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15 Digital Learning Challenges & How to Overcome Them

An eBook Crowdsourced from the Schoology Community

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The age of digital learning, along with all the interesting and innovative tools that support it has arrived. But

without a sound strategy and a laser focus on learning outcomes, all the technology in the world won’t make

digital learning work for you.

The good news—everyone’s still learning in the same boat. Those challenges you’re facing right now (or will face

in the future), are virtually identical to the ones other educators and administrators face in their own school or

district.

That’s why we created this ebook, sourcing some of the top digital learning challenges and how to overcome

them right from the front lines. This ebook is for beginner and veteran digital educators. It touches on challenges

and solutions for:

• Overcoming a lack of devices for students

• Letting students learn at their own pace

• Moving educators from digitally illiterate to digitally proficient

• And more

Digital Learning: Easier Said than Done?

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Before jumping right into the challenges and solutions, let’s set the stage by looking at some data from our

2017 Global State of Digital Learning research study. In early 2017 we surveyed nearly 3,000 K-12 educators and

administrators. One question asked to both educators and administrators was around their top challenges faced

during the 2016-17 school year.

Shown below are the challenges faced by teachers (admin challenges shown on the following page). As you’ll

see, the top two challenges teachers faced by far are their students’ access to technology and a lack of time

during the day.

Teacher Challenges in K-12

(respondents could choose multiple answers - top 5 shown below)

Teachers: What were your top challenges for digital learning in 2016-17?

39.86%

36.41%

30.28%

29.45%

28.89%

Students’ access to technology

Lack of time during normal business hours

Multiple digital tools being used for teaching/learning

Lack of digitized curriculum

Lack of parent/guardian involvement/understanding

10% 20% 30% 40%0%

n = 1,942

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Administrators, as you would guess, have much broader concerns than their faculty. Defined in our survey

as anyone who is not a classroom instructor for simplicity, the #1 challenge of admin was providing effective

professional development. The challenges of tech infrastructure, lack of collaboration, device management, and

assessing and reporting on instructional effectiveness weren’t far behind.

Admin Challenges in K-12

Administrators: What were your top challenges for digital learning in 2016-17?

Providing relevant and effective professional development

Technological infrastructure (wifi, security, etc.)

Lack of faculty/staff collaboration

Device management

Assessing and reporting on teaching strategy and effectiveness

(respondents could choose multiple answers - top 5 shown below)

n = 904

41.81%

32.41%

29.98%

28.21%

26.22%

10% 20% 30% 40%0%

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Digital Learning Challenges & SolutionsNote: In the following section, each page was contributed by a member of the Schoology community—either by a Schoology Ambassador or a member of Schoology’s staff.

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Effectively Gauging Student Understanding

The Challenge: As an elementary teacher of a

diverse group of fourth graders, I often found it hard to

know if my students understood what I was teaching.

In my classroom, I worked with English Language

Learners, special education students, children with

behavior plans, and 504 plans, and the list of needs

goes on and on. Often times, it was difficult to assess

all of these different students, with all of their different

learning needs, on all of their different levels. It

became time consuming and hard to manage every

end-of-lesson exit ticket and formative assessment.

The Solution: Thanks to Schoology’s LMS paired with Explain Everything, my students were able to

communicate their understanding of what was taught. Instead of writing, students utilized the microphone and

webcam on Schoology to tell about what they learned. They could read aloud books so that I could assess their

oral reading fluency too. Using Explain Everything, students drew on the screen’s whiteboard while explaining

their understanding. This came in handy when assessing math concepts. To top it off, students were then able

to upload their Explain Everything videos to a media album in Schoology where they could help to teach one

another.

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Moving Educators from Digitally Illiterate to Digitally Proficient

The Challenge: Often called digital natives, our

current students have been born into a digitally

connected world. Recent research indicates there is no

relationship between a person’s age and their ability

to achieve as a digital learner. Teachers recognize the

need to impart today’s students with technological

skills, digital literacies, to enhance opportunities to

contribute in a modern, technologically driven world.

What about teachers? How, when, and where are they developing digital literacies? One proven strategy helping

modern educators improve their digital literacy is the inclusion of technology standards, such as the recently

updated ISTE Standards for Educators, in their professional learning plan.

The Solution: Better described as learning dispositions, the ISTE Standards for Educators provide pathways for

teachers and students to become empowered, digital learners. In my experience as a technology coach, many

teachers are looking for a safe place to practice their use of technology tools, interact with other learners, and

create digital artifacts of their learning. An LMS, such as Schoology, provides just such a place. When learning

objectives are mapped against Schoology features, it becomes apparent educators can enhance digital literacy

by learning effective ways to use Updates, Discussions, Portfolios, Pages, and Blogs in their practice. Developing

comfort, confidence, and competence using these digital tools helps students to become better digital learners.

