With the continuing spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, schools around the world are shifting to online learning in order to reduce disease spread. Global teachers have worked extensively to define the key strategies for online learning. Here are some of the world's best ideas from educators, many of whom are teaching during the closure of coronaviruses.
1. Providing digital resources
Equity is the biggest hurdle in training and the first thing you can know about online learning. When you do not have a 1-1 district and do not have devices that everyone wants to send home, survey professors and families will find out who wants devices and bandwidth beforehand.
Jenna Conan, Specialist in Technological Integration at the Episcopal School of All Saints, Fort Worth, Texas, points out that most families have no device per user. Parents can also operate from home during the school holidays, which means many people can fight for one or two computers. Ensure sure that all online applications operate in the event a laptop is not supported on mobile devices. Districts will find out whether they can purchase or rent out Wi-Fi hotspots and then have a program to deliver both equipment and hotspots to teachers and students with free Wi-Fi at home. If you are aware that there is an impending shutdown, schools should send devices and hotspots before closing with the students. If a shutdown happens suddenly, plan a time and place for a pick-up and coordinate the distribution of appliances and hotspots. Bear in mind that students with individual training plans (IEPs) need access during the closure to their personal facilities, including video access to help and app login.
2. Practice..Practice..Practice
Schools with daily digital learning days and home access and device-related research have already been on the way, says ISTE Digital Equity PLN Chief Michael Flood. But consider it an opportunity if your school hasn't laid the groundwork.
Teachers who don't have a learning management system regularly now have to immerse themselves so that communication will not be interrupted after a sudden closure. Teachers and their students should be trained to use apps and technological tools in the event of a closure.
3. Clear employee and parent expectations
When closing down is more important than ever, communication between administrators, staff, parents and students. Prepare a FAQ to explain all of the details of how the school works during closure so that both staff and parents are on the same page for broadcast communications. In order to connect easily and inform people where to find follow-up message via email or on your website, schools can not only post and distribute FAQs but also generate communitywide texts.
Then prepare a step-by-step guide for online learning and curriculum access and use. Enter this data and include screenshots and screen-casting tutorials in different formats including video and text. Please remind families to ensure that all students – especially the youngest students – are able to login and know their passwords for the apps. Providing adequate technical assistance and making sure parents and teachers are willing to ask for assistance.
4. Take time to plan
If your staff is stopped before they are ready to teach online, invest some time – although only one or two days – to get ready before they start learning online. The short time to start the online course pays off over the long term. 'To create a plan for online learning it took a whole day for all of the teams to get together,' he said. 'It's been a really intelligent move.'
Teams split and dealt with everything from administrative matters, including the establishment of zoom meetings to training issues, including various home support models. Two days after the district was shut down, the teachers had two days to plan before they could fully start learning online with their students. The team and each day helped to implement it smoothly.
Even if a closure is sudden and does not give you time to plan until schools are shut down, plan before starting the online lessons is still prudent.
5. Set up daily plans.
The expectations of when teachers and students must be registered should be clear. To children and teachers, a full day before a computer is a lot, in particular to families who only share one unit. Many schools choose to have two check-in times, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and allow families flexibility to organize their schedule at home.
The timetable is reorganized by other classes, which cover two days for one school day. The students attend three lessons in the morning and work individually on the afternoons, then engage with them in "working hours" the next day, the remainder of their classes will be taken online in the morning, and work with the teachers in the afternoon.
Often the roadblocks that students encounter when exploring this new terrain can be difficult to predict. Nadine Bailey, a teacher-librarian and technology integrator at the Western Academy in Beijing, proposes that one student is selected by grade, and his "anticipated" course is tracked during the day. Otherwise, be versatile and adjust along the way. Specialized courses such as PE, robotics and art can be more complex to handle.
6. Independent research architecture.
Be aware that parents could work or work from home and couldn't do much work. It is important to develop learning that does not require much support from parents who may be overwhelmed already.
The biggest challenge is for parents to supervise what and what their children should do. Not all parents, particularly children who can not work from home, are able to cope as easily.
'One of the best things that our schools do to help parents is to streamline information by providing a centralized place for all activities, schedules and expectations.' 'The closer you can get to a checklist, the better.'
