Our opinion: Alternative methods of instruction are a good substitute under certain circumstances

Each year, as we shake off winter and head into spring, some folks look even further ahead to summer and beach season. They think they maybe should lose a few pounds before breaking out the bikinis or swim trunks.

And so they do.

Ten pounds later, they're happier with the way they look, but they have a bit more energy, and their blood pressure is a little better.

The improved health may have been an unintended result, but it's a good thing regardless.

In several ways, the same thing happened in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yes, the virus disrupted our society and our lives. Yes, given the chance to do it all over again, we'd take a hard pass. But, all those months presented many opportunities to examine business as usual and develop new methods and practices.

School districts, in particular, came out of the pandemic with a new way of carrying on without students attending classes on campus.

Alternative methods of instruction, they call the program of continuing coursework and study by coupling tablets and laptops with communication platforms.

In the case of public schools, the districts provide the hardware. Private schools handle that part in various ways. But however the students come to have the devices, communication with teachers through video conferencing or platform updates allows the students to retrieve their assignments and work on them outside the classroom.

Because not every student is online at their home or has easy access to the internet, administrators have developed timelines to ensure all students have time to complete their work.

This method of teaching came about when districts shut down during the pandemic, but educators use it to this day. A "snow day" isn't necessarily a day off from school now. It can be an AMI day. Thus, academic calendars remain in place, no longer subject to the whim of the weather.

At the collegiate level, many more courses are available online or in a hybrid format, with coursework split between the classroom and online. This is helpful, especially, to students who have hectic work schedules and can't easily attend classes during the day.

Alternative methods of instruction won't replace in-person learning. It's better to have a teacher in the room with students to quickly and efficiently answer questions and explain information. The perfect isn't the enemy of the good, though, and when circumstances warrant, such innovative programs are a good substitute. They allow learning to continue — during a pandemic or on a snowy winter's day.