Teachers can show students that one can be an effective digital learner regardless of age.

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Ramping Up Students on New Digital Learning Tools

The Challenge: Using new technology in the

classroom is part of being a modern day teacher.

Students love new tools! New tools keep instruction

fun and exciting, but there isn’t much time in the day

to teach students the ins and outs of each new tool.

When you are the only teacher in the room, student

questions can keep you on the run and they take up

too much time. Students need basic knowledge of

tools prior to using them for effective instruction. One

digital challenge is efficiently helping students learn new tools so they can be used to support teaching

and learning.

The Solution: A teacher could use student tech instructors when introducing new tools. Select a small group of

students to be tech instructors. Show the tech instructors the top five features of the tool. These students then

teach their peers.

“Ask three before me” is another strategy. Students must ask three students around them their question before

asking the teacher.

Finally, teachers can give students five minutes of discovery time prior to using the software for instruction. After

discovery time, students share their discoveries. Record the tips and student name on a collaborative document.

During the project, peers consult the document to access feature experts.

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Inspiring and Managing Change at the Institutional Level

The Challenge: Four years ago I was hired to create

institutional change by having faculty use our LMS as

more than just a place to house a syllabus. Brand new

to the institution, I had to figure out how to “move

people forward on the train” without overwhelming

them (actually, without freaking them out). More

importantly, I had to learn how to use Schoology’s LMS

(luckily, it’s quite intuitive). At Hebrew College, there

were over 1,500 students and close to 100 faculty across the departments. They’d had the LMS for three years

prior to my arrival but never used it deeply, and I was hired to work with faculty after they’d established a

base-level of comfort with the system. My challenge then was figuring out how to create change on an

institutional level.

The Solution: It all comes down to people. What I mean by that is that I tried the large target approach (sending

weekly newsletters about features, offering group classes). I received two types of responses for my newsletter:

the first was the nuanced grammatical issues that would bug a linguistics professor and the second came from

a Dean who wrote, “Send these out quarterly. They are taking up room on my email.” When I offered in-person

group trainings, I was met with ... silence and tumbleweeds. No one showed. I regrouped and tried the one-

on-one method. Lo and behold, it worked. I was able to work with individuals and move them along in their

understanding of how to use the LMS. It is a SLOW process and I am aching for more advice. But, working one-

on-one was a good start.

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Enabling Educators to Understand and Leverage Technology Integration

The Challenge: One challenge faced by many

educators is meeting learners at their point of need

when it comes to technology integration. Often times,

educators have not been trained in thoughtfully

integrating technology. Some may be intimidated by

it, others may not see the need for it in their practice,

and others may want to explore every new thing they read or hear about. As educational leaders, we need to

provide our teachers with as much support and as many resources as we can to encourage them to incorporate

technology into their practice and use it to enhance instruction and student learning.

The Solution: To overcome this challenge, it is important to survey teachers’ needs and areas of interest.

Professional learning opportunities should be differentiated to provide the type of support teachers are

looking for, whether that be online or face-to-face. Similarly, it is necessary to keep teachers grounded in strong

pedagogy when integrating technology. One way to accomplish this is to tie tech integration to the 4 C’s. By

having teachers choose a specific student outcome tied to communication, collaboration, creativity, or critical

thinking, technology can truly be viewed as a tool to enhance quality instruction instead of as the end goal itself.

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Keeping All Stakeholders Up to Speed on New Technology and Other Changes

The Challenge: As a former school administrator

one of the challenges to embracing digital learning

was creating an internal “new to us” program. When

students come in January, it’s important to ensure

them and their families understand and have access

to our online tools. Teaching is not always a lifelong

job—what do you do with long term substitutes or

mid-year hires? Once you board the cyber bus, can you slow down at times to allow others to board? Who is

responsible? When, where, and how do you train, when everyone is already juggling so much?

The Solution: Our solution was to attach digital training on to typical “new to us” tasks for registrations. Our

counselor met with student arrivals, managing sign-ons and covering Digital Citizenship. Our secretary assigned

families “new school guides.” Cyber-savvy parent volunteers would reach out and invite parents to join our

monthly “Digital Learning” forum and follow up. New teachers were a challenge—they have no availability during

the day to train. Alas, money was the answer. Within the first month of hire, we paid for substitute coverage, to

train “newbies.” Maintaining digital literacy was an afterthought, but it became a purposeful piece of our culture.

