Vol. 1 Issue 6

Virtual School Readiness

Greetings Eagle family! Thanks for stopping by the Tech Corner, we really appreciate you taking the time to read this month’s article. Today we will be discussing virtual learning and readiness.

A school closure can happen nearly instantly. One event, one protest, one crazy Coronavirus outbreak and everyone in the school will be at home trying to pick up from where school left off the day before. Sometimes these school closures happen for a day or two, maybe a week. But like the case of my former colleague who is now the high school principal at an international school in Beijing, his school was turned upside down and is currently on a 3 month physical campus closure period. However, school has not stopped in Beijing. Teachers, students, and administrators are still carrying on the learning of school wherever it is in the world they have ventured to for safe harbor. Therefore, it is vital that we have a plan in place here at AISL in case something like this happens. E-learning days are like a fire drill, we need to practice it so in case something does happen, we are ready.

As a parent, virtual learning days can be the hardest for you. Kids and teachers may welcome the days because they no longer are forced to be in a controlled space. They can learn or teach at their own pace so long as a class isn’t synchronous. For parents however, these days are tough for two primary reasons. First, if your work is not closed down for the same reason, you are now forced to look for parental guidance of your child when you aren’t home. Who is going to watch or look after your child on these e-learning days? Secondly, when a student is at home trying to learn, many times, the parent then becomes the teacher. This is an easier said than done task and varies from family to family, child to child. The task multiplies in difficulty when you have more than one child and they are in different divisions.

Today, I would like to offer some strategies that may help you as a parent during these e-learning days, whether you are the one at home playing teacher, or if you have someone else stepping in to support:

1. Help your child build a schedule - With all of the flexibility in time, many students will need support structuring their days in a similar fashion to that of an actual school day. This means waking up at an early enough time to get assignments in, scheduling daily deadlines, and finding an appropriate amount of time to work, play, and rest. An optimal schedule would be one that mirrors the actual school day. An early start with breaks throughout the day to exercise and all classwork completed by the end of a normal day.
2. Designate work areas for virtual school - If a student is laying on the couch in front of a television that is playing a sitcom rerun on Netflix, that is probably not the best space to have focused learning. If a child is also alone in their room with the doors closed, that’s another space that can be taken advantage of. The virtual learning day space should be in a common open area with easy access to Wifi and a seating arrangement that allows for proper back support. An example of this would be the kitchen table.
3. Familiarize yourself with the Virtual Classroom - One of the benefits of having a virtual classroom is that you as a parent have the option of being a student in that classroom as well. Flipped lessons usually include videos, so you can watch the lessons with your children if you so choose. You are also able to see the direct feedback and instruction from teachers within the learning platform. This level of transparency allows for you and your children to really make a connection about the learning and your levels of support increase because you know exactly what the expectations are and what learning materials are delivered.
4. Communicate with your Child’s Teachers - Virtual learning days are not time off for the teachers. They are working just as much on an e-learning day if not more because creating an instructional video is time-consuming work. During the day, teachers are continually giving feedback to students and answering any questions that they have in a timely manner. Therefore they need to be available to students and parents as well throughout the day. Take advantage of this opportunity and have the teachers guide you so you can support your kids.
5. Ensure you’re technologically equipped for your student’s success - The worst-case scenario for your student during an e-learning day is not having the tools to follow the class. That means having reliable WiFi (or hotspot from a phone as a backup). Students will also need to do work on a device. This means getting your child a learning tablet or laptop depending on the age. Avoid lending your work device to students during these days to avoid costly mistakes. I have heard stories of work computer files becoming corrupted and then uploaded to the company servers because their child clicked or opened the wrong thing. This resulted in very costly data breaches, etc.