How Remote Education Is Evolving During the Crisis危機(jī)期間的遠(yuǎn)程教育

約翰·博伊特諾特 韓聰

Over the last decade， online education has grown significantly， especially for adult learners who want to earn a degree or certificate while working full-time. The National Center for Education Statistics （NCES） reported 6.6 million students enrolled in distance education courses at postsecondary institutions1 during the fall of 2017.

Within the last few years， high schools have also started exploring ways to add remote learning options2， including dual-enrollment3 courses in partnership with local community colleges. Although the majority of these courses were offered solely on the high school campus， recent NCES research noted growth in online options.

Fast forward to today， and suddenly online education is no longer optional4. In fact， all schools at all levels must immediately migrate to some type of remote education format. Although some schools had already begun the digital migration， the majority of institutions werent ready. But when faced with the task of making a quick change， online education became a mandated reality.

Our new reality may help push remote education even farther forward. Thanks to the urgency of the situation， technology has stepped up to show educators， students and parents what remote education might soon look like.

Learning management systems

Learning management systems create a seamless5 digital learning environment with all the tools necessary for remote learning. These platforms house front-end areas used by students and parents in addition to back-end areas where teachers and administrators can post assignments， add and change grades and interact with students through virtual classrooms.

Numerous school districts already use this type of platform， allowing parents and students to see assignments and grades. But in the last several months， the learning management systems have become a crucial foundation for building out comprehensive remote education frameworks that integrate other learning tools.

For example， PowerSchool Unified Classroom gives teachers a way to create custom virtual classrooms that connect to a student and parent dashboard6. There are options to incorporate additional recordkeeping tasks for matters such as disciplinarian7 issues， attendance tracking and standardized testing scores. These learning management systems streamline8 communication and work for both schools and students.

The dashboard view shows the teachers current classes， upcoming assignments， messages， grades and other content. The student version has additional features， such as tools to submit assignments， discussion boards and online quizzes and test apps. Each virtual classroom can be enriched with videos， presentations， visuals， and links to other educational resources. Mobile applications make these learning management systems even more accessible.

Immersive learning experiences

Making learning fun is something that challenged teachers long before the current crisis. Another pressing issue has been how to show students certain topics that may be otherwise impossible to illustrate.

Enter virtual reality （VR）， a technology that can provide immersive experiences for the user. VR lets students experience concepts， processes and skills over and over again until they master the subject. A well-built VR educational system could accommodate all development levels while also helping students get more out of the learning experience.

Making VR accessible to educators and students is no easy task. One partnership between Lenovo and Veative Labs seeks to increase accessibility to this new way of learning. Many of Veatives collection of 550 interactive STEM9 modules are now available on Lenovo computers through Lenovos new Distance Learning Solution or on Lenovos VR devices through its new VR Classroom 2.0 solution.

Grades four and up can use the? standards-based modules. They cover areas like science， math， SAT and ACT preparation and Career Technical Education （CTE） pathways10 for health sciences and agriculture.

This immersive education content offers a way for teachers to explain complex concepts through virtual tours and VR modules. The technology also helps teachers and school leaders track progress and create unique learning opportunities for all students.

Online test taking

Another obstacle to progress in remote education has been finding a way to administer tests without cheating. During this current school year， testing authorities were forced to cancel SAT and ACT exams and adapt the Advanced Placement （AP） credits program.

Early solutions already suggest that testing can move online. Already used by some colleges and universities， Proctorio is an online proctoring tool that monitors students who take online tests. This “l(fā)earning integrity platform” operates as a Chrome browser extension. It combines facial detection technology and a suite of automated tools along with numerous security features to protect student and educational data.

Additionally， Proctorio incorporates plagiarism11 detection to ensure that any content-focused exams—for example， those that require short answers or an essay—only include original student work. Numerous screening tools also help prevent other cheating methods that students might try to employ.