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Getting Past Geographical Boundaries to Connect with Other Educators

The Challenge: Being the only world language

teacher in a rural school for the past fourteen years

I was isolated in my profession. This caused me to

stagnate in my growth as a teacher and innovator

which in turn directly affected student learning in

my courses.

The Solution: Five years ago I was introduced to using Twitter as not only a professional development tool

but as a way to connect with other educators and experts. The connections I have made and the growth of

my professional learning network have directly impacted my teaching career. Being a connected educator will

benefit your students and inspire you to continue to grow as a professional.

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Building Your PLN When One Isn’t Immediately Available to You

The Challenge: I work in a rather small school

district. I am the team leader for my English

department for grades 7–12. This team consists of four

core curriculum teachers and two veteran teachers,

who have moved on to other duties, but still teach ELA

elective courses. While I have an amazing team, it is

easy to feel that I am sometimes my own island, being

the only person in the entire district who teaches my

particular courses. I often find myself looking for perspectives and resources, especially in regards to technology,

from outside sources that I can bring back to my team and utilize myself.

The Solution: My online PLN has served as an amazing source of professional development, communication,

and collaboration with other educators. I have used Twitter to connect with administrators, teachers, technology

coordinators, and educational coaches. I’ve gained advice, ideas, and even collaborated with others via email

and Google Docs. Additionally, educational Twitter chats have allowed great opportunities to connect with

others. Closed educational-related Facebook groups have proven to be a great source for sharing ideas and

lesson plans. Finally, the various groups available via Schoology, such as the Schoology educators group and the

Language Arts group, have been continuously helpful.

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Consistently Communicating With Parents

The Challenge: Communicating with parents can be

a tricky road to walk down. Do you send home a paper

newsletter, use email, utilize a teacher webpage, or

post updates via an LMS or education-based app? So

many options. And with all of those options, parents

can quickly become confused. They don’t know where

to check for the information they need, they become

overwhelmed and give up. This is the worst possible

scenario because now the parent isn’t using any of the

communication options!

The Solution: Even though it sounds great, too many options can be too much for parents. Think about

the parent that has more than one student, it truly becomes communication overload. The way to solve this

problem is to streamline. Pick a couple of ways to send out info and stick with them. You might even be able to

combine a couple of the options. Are you using an LMS? Post an update AND attach the newsletter, no need to

also send the newsletter via email. What about the calendar? Maintain your calendar inside your LMS, everything

is in one spot. Let your parents know when to expect updates from you. Every Monday morning send out

“What to expect this week.” Consistency can become your ally, parents will learn when to expect your update,

eliminating that question in their minds of what is happening and what is going on at school. Your ultimate goal

is to make sure the parents receive the information—use technology to your advantage.

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Overwhelming When Rolling Out New Technology and Tools

The Challenge: One of the digital learning

challenges that I have faced is actually in my current

role as an ITC. Our district decided to go 1:1 and

adopt an LMS in the same year. For our tech-resistant

teachers this was really overwhelming. In fact a lot

of them shut down completely and wouldn’t let

the devices be used in their classrooms at all. The

challenge we were faced with was slowly opening

these teachers up to using technology. What was our best path and how do we bring the teachers along, in

positive and productive manner?

The Solution: The process we have embraced was breaking things down.

1. Talk to the teachers and find out why they are so resistant. A lot of times it was fear of the unknown. It was also

fear because of a lack of experience.

2. We employed a “coaching” model. We went into the classroom, modeled lessons, helped develop lessons, and

we would be there for the implementation of the lesson.

3. Small steps. We only worked one tool at a time and took a very slow pace. One tool at a time. Overall, this was

really successful and we have seen big changes.

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Gauging Student Understanding Beyond Just Tests & Quizzes

The Challenge: After students asked for the “packet”

that went along with our novel, I realized students

were good at “doing school.” They were trained

to read and answer the questions at the end (or

“borrow” their neighbor’s and copy). I wanted to

deepen students’ interaction with content and give

them an avenue to showcase their strengths and

add to a collective discussion. I began exploring the

question, How can I get students to creatively show their thinking about a reading or other content delivery and

contribute to an authentic understanding and response?

The Solution: This roadblock of “doing school” can be overcome by giving students voice and choice to show

their thinking and understanding. I developed the “CAR” assignment, which stands for “Choose a Response.” By

focusing on learning goals but giving students options about how they achieve those goals, teachers and admin

can increase engagement and creativity. Using an online discussion board like the one in Schoology gave my

students an avenue to share their responses with peers, creating more authentic and motivated students.

