Education changing over time; What parents learned compared to students today

     Every year a teacher’s curriculum for their students changes, whether it’s only revisions on types of assignments or bigger changes like switching methods on how to teach. Over the course of generations, the materials taught in class could be the same things students’ parents learned in their days of high school.  

    English teacher Mr. David Orth said, “while a lot of the units are restructured and the assignments changed, the actual texts themselves haven’t changed much.” The work and how it relates to today’s society varies every new year. According to Orth, curriculum mainly makes smaller changes every year but roughly every four years major changes occur like switching textbooks. 

     Harford County had to change and adapt with the present situation and made school possible. Before this year, students only used computers in the library and on occasion in the classroom. The work given was in hard copies, with classes and instruction being all in-person. 

      Now, for the safety of the students and faculty, school is 100 percent virtual until at least second semester. Each student received their own laptop to work from home, or if needed a learning center. It’s new for most, with teachers changing the way they’ve taught in the past to accommodate the new system.  

      All work is accessible online, and classes are taught via Microsoft Teams. Mr. Benjamin Scarborough, history teacher, says “the shift to virtual learning has been a challenge because it takes a considerable amount of time to build the playlists on ItsLearning that are now the core of my instruction.” 

     However, Scarborough believes it’s easier to monitor his students’ progress and understanding with his online assignments. For Orth, he says, “I can’t see anyone, so trying to give kids enough time to work, but not so much that they lose interest or leave is a challenge.”  

     Math teacher, Mrs. Wenke Green, talked about how “Changing to all online is hard for Math because you don’t get the feedback that we have in class […]. Not seeing the work or giving you feedback along the way is frustrating as it does not allow us to give you a quick idea of where you went wrong.”  

      Patricia Murdy says her transition into virtual learning is interesting. Gym teachers started doing fitness testing on Teams, where the students look at a PowerPoint to know proper form and they listen to and perform to the cadence while they record their data.   

       Adjusting to the new way of learning is something every student and teacher needs to do. The way students and teachers are used to interacting and teaching is a lot more difficult than what they’re used to. The content of what is being taught hasn’t changed drastically since the days of when the teachers were the students.