K–12 Distance Education
Moving to Remote Instruction Immediately: Where to Get Started
As coronavirus changes life as we knew it, these education experts offer advice on how to make the transition to online instruction.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
- 03/23/20
Numerous districts and schools across the country suddenly find
themselves in the position of having to teach students at home due to
changes introduced by the national response to coronavirus and
COVID-19. While every school has its share of early adopters, people
who have been flipping classes and using blended learning for years,
there are plenty of other teachers who are new to the process. To
help schools make the transition as quickly and comprehensively as
possible, THE Journal reached out to education technology experts
across the country to answer the questions we believe nearly every
educator is rushing to answer right now.
Most of my
teachers haven't done this before. Where should we start with them?
Videos work better than worksheets. It's really
easy to put a worksheet online and think that's making your
curriculum digital — that's a path I've walked down myself. We know
our students learn best from us. If they can't be with us in person,
then the next best thing is a video of us, even from our phone or
[computing] device to help maintain our relationship — because
that's what will keep students working.
— Rick Bray,
Instructional Technology Professional Development Specialist,
Broome-Tioga
Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES)
If teachers begin to
incorporate arts-based assignments to their online instruction,
teachers can simulate the same engaging activities they typically do
face-to-face and have the opportunity to involve a student's parents
or family members, too. For example, if you're working on
a history unit ask students to create a song that
represents a historical figure and perform it for their family. There
are endless opportunities for students to create and learn at home,
and free
resources to support that instruction.
— Susan Riley,
CEO and Founder, The
Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM
Start where you can!
Teachers likely have email, so start with sending information that
way. From there, can they share how they are leveraging technology.
— Kara Longo
Korte, Director, Product Management at TetraVX
Educators tell us
it's helpful to start the transition to remote teaching with a
recognition that classes will be both asynchronous as well as
synchronous, and that's ok. Some of the time, teachers may have the
opportunity to connect with their students via video conferencing and
messaging tools, but much of the time, learning will be asynchronous
and students will be required to read, watch instructional videos,
and study independently. Identifying the easy, go-to technology that
helps with both aspects of teaching will help ground teachers and
allow them to focus on lesson plans. For instance, a lot of teachers
tell us they are using Zoom
or Google
Hangout Meet for video conferencing with student
groups and Google
Docs for essays and written work.
— Matthew
Glotzbach, CEO,
Quizlet
Remind teachers that
the best practices they use in their face-to-face classrooms are
important to uphold in the online classroom. Some of the best
practices will need to be adapted, but it is important that teachers
prioritize relationship-tending and clear communication. From a
curricular standpoint, help teachers make decisions about what the
most critical lessons and assessments are related to their
curriculum. "Less is more" will be a helpful guiding
philosophy. Give teachers the autonomy to make judgments around
priorities within the curriculum to ensure students are meeting
necessary standards without having to complete superfluous
assignments. From a technical standpoint, be sure to provide teachers
with training and resources they need to successfully facilitate
learning remotely. Let them know how to get support with technical
questions and how to answer basic student questions about accessing
online curriculum and submitting work.
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
I would start with
Zoom.
The software offers a robust platform to host most online courses,
and have a free version that is suitable for most teachers and
students.
— Shaan Patel,
founder of Prep
Expert
1. Setting up a
course shell for [teachers] is a first priority to give them a space
where they can upload material, connect with students and post
assignments. The platform should automatically enroll students.
2. Provide tips and
tricks available for faculty members new to online technology.
3. Have the faculty
start with a few simple tools — for example, drag and drop a
syllabus and content for that week's activities and set up a
discussion area for students to work together on activities.
4. Add an activity
feed that offers a Facebook-like experience on the course homepage
where teachers can post activities and have conversations with
students.
5. And as they get
comfortable, help teachers with gradebooks, quizzes or more advanced
features to keep students on track for success and engaged.
— John Baker,
CEO, D2L
I
would encourage administrators to have their instructors learn how to
use video conferencing tools and once they feel comfortable with
those tools, to promote the idea of having remote professional
development through webinars and video conference calls so they can
understand the student perspective. They will learn about some of the
distractions that occur when a student is remote. If they are aware
of some of the distractions, they can address them and help students
navigate them.