Still， questions about remote learning remain. Applications and tools will need to continue to evolve to address physical education classes and labs， sports teams and competitions， band and choir and other educational programs. There are also other areas to consider that have little to do with books and tests but are just as crucial—for example， social learning， including playground dynamics， friendships and human connections. ? ? ? ? ? ■

過(guò)去10年，在線教育取得長(zhǎng)足發(fā)展，對(duì)于想在全職工作的同時(shí)獲得學(xué)位或證書(shū)的成人學(xué)習(xí)者而言尤其如此。據(jù)美國(guó)國(guó)家教育統(tǒng)計(jì)中心（NCES）報(bào)告，2017年秋季，有660萬(wàn)名學(xué)生注冊(cè)學(xué)習(xí)高等院校遠(yuǎn)程教育課程。

過(guò)去幾年，中學(xué)也開(kāi)始探尋方法來(lái)增加遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)課程，包括與當(dāng)?shù)厣鐓^(qū)學(xué)院合作開(kāi)設(shè)雙學(xué)分課程。盡管這些課程中的大多數(shù)都只在中學(xué)校內(nèi)開(kāi)設(shè)，但NCES最近研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，在線課程有所增加。

快進(jìn)到今天，在線教育突然不再是非強(qiáng)制選項(xiàng)。事實(shí)上，各級(jí)各類(lèi)學(xué)校都必須立即轉(zhuǎn)向某種遠(yuǎn)程教育形式。過(guò)去，雖然有些學(xué)校已開(kāi)始進(jìn)行數(shù)字轉(zhuǎn)型，但大多數(shù)學(xué)校還沒(méi)有準(zhǔn)備好。然而，在面臨快速改變的任務(wù)時(shí)，在線教育就成了強(qiáng)制性現(xiàn)實(shí)。

我們面臨的新現(xiàn)實(shí)可能有助于推動(dòng)遠(yuǎn)程教育更進(jìn)一步。由于形勢(shì)緊迫，技術(shù)已加速發(fā)展，向教育工作者、學(xué)生和家長(zhǎng)展示遠(yuǎn)程教育不久后可能呈現(xiàn)的面貌。

學(xué)習(xí)管理系統(tǒng)

學(xué)習(xí)管理系統(tǒng)具備遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)所需的全部工具，為遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)創(chuàng)造了完美的數(shù)字學(xué)習(xí)環(huán)境。這些平臺(tái)除了有后臺(tái)區(qū)域以供教師和管理人員發(fā)布作業(yè)、添加和更改成績(jī)，以及通過(guò)虛擬教室與學(xué)生互動(dòng)，還包含學(xué)生和家長(zhǎng)使用的前端區(qū)域。

許多學(xué)區(qū)已在使用這種平臺(tái)，讓家長(zhǎng)和學(xué)生得以查看作業(yè)和成績(jī)。而過(guò)去幾個(gè)月，學(xué)習(xí)管理系統(tǒng)已成為擴(kuò)建遠(yuǎn)程教育綜合框架的重要基礎(chǔ);該框架融合了其他學(xué)習(xí)工具。

例如，動(dòng)力學(xué)校統(tǒng)一教室為教師提供了一種方法，可以創(chuàng)建連接至學(xué)生和家長(zhǎng)界面的自定義虛擬教室。對(duì)于紀(jì)律執(zhí)行、出勤跟蹤和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化測(cè)試得分等事項(xiàng)，可以選擇另建記錄任務(wù)。這些學(xué)習(xí)管理系統(tǒng)簡(jiǎn)化了學(xué)校和學(xué)生雙方的溝通和工作。

界面顯示教師當(dāng)前的課程、即將發(fā)布的作業(yè)、消息、成績(jī)和其他內(nèi)容。學(xué)生版還有其他功能，例如提交作業(yè)的工具、討論板、在線測(cè)驗(yàn)和測(cè)試應(yīng)用程序。每個(gè)虛擬教室都可輔以視頻、演示文稿、視覺(jué)資料和其他教育資源鏈接。移動(dòng)應(yīng)用程序讓這些學(xué)習(xí)管理系統(tǒng)更易于訪問(wèn)。

沉浸式學(xué)習(xí)體驗(yàn)

早在當(dāng)前危機(jī)到來(lái)之前，如何讓學(xué)習(xí)變得有趣就考驗(yàn)著教師。另一緊迫的問(wèn)題是，如何向?qū)W生展示某些用其他方式無(wú)法說(shuō)明的問(wèn)題。

