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Michelle Kelly

Professor Babcock

ENGL 137H

16 October 2023

From One-Room Schoolhouses to Zoom Classrooms: The Paradigm Shift in Education

What would the world be like if students still learned in traditional one-room

schoolhouses? Envision one of these late nineteenth century buildings: white, Christian children

of varied ages came together to learn various subjects from a singular teacher, in a room set up

traditionally with desks in rows and a chalkboard at the front. Now apply that vision to students

today. It is evident that technology and innovation has caused a massive shift in the way children

are educated in the United States, as currently learning environments differ from those built

centuries ago. Schoolhouses arose as a need for development in the nineteenth century,

particularly in educating youth in rural communities. In total, the US contained over 200,000 of

them, mainly concentrated in the Midwest (Mydland). This massive influx of structures is

recognized as the first major shift to making education a public commodity in the United States

beyond a child’s home. Throughout history beyond this point, innovation in education continued

to be significantly impacted by societal needs for change, mainly emphasized during the

pandemic.

As society recognized the ineffectiveness of such generalized education programs in the

nineteenth century, experimental schools were established to focus more closely on students and

their development. John Dewey founded the University of Chicago Laboratory School in 1896,

then continued as director, steadfast in promoting his philosophical views that education is

continuous, and helps progress social efficiency (Lauwerys). This and other experimental schools
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were associated with the Progressive movement, an era of political and social reform which

focused on strengthening American democracy. Simultaneously, schools became more

student-centered, moving away from the traditional one-room schoolhouses of varied students

towards classrooms which focused on “activity, creative self-expression, excursions,

understanding the individual, and the development of personality” (“Education in the 20th

Century”). Once again, these forms of education were developed in response to a societal need,

demanding that schools focus more on ensuring students are interested in accumulating

knowledge from their life experiences, and continuing that interest in learning throughout life.

This belief that education extends beyond the classroom was widely influential in shaping the

next generation of adults, which ultimately became the major goal of progressing education in

the United States.

Throughout the remainder of the twentieth century, schools continued to adapt to growing

populations, especially in urban areas. However, educational reformers maintained their focus on

keeping the student at the center of all learning. This era shifted towards a focus on quality

teaching to maximize student potential, driven by novel research into educational psychology.

This study of “the cognitive development of students and the various factors involved in

learning” helped reformers understand the best ways to promote learning and ensure students

were prepared for further education and the workforce (“Educational psychology”).

Additionally, the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, advancing racial integration in

public schools, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, increasing equal access to

education independent of class and race, and Title IX of the Education Amendments, diminishing

gender inequality in education, all structured significant shifts in the education system to

continue meeting society’s needs (Allen). These changes through the middle and late twentieth
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century allowed students to remain the major focus of schools, and gave these institutions more

opportunities to better promote learning.

By the twenty-first century, technological innovation became the major factor in

educational reform. Greater access to computers and the Internet allowed for faster and easier

communication, especially of shared resources. Instead of typewriters, students began learning

how to use keyboards. Instead of hand-written letters, students began learning how to send

emails. Instead of visiting the library, students began utilizing Google to access practically

infinite sources of information. Despite these new tools, traditional schooling still contained

major issues including a lack of flexibility, individualization, and access to resources for many

students. Curricula were designed for the masses, and often didn’t account for problems like the

deficit in Wi-Fi or technology in students’ own homes; In 2010, the U.S. Department of

Education found that 21% of children ages 3 to 18 had no internet access at home (“Student

access”). Instructors mainly had to follow strict plans made by non-teaching administrators, with

no accountability for managing these deficits. It was not until the pandemic that major changes

were made in the U.S. schooling system. While innovation in education had followed a rather

steady pace through the early twenty-first century, COVID-19 caused an exponential increase in

technological integration in education which brought about a massive change in schooling.

In March 2020, teachers and students alike were sent home from school, mostly for a

two-week period or a similar limited range of time. They expected to return to the classroom

shortly, once this novel illness, COVID-19, became more controlled. However, one year later,

over 168 million students globally still had not come back to in-person instruction (Alhattab).

This period, and particularly the first few months, massively transformed education, especially

due to the unprecedented need for rapid innovation. With such limited ability for social
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interaction per social distancing guidelines, administrators and teachers were forced to adapt to

this new situation, focusing on ways to engage their students from home. However, at the time,

practically no one was prepared for this change. Through the rest of the 2019-2020 school year,

instruction was either in a modified virtual format or not present at all. While some school

districts were fortunate enough to provide technological services for most, if not all students, the

quick shift to distance learning left many students without necessary resources. Teachers were

not equipped to adapt curricula from ways they had previously taught material, especially when

they were in their own homes, often managing their own children who had to learn online. As a

result, technology companies stepped in to innovate and transform education, once again

resulting from dire societal needs.

One of the most impactful technologies of the pandemic was Zoom. This video

conferencing platform, officially launched in January 2013, had already seen vast success,

reaching a value of 9.2 billion dollars in April 2019 when the company went public. At the time,

the company had an annual revenue of 331 million dollars, which nearly doubled to 623 million

dollars in 2020. By 2022, this number skyrocketed to over 4 billion dollars in that year (Volle).

