Abstract

 
 
 
 The pandemic amplified the educational disparities that Latinx students face in virtual courses. This research project describes Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) learners’ experiences with remote instruction, and it proposes using the Community of Inquiry Model (Garrison et al., 2000) and modified versions of the Theory of Social Presence (Fayram, 2017; Hauck & Warnecke, 2012; Strong et al., 2012; Whiteside, 2015) as guiding frameworks to obtain information about social presence (SP) aspects in the online classroom. A total of 126 SHL learners took a validated online survey to evaluate the challenges of switching to a remote modality of instruction. This research emphasizes the need to design effective online courses that foster SP as a key element to diminish feelings of isolation and encourage active participation in the classroom. We propose that teaching presence is an important component of social presence in online SHL courses, and we offer pedagogical implications for practitioners.
 
 
 
Highlights
It has already been two years since many educational institutions moved to remote instruction due to Covid-19
When students were asked about their level of anxiety based on delivery mode, 42% students indicated feeling more anxious in remote courses and 20% reported feeling more anxious in face-to-face courses (See Figure 2 below)
Many of the participants (49%) agreed that computer-mediated communication was an excellent medium for social interaction in remote courses, the quantitative analysis of student response indicated that Spanish Heritage Language (SHL) speakers in SHL courses experienced higher levels of anxiety that increased by 11-20% in remote instruction, as compared to face-to-face instruction
Summary
It has already been two years since many educational institutions moved to remote instruction due to Covid-19. The Latinx community is one of the ethnic groups who has been heavily impacted financially; they account for 23% of the initial job losses because of the closure of the industries that depend on consumer spending (Zamarripa & Roque, 2021). Another social injustice that has amplified with this pandemic is the educational inequality which impacts Latinx students. The drastic change to remote learning reinforced Latinx students’ struggles to stay in school and receive access to the appropriate technology for online learning These inequalities illustrate the need to narrow the Latinx achievement gap and close the digital divide
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