于是虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)（VR）登場(chǎng)，這是一種可為用戶提供沉浸式體驗(yàn)的技術(shù)。VR讓學(xué)生一遍又一遍地體驗(yàn)概念、過(guò)程和技巧，直至其掌握該課程。一個(gè)完善的VR教育系統(tǒng)可以顧及各個(gè)學(xué)習(xí)階段，同時(shí)也可以幫助學(xué)生從學(xué)習(xí)體驗(yàn)中獲益更多。

讓教育工作者和學(xué)生都能使用VR并非易事。聯(lián)想和虛擬創(chuàng)新實(shí)驗(yàn)室進(jìn)行合作，力求這種新型學(xué)習(xí)方式可面向更多人?，F(xiàn)在，虛擬創(chuàng)新實(shí)驗(yàn)室集合了550個(gè)交互式科學(xué)、技術(shù)、工程和數(shù)學(xué)模塊，其中許多都可通過(guò)聯(lián)想新推出的遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)解決方案在其電腦上使用，或者通過(guò)聯(lián)想新推出的VR課堂2.0解決方案在其VR設(shè)備上使用。

四年級(jí)及以上可以使用基于各種標(biāo)準(zhǔn)的模塊。這些模塊涵蓋科學(xué)、數(shù)學(xué)、美國(guó)學(xué)業(yè)能力傾向測(cè)驗(yàn)（SAT）和美國(guó)大學(xué)入學(xué)考試（ACT）備考以及健康科學(xué)和農(nóng)學(xué)職業(yè)技術(shù)教育（CTE）橋梁課程等領(lǐng)域。

這種沉浸式教育內(nèi)容為教師提供了一種使用虛擬體驗(yàn)和虛擬現(xiàn)實(shí)模塊解釋復(fù)雜概念的方法。該技術(shù)還可幫助教師和學(xué)校領(lǐng)導(dǎo)跟蹤進(jìn)展，并為所有學(xué)生創(chuàng)造個(gè)性化的學(xué)習(xí)機(jī)會(huì)。

在線測(cè)驗(yàn)

遠(yuǎn)程教育發(fā)展的另一障礙是始終找不到可以避免考試作弊的方法。在本學(xué)年，很多考試機(jī)構(gòu)被迫取消了SAT和ACT考試，并不得不調(diào)整大學(xué)預(yù)修課程學(xué)分計(jì)劃。

早期的解決方案已表明，測(cè)驗(yàn)可以移到網(wǎng)上。有些學(xué)院和大學(xué)已經(jīng)使用了“監(jiān)考者”這一在線監(jiān)考工具，以監(jiān)督參加在線測(cè)驗(yàn)的學(xué)生。這一“學(xué)習(xí)誠(chéng)信平臺(tái)”可作為谷歌瀏覽器的擴(kuò)展程序來(lái)運(yùn)行，兼具人臉檢測(cè)技術(shù)、成套自動(dòng)化工具以及眾多安全功能，用以保護(hù)學(xué)生和教育數(shù)據(jù)。

此外，“監(jiān)考者”還加入了剽竊檢測(cè)功能，以確保所有以內(nèi)容為主的考試——例如那些需要簡(jiǎn)要作答或?qū)懫恼碌目荚嚒话瑢W(xué)生的原創(chuàng)成果。許多篩查工具也有助于防止學(xué)生嘗試采用其他方法作弊。

不過(guò)，遠(yuǎn)程學(xué)習(xí)仍然存在一些問(wèn)題。應(yīng)用程序和工具將需要繼續(xù)發(fā)展，以用于體育課和實(shí)驗(yàn)室、運(yùn)動(dòng)隊(duì)和體育競(jìng)技、樂(lè)隊(duì)和合唱團(tuán)以及其他教育項(xiàng)目。還有一些領(lǐng)域需要考慮，那些領(lǐng)域與書(shū)本和測(cè)試沒(méi)有多大關(guān)系，但同樣重要，例如社交學(xué)習(xí)，包括操場(chǎng)互動(dòng)、交友和人際關(guān)系。 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? □

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)?單位：鄭州大學(xué)外國(guó)語(yǔ)與國(guó)際關(guān)系學(xué)院）