How Remote Education Is Evolving During the Crisis危機期間的遠程教育

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 “learning 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. ? ? ? ? ? ■

過去10年，在線教育取得長足發展，對于想在全職工作的同時獲得學位或證書的成人學習者而言尤其如此。據美國國家教育統計中心（NCES）報告，2017年秋季，有660萬名學生注冊學習高等院校遠程教育課程。

過去幾年，中學也開始探尋方法來增加遠程學習課程，包括與當地社區學院合作開設雙學分課程。盡管這些課程中的大多數都只在中學校內開設，但NCES最近研究發現，在線課程有所增加。

快進到今天，在線教育突然不再是非強制選項。事實上，各級各類學校都必須立即轉向某種遠程教育形式。過去，雖然有些學校已開始進行數字轉型，但大多數學校還沒有準備好。然而，在面臨快速改變的任務時，在線教育就成了強制性現實。

我們面臨的新現實可能有助于推動遠程教育更進一步。由于形勢緊迫，技術已加速發展，向教育工作者、學生和家長展示遠程教育不久后可能呈現的面貌。

學習管理系統

學習管理系統具備遠程學習所需的全部工具，為遠程學習創造了完美的數字學習環境。這些平臺除了有后臺區域以供教師和管理人員發布作業、添加和更改成績，以及通過虛擬教室與學生互動，還包含學生和家長使用的前端區域。

許多學區已在使用這種平臺，讓家長和學生得以查看作業和成績。而過去幾個月，學習管理系統已成為擴建遠程教育綜合框架的重要基礎;該框架融合了其他學習工具。

例如，動力學校統一教室為教師提供了一種方法，可以創建連接至學生和家長界面的自定義虛擬教室。對于紀律執行、出勤跟蹤和標準化測試得分等事項，可以選擇另建記錄任務。這些學習管理系統簡化了學校和學生雙方的溝通和工作。

界面顯示教師當前的課程、即將發布的作業、消息、成績和其他內容。學生版還有其他功能，例如提交作業的工具、討論板、在線測驗和測試應用程序。每個虛擬教室都可輔以視頻、演示文稿、視覺資料和其他教育資源鏈接。移動應用程序讓這些學習管理系統更易于訪問。

沉浸式學習體驗

早在當前危機到來之前，如何讓學習變得有趣就考驗著教師。另一緊迫的問題是，如何向學生展示某些用其他方式無法說明的問題。

于是虛擬現實（VR）登場，這是一種可為用戶提供沉浸式體驗的技術。VR讓學生一遍又一遍地體驗概念、過程和技巧，直至其掌握該課程。一個完善的VR教育系統可以顧及各個學習階段，同時也可以幫助學生從學習體驗中獲益更多。

讓教育工作者和學生都能使用VR并非易事。聯想和虛擬創新實驗室進行合作，力求這種新型學習方式可面向更多人。現在，虛擬創新實驗室集合了550個交互式科學、技術、工程和數學模塊，其中許多都可通過聯想新推出的遠程學習解決方案在其電腦上使用，或者通過聯想新推出的VR課堂2.0解決方案在其VR設備上使用。

四年級及以上可以使用基于各種標準的模塊。這些模塊涵蓋科學、數學、美國學業能力傾向測驗（SAT）和美國大學入學考試（ACT）備考以及健康科學和農學職業技術教育（CTE）橋梁課程等領域。

這種沉浸式教育內容為教師提供了一種使用虛擬體驗和虛擬現實模塊解釋復雜概念的方法。該技術還可幫助教師和學校領導跟蹤進展，并為所有學生創造個性化的學習機會。

在線測驗

遠程教育發展的另一障礙是始終找不到可以避免考試作弊的方法。在本學年，很多考試機構被迫取消了SAT和ACT考試，并不得不調整大學預修課程學分計劃。

早期的解決方案已表明，測驗可以移到網上。有些學院和大學已經使用了“監考者”這一在線監考工具，以監督參加在線測驗的學生。這一“學習誠信平臺”可作為谷歌瀏覽器的擴展程序來運行，兼具人臉檢測技術、成套自動化工具以及眾多安全功能，用以保護學生和教育數據。

此外，“監考者”還加入了剽竊檢測功能，以確保所有以內容為主的考試——例如那些需要簡要作答或寫篇文章的考試——只包含學生的原創成果。許多篩查工具也有助于防止學生嘗試采用其他方法作弊。

不過，遠程學習仍然存在一些問題。應用程序和工具將需要繼續發展，以用于體育課和實驗室、運動隊和體育競技、樂隊和合唱團以及其他教育項目。還有一些領域需要考慮，那些領域與書本和測試沒有多大關系，但同樣重要，例如社交學習，包括操場互動、交友和人際關系。 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? □

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者;單位：鄭州大學外國語與國際關系學院）