PINE RIDGE, S.D. (KELO.com) — To protect vulnerable residents, Native American educators have moved almost exclusively to remote teaching and learning, which is creating new challenges to an already stressed education system.
Even after improving access to computers and the internet, Native educators worry that critical educational, spiritual and emotional connections created during in-person learning cannot be duplicated and that Native students will fall further behind in their learning.
Education experts say that distance learning, even under ideal conditions, cannot match the quality of in-person education delivered in a classroom, a fact that may be exacerbated on reservations where students often benefit from the cultural, spiritual and emotional connections formed with teachers when learning in person. Distance learning has also led to lower attendance and engagement by students at some schools.
(South Dakota News Watch contributed this report. Read the full story here.)
