Please note that this page is intended to offer support for faculty and staff.

Families or students who have questions about the tools and resources available can visit our Learning at Home page, or contact your homeroom teacher, advisor, or Director of Academic Technology Kate Reardon.

Click on the icons below for best practices and suggested tools that we are comfortable supporting remotely.

As you consider how you might continue your curriculum remotely, please let your learning goals be your guide and contact Kate with questions about how our tech tools might support those learning goals.

Below are some recommended best practices for remote learning. Please contact the Tech Dept if you have questions, specific needs, or would like to schedule a 1:1 session.

FAQs & Best Practices

Some best practices for planning your lessons:

• Consider which parts of the day are most important to your classroom culture and try to incorporate those.
• Leave space for teacher-recommended activities to do with families; but also consider the family schedules of students. Be respectful of parents who are working or might not be used to teaching curriculum.
• Research shows that curriculum is generally covered more quickly in an online environment.
• Plan on extra time to plan a lesson.

• Kate recommends a flipped classroom model for our age groups: 1) assign a short reading, video, or screencast for students to watch independently; 2) provide guiding questions or materials to practice the skills; 3) schedule a short 20 minute video call for questions, informal assessment, or office hours.

Some best practices for running a live video class:

• Each time a student enters the videochat, say his/her name and ask how s/he is doing. In addition to creating a caring online environment, it will also help ensure the students' video and mic are working.
• Start each videochat session with a reminder of digital citizenship expectations. Here is a sample script: "Although we are in an online environment, please remember that online=offline and our classroom rules and honor code apply. We want to be respectful of one another, take care of our devices and class tools, and let an adult know if something doesn't seem right." You can find our DCD AUPromise here.
• Pay attention to your environment (background, ambient noise, lighting, etc.) when filming a video. Try to limit distractions for those joining the live stream.
• Balance synchronous with asynchronous learning time.

Synchronous learning helps build class culture, but does not need to be long in duration. Here are some suggestions for meaningful synchronous learning opportunities:

• A short 20 minute check in
• Optional online office hours for questions
• Storytime or a sing-along
• Book group
• Informal verbal assessment of a completed asynchronous activity.
• A virtual field trip, such as a teacher live streaming from a hike, museum, or other location. (Provided the teacher can safely be in those spaces.)

If the apps listed below don't meet your needs, let Kate know and she can help you find the right tool.

• You might also be interested in exploring new apps or tools. This is a list of edtech companies that have made their apps or upgrades free to facilitate remote learning during the pandemic: EdTech Discounted Tools for Remote Learning. In addition, this is a list of 24 Digital Tools for Formative Assessment. Please note that we might not be able to support every tool on that spreadsheet.

Remember to always let the DCD mission and values guide your decisions around remote learning.