ISJ Fall 2020: COVID-19 and the Future for International Schools: Speculations over a Socially Distanced Coffee… / Norm Dean

I grab a coffee and sit at a table two meters from the nearest person, and in my isolated corner of the café begin thinking back over the summer that somehow seems to have passed me by. My train of thought is interrupted by the barista who knows that I work in schools. He asks a question to be polite, so I assume. “How is the new school year looking sir?” On numerous occasions over recent months, I have been asked to speculate on the future of schooling in these extraordinary times, and specifically how schools (and parents) may more effectively harness technology in supporting student learning. I am certain almost everyone reading this journal will have been asked the same question, or at least some variance thereof, as they tried to enjoy a summer like no other in living memory.