— Josh
Nichols, veteran teacher and CEO/founder, CrossBraining
Start with
reassurances: Our goal is NOT to create a beautiful, fully-featured,
six-hour-pers-day online learning experience for all students. The
goal is to prevent students from losing any ground while school is
out and work on fluency or automaticity for what they've already
learned. Start with reading then add some writing and math. Kids can
do lots of age-appropriate science "experiments" at home
just cooking with the family. Next steps could be replicating what
happens in your face-to-face class online. There are lots of free
tools that will let you upload a PDF so your students can annotate on
a worksheet. You could do a video call with a conferencing app. Send
your students links to newspapers or content sites. If you're already
using different apps in your classroom, use them more.
— Hilary
Scharton, VP, Strategy, Canvas
Same question
regarding students: If they don't have experience with online
learning, where's a good place to start?
Start with providing
information that they can read or maybe even print out. Give them a
list of things to do — it can be to make something, to research
something, watch something or "go" somewhere like a on a
virtual museum tour or virtual field trip. Provide a list of
resources; a quick Google search will provide lots of things that can
be used, but to ensure they aren't overwhelmed, point out a few that
you recommend.
— Kara Longo
Korte, Director, Product Management at TetraVX
Start by going
simple. Use technology that students may already be familiar with,
such as Google
Classroom and Google
Docs. If the district is utilizing ClassLink
or Clever,
students will have an easier time logging into various online
services. Set clear expectations for what needs to be completed with
[plain] and concise instructions. Don't forget to share these
expectations with parents as well, because the parents will be the
student's first line of support. Even if students are not learning
new materials, providing reinforcement activities will stop students
from regressing.
— Kevin
Dorsey, EdTech Advisor, GoGuardian
When
introducing technology for the first time, allow for ample time for
students to assimilate to their new online learning environment. At
the K-12 level, parents and mentors will play a key role in ensuring
a smooth transition from physical to online learning environments and
they, too, will need support from schools and administrators.
— Sara
Monteabaro, Lead, Learning, MIT
Solve
Most students should
have no problem getting used to an online platform like Zoom
given Generation Z is more tech-savvy then anyone. The biggest
problem students may have is not getting distracted by the
rest of the internet while watching their course. Therefore, I'd
recommend closing all other applications such as Facebook, Instagram
and YouTube.
— Shaan Patel,
founder of Prep
Expert
My biggest advice
for students is to make sure they are setting aside enough time to go
through group activities.
— John Baker,
CEO, D2L
While most students
tend to feel confident around technology, teachers need to avoid
making assumptions that students will all understand how things work.
It is important to be crystal-clear in communication of how to
navigate technology, course content and expectations for student work
and participation. Create screenshares or screen shots with
instructions for using the technology, as needed. Provide clear
instructions around how to submit work to the teacher (using Dropbox,
email, Google
Drive, Microsoft
Teams, etc.) and what to do if they don't understand
or can't get the technology to work.
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
Take a structured
approach. Students benefit from the natural cadence that classes and
regular activities provide. In this new online learning world,
students will benefit from creating some structure for themselves in
their day, tackling specific classes at times in the day when they
regularly have that course, and scheduling breaks for lunch and
snacks. Regarding online tools, today's students have grown up in an
environment where technology is all around them. Experiences like
connecting with friends via social media or Facetiming relatives to
stay in touch have helped prepare students to make this transition,
even if they've never experienced online learning before. While
nothing can replace time in the classroom, students should feel
empowered to take on this challenge like they have with every new
digital tool and social app — connect with peers, practice, ask
questions and personalize it.
— Matthew
Glotzbach, CEO,
Quizlet
Can we really say
any student doesn't have experience with online learning anymore?
Once kids are old enough to have any screen time, they're learning
online. Online games, YouTube, google, even TikTok and Instagram —
all places our kids are learning new things. The trick is to make it
something we want them to learn.
— Hilary
Scharton, VP, Strategy, Canvas
What are the
easiest components of a course to transition to online delivery —
the low-hanging fruit?
Slides. Slide decks
are extremely easy to upload into any online teaching platform.
— Shaan Patel,
founder of Prep
Expert
Things you would
normally give students time to work on in class as an independent
practice makes an easy transition online because they are self-lead
assignments that you can simply upload, have the students print and
complete at home. For example, in a third-grade unit on the Civil
War, assign students to research the historical event and then create
a theatrical event to perform in front of their parents or family.