As evidenced by these statistics, Zoom became incredibly prominent for virtual communication

among colleagues, friends, students, and teachers. This type of video conferencing allowed for

groups of people to gather from afar, which translated quite directly into education. Teachers

could gather their students in a “Zoom room,” even dividing them up into breakout rooms for

group work. They could share their screens, mirroring the use of a projector in a typical

classroom. But most importantly, students and teachers were able to interact with each other, at

least as much as was possible with social distancing guidelines in place.

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In addition to video conferencing, schools adopted learning management systems and

other technological applications to transfer traditional classroom functions to a virtual model.

Learning Management Systems (LMS), including Schoology, Google Classroom, and Canvas,

are used by around 94% of school districts to organize, distribute, and manage learning materials

(Langreo). While some schools had been testing these before the pandemic while still mainly

focused on in-person instruction, the sudden change led to a massive uptick in those utilizing the

technology. In some districts, they had been optional for teachers to use, but administrators made

it mandatory for teachers to structure their classrooms on these LMS in spring 2020. However,

there was a significant learning curve for teachers, especially those who had little to no

experience with technology in their classrooms previously. Educators had spent years adapting to

small changes in schools, but never something so vast and influential that caused them to change

practically everything about the way they taught. Due to such a short time frame and limited

resources for training, teachers were left to their own devices to adapt their classrooms to online

systems, and students had to figure it out at the same time. Students, who had been more familiar

with technology for the majority of their lives, were often more successful at managing these

new LMS. This allowed them to interact with their course content and peers in new ways, like

submission systems and discussion boards. In general, technology largely allowed teachers to

continue teaching during the pandemic, despite its quick rise to prevalence and novelty in the

realm of education.

While these technologies were extremely successful for students and teachers with

reliable access to the internet and computers, others suffered to find solutions in such short

timeframes. Even by April 2021, an estimated 2 million students in the U.S. did not have the

devices needed to participate in online schooling (Lieberman). To offset this, mobile versions of
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software allowed for use of smartphones, which are more readily accessible and owned, and

companies launched more offline options that gave students access to necessary resources even

when their Wi-Fi failed. Governments also attempted to broadcast their own internet signals,

encouraging or mandating other public places to share their networks as well, especially in rural

areas. While change was being made so quickly and widely, many across the country had to

adapt to the challenges that these new educational technologies had caused.

Learning from the experiences of the initial crisis, schools began to transition out of

virtual learning to hybrid models as soon as COVID-19 guidelines allowed for it. This was a

more structured approach to educational development, rather than the frantic adjustments made

in early 2020. Hybrid learning models combining in-person and online components to ease

students back into their typical school settings, while still using virtual options to remain

cautious and account for social distancing in schools. Concepts like the flipped classroom model

and blended learning allowed for teachers to return to more typical modes of instruction, while

incorporating the advantages of technology that they noticed during the majority of the

pandemic. Teachers implemented pedagogical changes and reevaluations of assessment methods

during this time, shifting the way they administered tests and graded assignments to

accommodate remote and hybrid learning for students who were still in a range of learning

modes. This time period, mainly between fall 2020 and spring 2022, demonstrated that

COVID-19 would have a long-term impact on the perception of online education. While many

had been hesitant to adopt technology in schools before the pandemic, there became an increased

acceptance and understanding of the value of online learning once its success was shown through

these time periods of online and hybrid learning.

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Nevertheless, administrators and teachers faced many challenges and concerns as they

continued this massive implementation of technology in the classroom. One of the inherent

results of increased online learning is the potential for increased screen time and its impact on

student health. Extensive research has shown that excessive screen time, especially in children,

can lead to significant problems in social-emotional development, in addition to “lower cognitive

abilities and academic performance” (Muppalla). This seems to counteract the purpose of online

education to further learning, and proves to be a severe concern. As a result, teachers began to

balance screen-based learning with physical activity and well-being, promoting a healthy

combination of time on and off screens. Additionally, educators wanted to ensure that technology

complements, rather than replaces, traditional teaching methods. In seeing the result of the

pandemic on their students, teachers noticed the importance of striking a balance between

technology and human interaction, and continue to focus on that combination in classrooms

today, even after the pandemic is largely in the past.

As time allows society to move further away from the pandemic, the impacts of

technology in education are becoming more visible. This massive shift will undoubtedly

influence future generations, incorporating technology into classrooms in even more creative

ways to enhance learning. Teachers are better equipped to engage with new technologies and

adapt to challenges as they arise. They have found ways to utilize technology as a means for

increasing flexibility and individualism for their students. This time of extreme change has

shown the importance of continuous adaptation and innovation in the education sector, and

encouraged advancements well into the future. Technology has the potential to vastly enhance

the quality and accessibility of education, as shown by the massive shifts throughout history that
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all come at imperative instances calling for reform. Education will only continue to expand to

meet the needs and expectations of society as time moves forward.

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Works Cited

Alhattab, Sara, and Georgina Diallo. “Covid-19: Schools for More than 168 Million Children

Globally Have Been Completely Closed for Almost a Full Year, Says UNICEF.”

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