PREPARING STUDENTS FOR REMOTE LEARING
As the 2020-2021 academic year approaches, online learning could play a prominent role in our instructional platform. For the foreseeable future we have decided to employ a system that combines online and in-person instruction. As we have moved beyond reacting to the coronavirus crisis management into purposefully planning the new school year—with what we have experienced—we can now focus on the successes that we have learned as a result of being driven to move our teaching and learning online.
For many of our children, this was their first real experience as online learners. Some struggled with the combination of the actual technology—connecting to Zoom meetings, remembering passwords, emailing, and even navigating online learning programs. Furthermore, the general flow of the student body was disrupted, particularly in an asynchronous environment. In our efforts to move to a remote learning system, one of the most important things we can and will do is prepare our students to be successful in the online environment.
Students need to be equipped with the necessary skills for continued success as they navigate learning online. The following recommendations are drawn from our research, along with strategies from our experienced Board of Trustees. The strategies involve helping students with the following aspects of the online learning environment are:
- Online environment course
- Internet navigation and etiquette
- Windows Environment Training
- Apple Environment training
- File Structure and maintenance
- Zoom Interface and usage optimization
- Keyboarding and mouse skills
- Logging in to a web conferencing system
- Using email
- Remembering passwords
- Motivation & time management
- Digital citizenship and online presence
- Self-regulation skills
- Strategies for reading and writing more effectively in an online medium
- Research and information management skills
We are implementing guidelines that can help students have a collective understanding and high expectations of what teaching and learning should look like in a remote learning environment.
