In the News: Paterson on the Importance of Engaging Students

Wendy Paterson, dean of Buffalo State College’s School of Education, recently spoke to WGRZ-TV Channel 2’s Danielle Church for a story on keeping students who are learning remotely engaged.

The story, titled “Royhart School District Finding New Ways to Engage More Students,” explored the ways some districts are working to close the learning gap created by the pandemic. The story aired on March 30.

In the piece, Paterson describes remote learning as “flat.”

“It's not natural.” she said. “A lot of the digital environment is—I seek information and it gives it back to me—but the interactivity isn’t there.”

Paterson said that districts will adjust to compensate for the past year's disruptions in student learning when the new school year starts in September.

“In all honesty, we will find out where they are and we will take them where we need to go,” she said. “Kids are pretty resilient, and we need to ensure when they come back in the fall, we engage them actively and in as many different ways as we can.”

Photo by Bruce Fox, campus photographer.