— Susan Riley,
CEO and Founder, The
Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM
Submission of
written work is the easiest and most familiar form of work that
students can complete. The process of completing and grading student
work is almost identical to the process in the face-to-face
classroom. Using discussion boards for group discussions, student
questions that may impact the group, and supervised "student
lounge" areas are intended to mimic the face-to-face discussions
that occur in a class. These types of groups are familiar to students
and teachers who have used message boards or social media sites like
Facebook. Teachers do not need to address every comment a student
makes, but they need to be sure to monitor the discussions. Uploading
images of work products, videos of presentations or voice recordings
of student responses is another way for students to demonstrate their
understanding. Again, these are technologies many students will be
familiar with, but they may not know the nuts and bolts of the
academic technology. While additional formats (videos, images, etc.)
bring variety to the ways students can show what they know, they also
may bring additional challenges, so a "plan b" is important
to have ready ("If you can't create a video, make a transcript
and email the Word doc to your teacher...").
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
The low-hanging
fruit is dragging and dropping content to share with a class and then
using the activity feed to keep the class on track for what comes
next.
— John Baker,
CEO, D2L
Anything that the
teacher already has ready to go — weekly spelling words, the next
assignment, start with what you've got. Then think of what would have
been next, is it something that would be read or taught then quizzed?
Is there an online resource to point students to? Can they
collaborate online to "discuss"? Starting with providing
something versus being overwhelmed with everything is definitely the
way to go.
— Kara Longo
Korte, Director, Product Management at TetraVX
By using Google
Classroom, teachers can quickly set up an online course and create
modules. Not all materials need to be teacher-created. Many content
providers have offered free content. (Check THE Journals' continually
updating list here.)
— Kevin
Dorsey, EdTech Advisor, GoGuardian
Are there offline
activities we should be promoting?
Definitely! We don't
want students sitting in front of a screen all day. In fact, screen
time should be 50 percent or less of traditional seat time. So that
means teachers need to encourage students to get creative each day
with what we like to call "creativity
challenges." There are many free resources out
there with anything from kids' exercise videos to art tutorials.
Perhaps students can look at works of art by Andrew
Goldsworthy (who uses found objects to create art) and
then
go outside and create their own found object art.
— Susan Riley,
CEO and Founder, The
Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM
Read, read, read and
then write, write, write. Also, get out of the house and play (where
possible and at safe distances from others). Physical activity will
make kids' brains work better as well as fight off boredom and
depression.
— Hilary
Scharton, VP, Strategy, Canvas
Many districts are
creating packets for students to complete. These packets are being
shared on district websites, and some districts are even offering to
print them for students who do not have printers.
— Kevin
Dorsey, EdTech Advisor, GoGuardian
1. Students should
be encouraged to get plenty of sleep, adequate nutrition and physical
activity. Because this will be a challenging time for many of us —
teachers, students and their families included — encouraging
students to participate in self-care is important.
2. Provide resources
for families with food security issues to access food within the
community. Many schools are providing one or meals for students (and
their families). Food pantries, churches and civic organizations may
be able to help as well.
3. Encourage
students to get physical activity whenever possible. Going outside
(if they can do so without coming into close contact with others), is
important for everyone to keep their bodies moving and to get fresh
air and vitamin D from the sun.
4. To combat
feelings of isolation and to help resist the temptation of going to
friends' houses or other public spaces, students can interact with
family and peers using social media or interactive online games
(board games, card games and video games).
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
Encourage young
children to have "play" time or "creative" time —
doing LEGOS, art projects and the like. For students with siblings,
how can they work together? Can an older student help a younger
sibling? Can kids watch something and after it is over talk about it
and ask each other questions? I had mine watch a live broadcast from
the Cincinnati Zoo and discuss it afterwards; my oldest daughter made
a quiz for my youngest daughter while she was writing about what she
learned.
— Kara Longo
Korte, Director, Product Management at TetraVX
I would encourage
studying without any technology. One of the most difficult part of
studying these days is avoiding distractions. Students typically have
an enormous number of distractions: email, Facebook, Snapchat,
Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc. There really is no reason for all
of this technology when it comes to studying. Therefore, I recommend
parents actually take away or turn off the technology for an hour or
two so that students can focus specifically on whatever subject they
are studying. This means your student may need to hand over his or
her iPhone, iPad and MacBook. Although they won't be a huge fan of
you when you swap these out for books, they will appreciate it later
when their knowledge skyrockets!
