engaging in cyber learning are talking about ways to have students interact with one another while on video.

“I think the impact is much more related to the general stressors and how we as a family and society respond to them than it is to whether or not a child is being schooled at home, over the internet, or in a school setting,” Schlesinger said.

A student’s perspective

Freeport Area High School senior Jack Mason doesn’t like learning at home. He said it can be hard to focus because his home life is interacting with his school life. He would rather be back in school where he can ask teachers questions and receive answers in person. Freeport Area School District will start the school year with full remote learning before moving to a hybrid model.

“When you’re at home all the time, it’s hard to find the motivation to want to get all your work done,” Mason said. “You’re at home, and you’re sitting in a room. You’re by yourself. Sometimes you get interrupted. Maybe your dog is barking its head off or your parents need you to come do a job for them, but you’re trying to learn.”

When all schools were forced to go remote in March, there was a concern about students being isolated. Hempfield Area School District Superintendent Tammy Wolicki said Hempfield parents asked the district for more engagement in the upcoming school year.

In response, the district started its own elementary cyber academy, and added a synchronous option to its already existing secondary cyber academy.

On days students aren’t in school, they’re expected to participate in a Google Meet with their teachers and classmates. Students are asked to show up to Google Meets in person, and not just have a still image on the screen, to enhance engagement and make it feel more like a virtual community.

“I do think whenever you look at the virtual there are ways that teachers can be very successful,” Wolicki said.

Leechburg Area School District had originally planned to start the school year with full time in-person instruction, but reversed its decision after new guidance was released by state officials. District officials decided to do full remote learning for the first 20 days of school, then revisit the plan at the next school board meeting.

Superintendent Tiffany Nix said concerns about how students will fair with full on remote learning is one reason they decided on 20 days.

“There’s no substitution for teacher-student and student-student interaction,” Nix said. “It’s relationship building. It’s teaching students how to interact with other students and how to interact with adults. Virtually they’re still going to do that, but it’s not replacing that in-person interaction.”

Deer Lakes School District is doing a mix of hybrid and online only learning. District psychologist Dr. Rachel Mariano said district officials are learning by trial and error. They have been reaching out to students to make sure they’re receiving school and family support.

“I think we’re all just trying to make the best of it and put the best supports in place that we can,” Mariano said.

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