Day 53 - BPS Remote Learning - Jenn Scheffer - BHS Mobile Learning Coach

This post first appeared on the BPS EdTech Blog

Blended learning in K-12 education and at the postsecondary level continues to rise as free, high quality technology resources become more accessible and easy to use. The integration of device agnostic applications and web-based tools provide students with access to curriculum materials anytime, anywhere…even during a Nor’easter!

Burlington Public Schools continues to explore the concept of remote learning and the BPS EdTech Team is encouraging teachers to take advantage of online tools that, when used purposefully, allow learning to continue even when students can’t physically be at school due to bad weather cancellations. As a district Mobile Learning Coach and high school Instructional Technology Specialist, I am available to assist teachers of all disciplines with the curation of online resources and the creation of blended learning experiences for their students. Whether you wish to work with me one on one or in a small group setting, I am available during the school day to help you and/or your team develop your BPS Remote Learning (formally BPS Blizzard Bag) resources.

Leveraging online tools including EduCanon, Edpuzzle, Zaption, Screencastify, MoveNote, QuickTime, Explain Everything, TED-Ed, Google Hangouts, and of course YouTube (see the instructional videos my Help Desk students and I have created on my channel) will help your instruction continue when mother nature strikes. What’s more, many of these tools provide meaningful formative assessment student data. The data gathered will in turn help you more effectively differentiate and personalize your instruction.

Learners in your classroom are used to being online. When they have questions, they Google the answers. When they need to learn something new, they turn to YouTube. It’s time to meet our learners where they are at and deliver a portion of our instruction in a place where they feel comfortable learning. Whether that’s YouTube, Google Classroom, your website or blog, your students (and their parents) will appreciate having access to your course materials even if school is cancelled. They will appreciate it even more when they can get out of school on time! Again, I’m available (during your prep period or after school!) to help you explore blended learning resources and discuss the best platform for disseminating these resources to your students. To book an appointment with me, please visit jscheffer.youcanbook.me. The appointment will automatically be added to my Google Calendar. I look forward to working with you, individually or with your department/team, and preparing for the winter of 2016. I hear it’s going to be brutal!

To learn even more about blended learning, check out my presentation slides from this year’s BPSCON:

Blended Learning: A Toolkit for Educators.

Day 52 - BPS Remote Learning K-8 - Diana Marcus - BPS Mobile Learning Coach

This post originally appeared on BPS Ed Tech Blog

The goal of remote learning when school is cancelled due to inclement weather or other emergencies is to reduce the extent to which student learning is interrupted. While there is no substitute for the rich learning experiences present in our schools, students can continue to partake of the curriculum with teacher support even on days when access to school buildings is not possible. In most cases, this will require minor adaptations of materials already available or providing additional opportunities for practice of learned material.

Remote learning on inclement weather days will, of necessity, look different for students in grades 1-8 as these students do not have access to their district-supplied iPads at home. Additionally, accessing materials online and utilizing email, while technically possible, is more difficult for students in the earliest grades. Most students do have access to a web-enabled device at home (tablet, smartphone, laptop, or desktop) and it will be important for the school to determine who does not have this access in order to make a decision as to the best way to address remote learning.

Examples of upper elementary and middle school English Language Arts include literature responses to teacher-selected or independent reading, writing prompts, and vocabulary work. Math work on remote learning days can focus on additional practice of math fluency and problem solving using paper-and-pencil materials or one of the online programs to which we subscribe (TenMarks, Symphony, Reflex Math). This would also be an opportunity for “show what you know” assignments for which teachers may not have time in class. For example, students can create a product that demonstrates their deep understanding of a current topic in math, incorporating relevant vocabulary, strategies, and algorithms using the medium of their choosing. Many of the “Writing in Math” problems supplied with the Envisions program can be made into these assignments.

Science and Social Studies both lend themselves to a “flipped” model, with students reading or watching materia at home and summarizing the content or generating questions for a class discussion when students return to school.  

Students will have greater success with these learning experiences if they have prior practice. For example, if students will be asked to take notes or generate questions relating to a video as part of a remote learning assignment, they should have directed practice taking notes and generating questions on videos in class so that they know the routine.

I am available to work with teachers individually or in teams on any of the above resources or to co-plan for remote/blended learning experiences. Simply drop me an email at marcus@bpsk12.org or set up an appointment online athttps://marcusbpsk12.youcanbook.me/