— Shaan Patel,
founder of Prep
Expert
While the natural
inclination is to want to move quickly to video and lecture capture,
students prefer an asynchronous form of learning, meaning they don't
have to be online at a certain time and can listen to a recorded
lecture or take a quiz when it is convenient for them. Plus,
asynchronous allows you to tackle bandwidth challenges for students
at home — they can use Wi-Fi on any mobile device to download
videos or rich content to their learning platform, then listen to
them later.
— John Baker,
CEO, D2L
How can our
teachers include active forms of learning in what we're doing?
Allowing students to
explore something they're passionate about can make learning broader
and deeper. Design an experiment, read a book, write a poem, draw a
picture — do something on a topic that ignites your curiosity.
— Hilary
Scharton, VP, Strategy, Canvas
There are many ways
teachers can be active in students remote learning. They can leverage
a video call to "teach" a new topic and be available for
"office hours" or take questions via email to check in with
students to see how they are doing, if they need help with something
or even need more to do. It can also allow teachers to understand
what is working well and what isn't so they can adjust and address.
— Kara Longo
Korte, Director, Product Management at TetraVX
Teachers can poll students to schedule online synchronous discussions
using a video chat client, either as a whole-class or small group
experience. Discussions could be held using a chat feature or
discussion board with a "real time" back-and forth rather
than an asynchronous experience.
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
Ask questions. Most
online software platforms allow you to poll the audience and engage
with the audience. Use these tools.
— Shaan Patel,
founder of Prep
Expert
Teachers can
incorporate "brain breaks" to break up instruction with
activities like sending students on a scavenger hunt for three
objects in their home relevant to the lesson being taught.
— Susan Riley,
CEO and Founder, The
Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM
Teachers should work
to balance the more passive and traditional learning such as reading
texts and watching videos with activities that help engage students
and get them involved in the materials. Today, teachers can take
advantage of the numerous free resources and supplemental study tools
to offer students active learning opportunities outside of
traditional coursework. Interactive games and quizzes allow students
to take what they are learning and test how well they are keeping up
with the curriculum, ensuring they don't fall behind while at home.
Teachers can also encourage friendly quiz competitions among study
groups. These shareable tools will keep students collaborating on the
subject matter and learning together, while they can't physically
study in the same classroom.
— Matthew
Glotzbach, CEO,
Quizlet
How do we make
sure our students with accessibility issues are being taken care of?
Online
content should have audio materials accompanied by text transcripts
and video materials should either have a transcript or be captioned
to accommodate users with auditory handicaps.
Teachers and educators should work
directly with parents to accommodate students with physical
disabilities who may require additional technology.
— Sara
Monteabaro, Lead, Learning, MIT
Solve
The same way you
differentiate in your live classroom — if your student needs audio,
make sure they have it. Or screen readers. Send students home with
any tech tools or devices they use at school.
— Hilary
Scharton, VP, Strategy, Canvas
Students who have
accessibility issues documented in a learning plan (IEP or 504) will
need these accommodations met by their teachers. [Regarding digital
equity,] provide students with laptops, as needed, and provide
families with resources for internet access. Comcast
is an example of an internet service provider committed to providing
low-income families with two months of free internet in response to
the pandemic (restrictions apply). If students have technology at
home, but it is being shared by multiple students and adults, stress
the importance of scheduling time so that students can complete
school work, parents can complete their work-from-home tasks, and
everyone can access technology to connect with friends and families.
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
Ask the student [and
his or her family] what kind of help they need.
— Kara Longo
Korte, Director, Product Management at TetraVX
Is now really the
time to adopt new technologies?
No — the time was
yesterday. Coronavirus is just forcing schools into the 21st century
a lot faster. Schools should have been teaching online a long time
ago.
— Shaan Patel,
founder of Prep
Expert
If you do it with
humor and humility, absolutely. Everything isn't going to work
perfectly the first time, but modeling experimentation and failure
could encourage students' own grit and resilience.
— Hilary
Scharton, VP, Strategy, Canvas
Yes. I think
shifting students to as much of an online model as we can is the only
way for us to save the school year. I don't think many schools will
reopen this semester. There's a high probability that schools will be
shut down for many weeks. A number of schools we already work with
are lending a hand to schools that are shifting to online to offer a
high-quality experience right out of the gate rather than struggling
to make that transition.
