When community emergencies take place – like public health threats, extreme weather or infrastructure issues – the best decision may be to keep students out of school all together. However, given the amount of content students and teachers are expected to cover during the school year, missed days can quickly cut into student learning requirements. Keeping up with curricular goals is critical to ensuring students gain the knowledge and skills they need to achieve success. So, what can teachers do to help?
Online learning options are providing new alternatives to keep students learning even when they’re not able to be in the classroom. More and more schools and parents are embracing these possibilities by allowing “online learning” or “digital learning” days as a productive alternative to overcome challenging circumstances.
The intention with online learning and digital learning days is to provide a similar instructional experience to what students would receive in the classroom. Having a well-thought-out plan in place is key to ensuring that these days truly support seamless student learning. Below, we have broken down some of the most important elements to consider.
1. Survey students to understand at-home Internet connectivity, and make a plan for students without sufficient access
All students should receive a similar learning experience on online learning days, regardless of their access to technology and the Internet. Think about ways to give students without consistent Internet access offline options that are on par in terms of subject matter, task difficulty and interaction, and avoid expecting these students to make up any online learning day work at a later time. Be sure to consider not only how to provide alternative printed or downloaded materials but also how to provide these students with access to their teacher.
2. Put aside dedicated training time for staff members
How can you expect students to know what to do if teachers are asking questions themselves? Each teacher should know what he or she is responsible for and how he or she is going to engage learning under the prescribed plan. Teachers must be properly trained and across the plan for it to be workable.
3. Clearly communicate details of your online learning plan early, and provide timely notification when you decide to use an online learning day
Make sure that students understand that online learning days are not a day off and that they must complete all work to stay up to date. Provide parents with guidelines on how they can support their student on online learning days. Remember that arranging childcare will be a concern for some parents on these days, so it’s important to give as much prior notice as possible.
4. Create a virtual attendance policy
Just because students are working remotely doesn't mean showing up to actually learn is any less critical. For online learning days to be effective, there needs to be a system in place to keep students accountable for attendance. Will students check-in by a certain time, all undertake exercises at designated points or be required to answer a certain question or task by a pre-decided time? Whatever you choose, consider how technology can help support this practice.
5. Make sure that students know how to access online assignments and activities
Students need to be comfortable with how learning will take place. Programs that are used should be ones that students are used to working on. Send home student logins to all programs you expect students to use on an online learning day. Make sure this information has been communicated to parents as well, and encourage families to make that information easily accessible at home.
6. Prioritise student-teacher communication
Just as these days aren’t intended to be days off or “catch-up” days for students, neither are they intended to be such for teachers. Teachers should be actively monitoring student progress and providing guidance throughout the online learning day. Effective tools for communication between students and teachers need to be in place to support this. Ideally, multiple communication channels – including video, phone and email – should be available, and students should be trained on how to use all of them. Class Facebook pages, websites or other online social platforms can also be great tools to make online learning days more interactive.
Want to find out more about how Hawker Brownlow Digital programs can support high-quality online learning day plans? Sign up for a 3-month free trial to make sure that learning doesn’t skip a beat when bad weather and other unexpected events keep students and teachers out of the classroom!
