Digital Learning Hub - Learning from Home Guide

Talking to your whole family about what is happening. Understanding the situation will reduce any anxiety you may have.
Think about how you have coped with difficult situations in the past and know that you will cope with this situation too. The isolation won't last for long.
Exercise regularly. Options could include exercise DVDs, dancing, floor exercises, yoga, walking around the backyard or using home exercise equipment, such as a stationary bicycle, if you have it. Exercise will make you feel good.
Keep in touch with family members and friends via telephone, email or social media (where appropriate).
Use your imagination and try ideas for new activities to do at home.
Plan your day and plan for your wellbeing

Download this day planner or design your own based on this example.

Why is this important for learning ?

Stress can have a significant impact on learning, particularly on memory. While stress can make us more alert and focus our memory too much stress can have the opposite effect. Learning to manage stress in turns helps our brain to learn.

Check out the Wellbeing page for more advice. This will be updated regularly !

Google Meet: Guidelines for Students

Castletroy College Google Meet Guidelines

Students are expected to adhere to the Castletroy College Internet Acceptable Use Policy while participating in Google Meet sessions. Any student(s) exhibiting inappropriate behavior will be removed from the session and appropriate school sanctions will apply.

Students are prohibited from recording, photographing, or taking a screenshot of the Google Meet session. This also applies to a recording of a session posted in google classroom. Students are prohibited from downloading such recordings. Failure to comply with this may result in school sanctions and the school also reserves the right to report any illegal activities to the appropriate authorities.

● Prior to joining the Google Meet, find a safe, comfortable, quiet space in your home where you can work effectively and successfully

● Sit where your device remains immobile (on a table or desk) and the camera is directed on your face.

○ Tip - Lighting is best if it is behind the computer, not behind you.

● Remember to be respectful, responsible, and kind

● Respect your teacher and classmates while in an online session

● Make sure that you are dressed appropriately for a class session

● Log in with your school account.

● All students need to mute their mics, unless the teacher calls on you or has muted your mic already.

○ Tip - move your cursor to the bottom of the screen to see the microphone button

○ When appropriate, use the raise your hand feature so the teacher can see that you would like to say something.

○ Type questions/answers in the chat feature if this is allowed by your teacher

○ The chat feature is for question and answer, class work and class discussion only

● Limit background noise, so your teacher and classmates can hear you clearly when you speak.

● Do not talk when someone else is talking.

● Only share your screen when instructed to by your teacher.

● Keep your video on unless the teacher directs you to turn it off.

● You alone should be clearly visible on camera and no one else.

● Turn off your camera if you have to leave and explain this to your teacher as soon as possible after

● Stay focused on your class and pay attention when others are speaking.

○ Wear earbuds or a headset to mute household noise, if necessary.

● Do not make faces or exhibit distracting behaviour or activity of any kind

● Use only the blurred background feature for privacy however you may turn this off if your internet connection is slow

● Quit programs you are not using

○ Chrome: Close unnecessary tabs

○ Windows: close programs in your taskbar

○ Mac: look for the black dot under the app in your Dock which indicates an open app.

○ iPad: double click and swipe up to close apps.

●Promptly exit the meeting when the meeting is over. Your teacher will be the first one on and last one out of a meeting.

● If the teacher's internet connection fails and you see the teacher has vanished from the Google Meet without explanation leave the meeting immediately. The teacher will check the automatic Meet attendance to confirm all students follow this instruction.

● Any engagement with Google Meet classes must be consistent with the school ethos, AUP and code of conduct.

Student responsibilities during remote learning

establishing and/or following a daily routine for learning
identifying a safe, comfortable, quiet space in your home where you can work effectively and successfully
Stay organised. Keep a calendar of tasks and deadlines. Have your course materials and notes in one place so you use your time for learning, not searching for course materials.
regularly monitoring Google Classroom, Gmail and the Student Digital Learning Hub to check for announcements and feedback from teachers
completing tasks with integrity and academic honesty, doing your best work
doing your best to meet timelines, commitments, and due dates
communicating proactively with your teachers if you cannot meet deadlines or require additional support
collaborating and supporting your classmates in their learning
complying with the school AUP which is in your journal
seeking out and communicating with school staff as different needs arise.
Take regular breaks. Stand up to stretch. Rest your eyes every 20 minutes.
Minimize distractions. Close browser tabs and windows not relevant to your learning. Turn off all phone notifications.

Having routines and expectations of yourself

You have a school timetable and you should try to stick to this as much as possible even though you are now learning from home. This should include regular breaks for activity, eating and drinking. In the breaks, it is important for you to get up and move around.

From the first day you will need to establish routines and expectations.

Keep normal bedtime routines too.

Daily checklist

In the morning, ask yourself:

what are you learning today?
what are your learning targets or goals?
how will you be spending your time?
what resources do you require?
what support do you need?

In the afternoon, ask:

what did you learn today?
acknowledge one thing that was difficult. Either let it go or come up with a strategy to deal with the same problem if it comes up again
consider three things that went well today. Why were they good?
are you ok? Do you need to ask your teacher for something? Do you need help with something to make tomorrow more successful?
Be kind to yourself. If you find yourself suddenly thrust into a remote learning situation, expecting high productivity is expecting too much of yourself and can increase stress. Set reasonable goals and communicate with your teachers about your progress and challenges.