— John Baker,
CEO, D2L
Limiting the number
of new technologies students and teachers need to navigate will
reduce frustration and further disruption to learning. As technology
becomes familiar and the bugs are worked out, educators and tech team
members can identify further needs (think: nice to have vs. necessary
to have) and add new resources/tools that will best support teaching
and learning goals. Get clear on the goals you have as a school or
district and avoid jumping around from one tool to another as much as
possible. Relying exclusively on email or other existing tools
(Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, etc.) for a few days while
getting clear on goals and appropriate tools will minimize confusion,
lost time and unnecessary spending.
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
Given the challenge
of quickly training teachers on new technologies, many schools
are...looking to maximize the value of tools they already own.
Students and staff need tried, true, and proven tools that offer
secure protection and minimize disruptions to instruction. Schools
can look into implementing tech that allows for messaging, screen
monitoring and easy integrations with other frequently used tools —
in order to support distance learning by mimicking the traditional
school environment.
— Dan Verwolf,
Senior Manager, Technical Sales Engineering, LanSchool
Core competence in
remote connectivity is critical now in order to lead communities
effectively through the immediate COVID-19 crisis… However, only
forward-thinking educational leaders have developed this as a
discipline; and, they are now leading effectively despite the
connectivity challenges that exist. Other leaders require a catalyst
in order to get past "the way things have always been done."
Remote connectivity technology has existed for years. The current
crisis provides the catalyst leaders need to inspire new ways of
doing work. To be sure, many will revert back to the way they've
always done things and find themselves, unfortunately, in exactly the
same situation in short order.
— Andy Krenz,
Director of Education, Thoughtexchange
Now
more than ever is the time to incorporate appropriate technology
solutions that can be implemented en
masse as students, teachers, schools
and universities all move to online learning at once.
— Sara
Monteabaro, Lead, Learning, MIT
Solve
What's essential
and what's non-essential in developing our digital learning plan for
the next two weeks?
As schools and
districts transition to digital learning, student safety should top
the list of essentials. While educators can generally get a sense of
how most students are doing when they're together in the classroom,
losing that face-to-face contact makes it much harder to gauge how
students are handling both the shift in their learning environment
and the uncertainty brought about by this pandemic.
— Paget
Hetherington, vice president of marketing, Gaggle
Essential: Create
study schedules and plans for students so they stay on track.
Non-essential:
Having study groups is more likely to lead to more distraction than
learning.
— Shaan Patel,
founder of Prep
Expert
Ask the question:
what is the minimum amount of work students need to complete to keep
them moving forward in the curriculum? Identify the assignments that
are superfluous to students attaining learning targets and make those
assignments optional or eliminate them all together. Be objective and
willing to rework your lesson plans.
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
The three components
needed are conferencing tools, learning management systems to
distribute and receive assignments, but most importantly, when
students are at home there needs to be a classroom management system
that helps teachers confirm when students are on task. This will be
the key to a successful remote learning experience. Even
though the distance learning format may be new for some teachers and
students, schools should implement tools that allow teachers to view
what their students are working on and struggling with, answer
questions they may have and provide ways to minimize distractions
that easily occur in the home. Streamlining
digital instruction through tools that integrate with teacher
favorites like Google
Classroom and Clever
are integral to a successful distance teaching experience.
— Dan Verwolf,
Senior Manager, Technical Sales Engineering, LanSchool
The most essential
thing is to keep students learning. It might not be the same content
a teacher planned and each kid might be learning something different
but keeping them engaged and interested is key. One way to do that is
to encourage kids to create a daily schedule. There are dozens of
sample COVID daily schedules that can be found online that can serve
as a template but [the goal is] getting kids to help decide what they
will work on (younger kids may some guidance) and when. This will
encourage them to feel like they have some small say input on their
schedule and engage accordingly.
— Kara Longo
Korte, Director, Product Management at TetraVX
It's essential to
not simply create busywork. Families will need to support your
students at home as they complete their remote learning activities.
Make sure every assignment is a worthwhile activity and that students
know where to get support if they are struggling.
— Kevin
Dorsey, EdTech Advisor, GoGuardian
During
the first two weeks, it is important for districts to make a list of
what is essential to NOT implement. I would put new technology on the
non-essential
list because there are a number of other things to address at this
time. District and school leaders need to get a pulse of their staff
and have support in place for them and their students. Make a list of
the technology and learning platforms that are already in place and
how the IT staff and educators are going to implement them with
intention, so that the learning is meaningful and addresses the
learning standards for those learners.
