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virtual learning

Virtual Education – To Be or Not to Be?

May 4, 2021

I just read an article put out by Microsoft entitled, The Next Great Disruption Is Hybrid Work - Are We Ready? In the article they state, “We’re all learning as we go, but we know two things for sure: flexible work is here to stay, and the talent landscape has fundamentally shifted. Remote work has created new job opportunities for some, offered more family time, and provided options for whether or when to commute. But there are also challenges ahead. Teams have become more siloed this year and digital exhaustion is a real and unsustainable threat.”

The article covers what Microsoft learned from research and insights involving their 160,000+ employees.They are working on a hybrid work strategy. This article made me think about what our school division is planning for instruction next year and how it will impact our staff and students.

I know many school divisions are considering and working on hybrid learning strategies for the next school year. I define hybrid learning as when students are engaged in both face-to-face and online learning. Most school divisions are doing this as most have adopted learning management systems such as Canvas and Schoology.

graphic of a laptop with people in videoconferencing boxesTeachers provide content to students using an LMS, so if students cannot attend class in person, instructional content is available. Also, teachers can have students complete assignments outside of school time using the LMS as well. It may not be synchronous, but asynchronous. Our expectations next school year are that our students will return to school five days a week. We feel that students K-8 should be in school, in-person.

Our secondary principals would say that grades 9 and 10 should be in person as well. The students we are looking at are grades 11 and 12 where some students have done very well in the virtual classroom. Trying to work out the logistics to offer a virtual education for specific students brings up several challenges. We have decided that no teacher will be responsible for teaching both in-person and online like this year.

It was not effective and not healthy for our teachers. Here are some questions we are considering. Do we have enough teachers that are willing and competent to teach only virtual? (Virtual Virginia, as most of you, are probably aware, is hiring online educators and content specialists for grades K-12 for all subjects.) Will Virtual Virginia be able to provide enough teachers? Scheduling? What criteria will we use to select students? Attendance requirements from the State? And there are more.

I am curious what learning options other school divisions are considering for next school year, especially for those interested in learning via the virtual classroom. Please feel free to share what is going on in your school division. Finally, I want to say “Thank You” to everyone for all you have done this school year! Since this is my last blog post for this year, I want to wish everyone a safe, relaxing, enjoyable summer.


Written by Tim Taylor. Tim is the Instructional Technology Supervisor for Shenandoah County Public Schools. He is also a member of the VSTE Board of Directors and chairs the Education Committee.

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Featured Resources #GoOpenVA, March 29, 2021

March 29, 2021

logo for go open vaVSTE has been an active part of the #GoOpenVA initiative in Virginia. This collaborative initiative led by VDOE enables educators and others throughout Virginia to create, share, and access openly-licensed educational resources (OER, also known as open education resources). OER are free digital materials that can be used or modified to adjust to student needs; they are openly-licensed unhampered by many traditional copyright limitations.

We asked Jean and others to periodically curate a few of the resources to give a sense of what is available. Start with these but stay for so much more!

 

This week, Barbara Huth, a non-profit educator and education content and professional development manager for Common Sense Education, curates three resources related to learning in different environments.

There are so many incredible resources on the #GoOpenVA website from educators across the state. Whether you are looking for student lessons or professional development ideas, there is a growing number of resources available. As someone that supports educators, I am often looking for new strategies for creating engaging and collaborative spaces whether we are remote, in-person, or hybrid. Below are three of my current favorite resources from the #GoOpenVA website, and each is filled with ideas for designing learning experiences for a variety of learning environments.

Rocking Resources: An Introduction to OER and the #GoOpenVA Website by Jessica Carpenter is an adaptation of the #GoOpenVA Foundations Workshop in a Box. This professional development is a great introduction to what an open educational resource is and how to use the #GoOpenVA site. I love the use of digital tools like Peardeck (an example shown below), and breakout rooms to engage participants in the content remotely. This presentation could work in an in-person or concurrent setting as well and is a great example of how you can take something from the #GoOpenVA website and make it your own!

The Classroom Culture Playbook by Bridget Mariano, Jennifer Leary, and Meri Riddick, has an abundance of curated tips and tricks for teaching in concurrent, hybrid, remote, or in-person. In this resource there are strategies for facilitating discussions, tips on how to organize learning stations, suggested tools for making lessons more interactive, and so much more. I found the slide templates for setting up breakout rooms extremely helpful and appreciated that they were centered around student choice.

The Choice Boards and Hyperdocs resource by Adam Seipel with the Virginia School Consortium for Learning, includes a presentation deck and a recording of the presentation. This resource introduces a variety of student choice board styles and gives examples of how to build community with collaboration tools like Padlet and Flipgrid. One of my favorite resources he shares is a five-step planning document for designing blended learning experiences. Adam reminds us in this resource that our lesson design doesn't need to be complicated, for it to be engaging and meaningful!

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