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Providing Relevant and Effective Professional Development for Teachers

The Challenge: There is a multitude of educational

research and survey data available that reveals a

high percentage of teachers believe their professional

development offerings are not effective, relevant, or

applicable to their professional practice. Are you part

of the group of educators that feel this way? The Bill

and Melinda Gates Foundation published an interesting report called Teachers Know Best: Teachers’ Views on

Professional Development that you could dig into if you’re interested in some more information about this. The

Global State of Digital Learning survey that was recently conducted by Schoology revealed similar findings from

administrators who participated in the survey. The #1 challenge reported from administrators in the survey was

providing relevant and effective professional development for their teachers.

The Solution: If you’re part of the group of teachers who feel this way, then I want to challenge you to take your professional learning into your own hands and become a connected educator. If you’re not embracing the power of the free digital tools to connect with an expert, author, or educator across the globe within minutes, then you’re missing out. Below are three quick tips to help you get started building your PLN:

1. Sign-up for a Twitter account and start following and collaborating with educators who have the same interests as you.

2. Read the book What Connected Educators Do Differently by Todd Whitaker, Jimmy Casas and Jefferey Zoul. The book will help you build your PLN and help you become a Connected Educator. I use this book with my graduate students and it changes their entire perspective on professional learning. Be prepared to step outside of your comfort zone!

3. Find and attend an EdCamp in your area. An EdCamp, commonly referred to as an unconference, is a participant driven learning event that gives you control over your learning.

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Finding a “Home” for Digital Learning

The Challenge: Your district has recently given

every student a device to learn with 24/7 and you

are the excited teacher tasked to transform each

student’s learning. Help! Where do I start? How do I

create and organize content, focus on the 4 C’s and

personalize learning? These are common questions

that invade most teachers’ minds when moving to 1:1

learning environments. In the early stages of 1:1 it is

quite common for teachers to seek a “home” for all

digital content. Not having a “home” is unsettling and

causes a feeling of chaos and disconnected learning.

The Solution: Schoology’s LMS has become the “home” for digital learning in our district. It’s where many

students start and end their day. Teacher’s post daily agendas and let students make learning choices. Students

collaborate, communicate, share their creativity, think critically, and publish their work by participating in online

discussions, assignments, media albums, and assessments. Teachers use GAFE, online tools, etc. that they link

or embed in our LMS, making everything easy for students to access by simply going “home.” The calendar,

grades, and mastery dashboard areas of our LMS assist students in taking ownership of their learning so each

student feels “right at home.”

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Letting Students Learn at their Own Pace

The Challenge: As a Computer teacher in an

elementary school, I would see my students once a

week for forty minutes. Having an average class size

of 20-25, at times I would struggle with how to reach

all learners. While teaching students word processing,

some knew everything about the application, while

others were seeing it for the first time walking into my

classroom. Whether it was computer or science class,

I knew every teacher may face this challenge at some

point. I wanted to figure out a way to educationally

stimulate all digital learners and challenge them at their own pace.

The Solution: Educators can overcome this challenge by creating self-paced units. Using Game Theory and

Schoology, students accepted the mission to complete all challenges in a unit to earn badges. After the required

challenges were successfully completed, I provided the students with BONUS challenges that unlocked top

secret badges. Educationally, this allowed students who were experts to take a more advanced learning path

and provided me the opportunity to spend more time with the students who were seeing the applications for

the first time. Once students completed their challenges, I gave them the chance to be coaches to their peers.

Teamwork!

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Overcoming a Lack of Devices for Students

The Challenge: Not having access to one device

for each student creates a major obstacle to using

technology in the classroom. With a large class of

students, there are often not enough devices to go

around: laptops don’t get charged, another teacher

checked out the laptop cart already, a grant only

bought 10 tablets. This means not every student in the

class can be doing the same digital work at the same

time which requires lateral thinking to plan a lesson

where learners are completing different activities.

The Solution: Station Work! Organizing station rotation lessons can be daunting. The idea of having one group

of students doing something entirely different to the rest of the class means relinquishing some control and

trusting the learners will stay on task with less supervision. An LMS can be a great tool to facilitate this: even with

only a few devices, teachers can organize a small group to use those available and create a folder of content for

students to work through individually. Some LMSs even provide options for pacing students individually, so that

they progress at their own rates and keep them engaged.

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Final Thoughts

Capitalizing on digital learning means taking advantage of the resources and knowledge at hand, while also

finding new, better ways to advance what’s possible. The educators featured in this ebook identified a challenge

and then—on their own or with a group—made the effort to overcome it.

When multitudes of educators at your institution are working together, that’s when real change starts to happen.

So don’t just wait around for someone else to take digital learning to the next level. Now’s the time to be the

catalyst that inspires change and make a lasting impact.

Want to see an LMS with everything you need to meet your educational goals? Explore our platform in a fun, self-guided tour.

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