— Josh
Nichols, veteran teacher and CEO/founder, CrossBraining
What about the
two weeks after that?
The priority right
now has to be on students in grade 12 so they can prepare for
university and not allow this situation to have a big impact on their
performance. That means figuring out how to offer exams, including
proctored exams or open book exams. We need to come up with equitable
solutions for students as best we can. We have to remember some
students have to make choices. They might have to buy either a phone
or a laptop and won't have both. [So, choose tools that only] need a
browser.
— John Baker,
CEO, D2L
Necessity
is the mother of inventions and innovations. There are teachers in
every school who love being beta testers. Give them the task of
looking for solutions to current problems. Districts need to use this
time to start planning for distance learning. This pandemic has
forced all industries to think about remote work and remote learning.
K-12 educators have an opportunity to be at the forefront of this
discussion and to help students understand these future skillsets
they will need to be effective in this new economy.
— Josh
Nichols, veteran teacher and CEO/founder, CrossBraining
Continuous
communication and continuous improvement are going to be key as there
is so much we can learn from others; it's important to take note and
adjust as needed as we don't know how long this will be our new
"normal."
— Kara Longo
Korte, Director, Product Management at TetraVX
By the time schools
are into their third and fourth week of virtual learning, teachers
and administrators will have a better sense of what's working for
students and teachers so far and, hopefully, they will have a better
sense of the duration of time the schools will remain closed. Using
feedback from teachers and students, identify best next steps. If
students need more of a challenge or report that they are spending
minimal time on their work and are still doing well, teachers can
identify ways to increase the engagement and rigor of the work either
by changing expectations on assignments or bringing back some lessons
that were initially omitted.
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
Should our
teachers worry about finals or big projects during this period?
If a project or
final exam is easily transferrable to the online environment, there
may not be a need to adapt. If the assignment can be scaled back
somewhat without impacting the learning goals, this may make the
workload for the student and teacher more manageable. Schools and
teachers will need to consider that finals (and all work students are
turning in) will be difficult to proctor remotely. This may be waived
completely, or schools may ask students to sign an "honor code"
document promising to complete their own work (maybe just for finals;
maybe for all work). Alternately, schools could ask a parent or
guardian to sign a document stating they will proctor the student
during exams. Any of these options could present challenges, so the
schools will need to determine the best approach for their community.
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
Replace final exams
with projects students can turn in.
— Shaan Patel,
founder of Prep
Expert
There are no reasons
why most major projects can't continue unless they require going into
a lab environment... And alternative projects can be assigned if
those the students were working on can't be completed online. This is
where asynchronous learning is better than real-time learning.
Students need the space to work on projects with groups or
individually over a period of time. In terms of exams, we have to
make sure students are still on track for success. Teachers matter
greatly in this effort — they need to be able to adapt nimbly for
all challenges students may have.
— John Baker,
CEO, D2L
What should we do
about students who don't have good internet access?
Schools
should aim to provide alternative learning materials or hotspots to
students who don't have good internet access. There are several
telecom companies offering support to districts at reduced prices,
including Kajeet, T-Mobile, and Verizon. Cable companies are also
offering free
internet to K-12
students who qualify.
— Kevin
Dorsey, EdTech Advisor, GoGuardian
This is a tough one.
However, 81 percent of Americans own a smartphone (versus only 74
percent with a computer or laptop). Luckily, most online learning
platforms now have an app that can be used on a smartphone in
[situations where] students lack accessibility to a computer or
laptop. Use smartphone data (hopefully their parent has unlimited
data) or ask a neighbor [for access] to Wi-Fi.
— Shaan Patel,
founder of Prep
Expert
If students are
unable to secure internet at home, the school's technology team will
need to work with state and local resources to secure a hotspot or
sign the family up for free internet from a service provider like
Comcast.
If students have limited access to a computer and the school is
unable to provide a laptop, they [should] be allowed to turn in work
via email attachment or Google Docs, particularly if there is new
software that is not compatible with the computer a student is using.
— Carol
Ribeiro, CEO, VHS
Learning
The
key is simplifying. When designing online curricula, less is more.
It's important to use technology that students are already familiar
with whether it be via mobile phones or computers. If students do not
have access to technology or strong internet connections at home,
teachers and educators can send students home with paper-based
content and clear instructions.
— Sara Monteabaro, Lead, Learning, MIT
Solve
Find more resources for schools during the COVID-19 crisis here.