Communicating with the school

Make sure that you know how the school and your teachers will be communicating with you and check that channel regularly. Castletroy College uses Google Classroom, Email and The Student Digital Learning Hub so check all of the following regularly:

Check the Student Digital Learning Hub for advice, support, video tutorials and information on learning from home.
Check your email and google classroom for notifications on learning materials, assignments posted by your teachers and direct communication from your teachers.
Check your google calendar regularly to track due dates for assignments and hangout meet class time with your teachers. Think of google calendar as you online student journal for noting homework due dates and events to attend!
Teachers may be communicating with you during this period using Google Hangouts Meet.
Teachers may have set times where students can chat with them online and they can deliver video lessons.

It is important for you to remember that teachers will be communicating with many students so your communications should be meaningful and short. Be patient when waiting for support or feedback.

Staying motivated

Staying motivated is a challenge for everybody no matter what the context. Below are several strategies to try to keep you motivated.

Be SMART. A common reason why goals are often not achieved is because the goal itself was too vague or too big. A popular technique for making goals we can reach is called SMART, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Based.
- Be as specific as possible when making a goal.
- Have a way to measure your goal so you can track progress.
- Create a goal you can reasonably achieve with the resources you have today.
- Keep the goal relevant to the direction you wish to go.
- Set the time or date at which you hope to accomplish your goal.
Effort not ability. The best athletes train, train , train. Believing that we can improve through trial and error, through effort and practice is called a growth mindset. When you feel like quitting, put in a few more minutes or a bit more effort and see if you can push past the desire to give up.
Hardest thing first. When we are rested and have an alert, fresh mind, we are more likely to push through challenging tasks than when we are tired and spent. It is better to start with a hard task than to save it for last. When you push through the tough stuff you will feel motivated to push on with the rest of your work.
Little rewards. Taking breaks is important to staying motivated and energised. Give yourself small rewards you like for putting in a strong effort. Chocolate can be good for you !

Practice, Apply, Reflect

To retain your newly learned knowledge and skills , it is important to repeatedly practice new skills, apply knowledge in different contexts, and reflect on what you have learned.

Some learning strategies to try:

Keep a learning journal. Regularly reflect on our learning by writing down thoughts and questions that come to mind. Write daily or weekly summarising what you are learning, perhaps like you are writing a diary or a text to a friend. Use your Digital Portfolio.
Retrieval practice. Every time you have to remember something, you deepen your memory of that something, which makes it easier and quicker to remember later. Create opportunities to remember newly learned concepts or skills. Flashcards are a popular method of memory training. Try the Brainscape free version for DIY digital flashcards.
Ask yourself why. It is common in online learning environments that teachers ask you to answer questions multiple times. These quizzes or short tests are good at providing instant feedback if you are right or wrong. But guessing the answer will not help you remember it. Even if you get the answer right the first time, make sure you understand why your answer is correct.
Make connections. Drawing connections between new material you’re learning and what you already know or experienced is an effective way to deepen learning. For examples, think of real life examples of concepts from your course; remember similar concepts from something you have already learnt; check your notes from previous classes before you learn new material; or summarise main ideas and concepts using examples different to the ones you are given using ones that you imagine.

Try this simple approach

First, skim or survey through your material to get the key concepts.
List out several questions you have about the subject matter.
Now read again but more thoroughly and this time try to answer the questions you listed.
Next, try to remember what you just learned. Pretend you are explaining it to someone you know.
Review and reflect. Are you able to answer your questions? Do you have new questions ? If so, repeat the process to try answering your new questions.

Taking Notes & Revision

Taking Notes

Taking notes is recommended when you engage with online content. It is a popular learning strategy regardless of the type of material you engage with and having a note taking method is important. The Cornell note taking method is a recognised and popular method.

Downloadable Cornell notes templates, examples of notes taken with this method and more instructions can be found here.

Revision

Revision is active learning if your go about it the right way. Check out the tips here.

Managing screen time

Screen time refers to the amount of time a user spends on a device to access on-screen activities.

There are limits as to the amount of time everyone should spend online, but the amounts and the rules for screen time vary by age.

Video conferencing and social interactions using video do not count towards screen time.

The following recommended screen times (excluding video conferencing) are based on the recommendations from the HSE:

Parents of children aged 6 and older should place limits on the time spent on screens. This is to ensure this time doesn’t interfere with sleep and physical activities.

Some screen time activities such as online socializing and gaming can be very immersive. Make sure that non-school activities are limited in length.

Behaviour

Even though you are at home you still need to comply with the schools policies regarding behaviour when engaged in online learning using school platforms.

You can refer to the following: Castletroy College School Policies

Collaboration, group work and peer feedback during remote learning will require students to communicate online and work together in digital spaces.

The expectations of your behaviour will be the same as a face to face lesson.

Digital citizenship

We recommend that you take the time to explore webwise.

It is important that during this period of remote learning that we maintain safe and responsible use of information and communication technologies.

This includes appropriate use of digital platforms, privacy and information protection, respectful communication and how to deal with online issues.

InterlandInterland is an adventure-packed online game that puts the key lessons of digital citizenship and safety into hands-on practice. Play your way to being Internet Awesome.

Important tips for life online:

Be Smart
Be Strong
Be Alert
Be Kind
Be Brave

Play a simple online game from Google called Interland to learn more.

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