There’s no going back to pre-pandemic education. Although the 2020-2021 school year brought a lot of rushed and temporary solutions for students, it laid the groundwork for more planned and permanent changes to the education landscape moving forward.
Whether students and teachers return to school in person or continue with remote learning, education looks different now. Perhaps the most visible and pervasive difference is that education technology (EdTech) has taken a front seat for students, teachers, and administrators.
Tech is no longer a supplement to learning but is woven into the student experience creating a new normal for teaching methods, collaboration tools, and communication channels. This gives district leaders and network admins new considerations as they prepare for the upcoming school years.
So, how has the pandemic changed learning and affected students? Here are just six ways:
Online communication channels are enhancing collaboration between teachers and faculty in the same district and even across districts.
The need to adapt quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic introduced a new category of virtual communities, set up through Facebook groups and other online forums, where teachers can connect with other teachers to get support, share ideas, and help each other navigate EdTech. Some share teaching methods and digital tips or upload videos of their recorded virtual lessons, to inspire and grow with their fellow teachers.
The reliance on digital tools across roles now allows increased collaboration between teachers and network admins, reduced silos between teachers and district administrators, and the ability for educators in different regions to learn from each other. These evolving instructional practices are helping educators and school leaders better support student learning across multiple campuses.
Technology is also deepening the connection between teachers and parents. Moving parent-teacher conferences to virtual meetings has led to higher overall parent participation. Parents don’t have to account for transportation, commute time, or child care when they can conveniently log onto Zoom to meet with their child’s teacher from home.
The ability to hold parent-teacher conferences online and cut out travel time also puts some time back in teachers’ schedules for creating lesson plans and other work. While face-to-face time in the classroom benefits the relationship between teachers and their students, virtual parent-teacher conferences are likely to stick around as part of the new educational landscape.
The height of distance learning pushed parents into day-to-day school life, as they helped their children log into online learning platforms from home, troubleshoot educational software, and stay on task during remote learning lessons. Many parents acted as teacher’s assistants, filling in the gaps for teachers managing their classrooms from afar.
Now that EdTech is part of every student’s experience moving forward, parents are likely to be more involved in the details of their children’s learning. This means schools will need to continue to provide resources and support to families, to help parents navigate the tech tools their children are using daily.
While many schools are pursuing a return to in-person learning, plenty of districts are preparing for some students to remain partially or entirely remote. With a national survey from Politico reporting that 29% of parents sat that they want to keep their kids in remote learning or a hybrid model, schools are developing virtual options that must work alongside in-person models to provide personalized learning.
This means EdTech is now a basic necessity, to enable schools to support teachers and students in sharing materials, communicating lessons, completing educational content, and connecting through digital tools and online platforms.
It also means that schools must place a heightened focus on cybersecurity, to ensure that students can get full access to quality education remotely without sacrificing security or privacy. District network administrators and IT teams will need to put policies in place for handling data and protecting privacy not only on school property, but across school-owned devices, educational software tools, and even student-owned devices that may be used for school.
Students with less reliable internet access, digital devices, and basic resources (like food or transportation) were already at a disadvantage in the pre-pandemic education landscape, but now they are at risk of being left behind entirely.
While technology opens more education possibilities for those who can access it, up to 12 million students have unreliable or nonexistent internet connections, even today.
The digital divide disproportionately impacts Black, brown, and low-income families, meaning that remote education is most likely to lead to significant learning loss for students who were already under-served in school before the pandemic.
Addressing the digital divide in high-poverty school districts must become a top priority, to provide all students with access to a quality education. Access to the internet and a connected device are now basic staples, necessary to participate in K-12 education today. Schools and policymakers need to find ways to provide students with the resources they need to get the educational opportunities they deserve.
With EdTech now firmly woven into the fabric of education, schools must provide continual professional development opportunities for teachers to support student learning. Technology changes rapidly and teachers will need help from network admins and district leaders to stay ahead of the curve as new tech tools arise or replace old ones.
In addition to planning lessons, managing the classroom, and giving students adequate attention, teachers are now expected to stay up-to-date on using digital tools like YouTube, Zoom, Google Classroom, content filtering software, file-sharing solutions, and more.
To enable teachers to do their jobs, district leaders need to set up ongoing training sessions, work with their EdTech vendors to provide learning materials, and give teachers dedicated time in their schedules for tech-related professional development.
In the wake of widespread educational disruptions, schools are facing a growing mental health crisis among students. Prolonged closures resulted in inconsistent routines and limited peer interaction, which has left many students dealing with emotional dysregulation.
That’s pushed mental health support to the forefront in schools. What used to be seen as the counselor’s job is now part of everyday classroom life. Teachers are embedding social-emotional learning into routines, using daily check-ins, short mindfulness breaks, or structured reflection to help students stay grounded.
These moments aren’t just about well-being—they’re helping encourage student engagement with their peers, rebuild trust in the learning environment, and improve their ability to focus in class.
Districts are also investing in digital tools to support this shift. Some use management systems to track concerns and identify patterns early, while others rely on online platforms that give students space to reach out discreetly or access resources. In schools that serve low income families or students struggling with trauma, these tools often become lifelines.
What’s clear is that this isn’t a temporary response to COVID-19 pandemic learning losses. As school leaders and district administrators rethink what student support really means, social-emotional learning to promote well-being is becoming a core part of the school model. And for many, that shift was long overdue.
One of the most lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is the recognition that a one-size-fits-all approach to teaching leaves too many students behind. As classrooms reopened, it became clear that students weren’t returning at the same pace or with the same needs. While some had thrived in independent online learning environments, others struggled to retain foundational skills in reading or math. Many schools responded by exploring more flexible models that allow teachers to tailor instruction to the individual student.
Personalized learning has gained traction as a way to close achievement gaps and address pandemic learning losses. Rather than moving the whole class through a single lesson plan, educators are providing small group instruction based on skill level, using formative assessments to guide planning, and adjusting content delivery to match how each student learns best.
These practices are especially critical for students with diverse learning needs, whether that means language support, disability accommodations, or trauma-informed strategies that make room for emotional processing alongside academic goals.
Technology is helping make post-pandemic academic achievement possible. From adaptive educational software to teacher dashboards that visualize student outcomes, schools now have more tools to support differentiation at scale. But tech alone doesn’t create equity—professional development, thoughtful planning, and dedicated instructional time are what turn data into meaningful change.
As districts continue to evaluate what works, one thing is clear: the push toward personalization isn’t a trend that will last only as long as the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a long-overdue shift toward honoring the complexity of real classrooms and meeting students where they are.
There’s no denying that technology has changed education in many ways. Because schools have had to quickly adjust to remote learning, kids have had to adapt education technology just as quickly as teachers.
Now, as modern-day students use technology to learn, communicate, and express themselves, online monitoring systems have become increasingly important.
Many of the warning signs that staff look out for to ensure student safety are difficult to pinpoint with a lack of in-person interaction. Online student monitoring solutions help bridge the gap in student safety by analyzing online behavior and flagging suspicious activity.