The coronavirus pandemic of 2020 has forced most schools in the United States to shift to e-learning. Online teaching is a skill-set that most educators did not have as part of their teacher education programs, and this national crisis is a situation that most administrators have never encountered. The expression "building the plane while we fly it" is an apt one during this unusual time in our history.Although there are many societal and socio-economic issues that affect access and prevent our national educational community from fully embracing e-learning, this post will focus on some general tips as traditional teachers step into the world of online education. Granted, I am making a huge assumption ... that teachers (reading this blog) have access to online platforms and that students have internet/computer access to learn online. However, the number of teachers facing this reality is growing, so I hope that these tips are helpful.
Here are some of the most important items to remember as you prepare to teach online ...
1. Know your e-learning Platform(s) -- Whatever online platform your school has decided upon, know it well. Some schools already have an online LMS (learning management system) that can accommodate e-learning; many other schools are adopting systems with little research, pilot testing, or staff input due to the harried shift to online learning. Whatever the case, your first day of planning should be spent learning the platform. Most are intuitive and a self-exploration of the features and website will help you become more familiar; additionally, websites will have tutorials for getting started. Don't skip this step! The more familiar you are with the platform, the more equipped and confident you will be to utilize the system and troubleshoot when the inevitable problems arise.
2. Support your Students -- The quote, "students will not care what you know, unless they know that you care," is so needed during this pandemic. For some students, school is the most stable area of their life, teachers are the most positive role models in their life, and their only friends are from school; recognize that they will be mourning these losses. Student stress levels will be heightened as they deal with distressing news, isolation, and family concerns. The downturn and uncertainty of the economy will touch every student, from parents losing jobs to families unable to get supplies. All of these factors will impact the emotional health of students; they need teachers to be supportive and caring during this time. A weekly phone call or note (real mail) home can go a long ways towards supporting your students.
3. Teach Students How to Learn Online -- Most students have never taken a class online, so the first lesson should be a "how to" e-learning lesson. This is going to take extra time, but it is a vital first step so that students can grow into success. Kindergarten teachers understand this as they spend the first month teaching their students how to "do school." All teachers, today, are un-learning and re-teaching how to "do school" online; they must lead students patiently in this initial lesson. Also, remind students to do the following outside of "class time" activities in order to be successful:
- Get up and get ready to "do school" like you normally do. People who work from home can tell you how unproductive pj days are. If learning in an a-synchronistic format, schedule a consistent "class time" schedule to follow each day.
- Go to bed at the normal time on school nights (resist the temptation to binge watch Netflix until 3:00am!)
- Exercise more than you usually do. Physical exercise does wonders for healthy emotional and cognitive development. There are many exercise apps to help students develop and track their exercise routine.
- Limit devices when you are not e-learning. Take daily "phone fasts" and stay off devices. Eight hours of e-learning should not be followed by eight hours of gaming or social media.
- Expand your horizons. Students will have more time to learn (or return to) a musical instrument, re-discover board games, read, begin a new hobby, and explore extra interests.
5. Make a plan B (and C) -- Online learning requires consistent wifi/internet and working devices at both the teacher and student end. Plan for one of these factors to not work. Whatever platform you are using, make sure students (and teachers too) are able to access it via wifi and through their cell phone data (download apps). Show students how to use a hotspot on their phone to connect a laptop if needed. Download all your assignments so you can email them to students.
6. Focus on the End Results -- Every educator trained in the past 40 years has heard of "backward design" (essentially, looking at learning targets / unit objectives / standards first and then designing lessons to best achieve those end results). That is especially important to do at this time. No matter how effective a school's e-learning plan is, content will need to be cut. Go back to your syllabus and review those course objectives ... what needs to be done by the end of the year to prepare students for the next year of learning? Teachers must prioritize lessons and make sure they are selecting the ones that best help students achieve the end results.
7. Slow Down and Check for Understanding -- It is going to be more difficult to assess students and their understanding of concepts online. A quick informal assessment by reading the body language / eyes of your students in the classroom becomes much more difficult online. Teachers will need to add extra examples, provide exemplars, and implement additional formative assessment. You cannot assume students understand; remember the full cycle of communication ... communication is not complete unless you know the receiver understood the message the way you intended. Build in quick responses on whatever platform you are using to check understanding.
8. Care for Yourself -- Teaching online can quickly consume your life and become a 24/7 job; there is always a better lesson out there online, more resources to add, and student questions will come in at all hours of the night. Set boundaries for your "teaching" time, establish office hours for student meetings/responses, and limit the research time you do for each lesson. You need to care for yourself first in order to be the best teacher you can be (remember the "air mask principle" on an airplane). Identify what fills your bucket and do those things daily.
Finally, give yourself (and your students) a lot of grace. Teaching and learning online is hard work; it requires unique planning and pedagogy, a different assessment mindset, and it takes time, professional development and practice to do it with excellence. Starting as a traditional classroom teacher/class and transitioning in the middle of a term to online is not ideal, but it is a necessary stop-gap to get students through this difficult global crisis with some sense of normalcy.
I am not an online educational expert, but many of these tips are compiled from the research I've frantically done (over the past week) to provide resources for my high school staff. If you want to read about this topic from an expert in online education, see Dr. Dave Mulder's blog (@d_mulder from @dordteduc); it does have a higher ed focus, but much is transferable to the k-12 world.
Finally, what is especially fascinating is that this is a national phenomenon. There are a million (literally) teachers/professors in America going through the same professional experience at this time ... transitioning to online teaching. Lean into this community of educators, ask for and give advice, support each other in this journey ... and pray for a quick resolution.
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