Distance Learning Resources
Sample Learning Plans & Actionable Steps You Can Take
From the Global Online Academy (GOA) course "Designing for Online Learning":
- Helping Students Navigate When Learning Online (video) Two great tips: 1) Organize tasks into manageable "bites"; 2) Create explicit transitions and pause points
- Help students pace themselves throughout the week. For example, send Google Calendar invites that include one task students should complete each day, or share a Google Doc with a grid displaying suggested schedules students might follow to be successful in your class.
- GOA has published the article "Five Tips for Designing Excellent Video Calls": click here
- Building meaningful relationships when online learning: click here (I love the pen pal activity!)
- GOA's Four Habits of Successful Online Learners: Be active; be resilient; be steady & reliable; be playful. Click here for more info
In Patches' spirit of "everything is going to be ok," I like this article from Edutopia: Teaching Through a Pandemic: A Mindset for This Moment
Google Education has compiled a great resource about how to leverage Google apps when teaching remotely: click here
This is a great example of one teacher's process for planning a week of physics class for remote learning. Her icons make the tasks clear to students, screen time is limited, her learning goals are articulated, and she has a nice mix of sychronous and asynchronous learning opportunities. Click here
Dedham Public Schools has set up a nice resource for parents of all grade levels. (I especially like their learning plans because they encourage student choice and lay out realistic expectations for families.) To view an example, click here.
The International School of Brussels has shared their Distance Learning Plan. There are some great examples of schedules on the Divisional Learning Plans page.
Khan Academy has published suggested schedules and resources during school closures, broken out by grade levels: click here
The ADA provides tips for making online learning accessible to all learners: click here
This slide summarizes GOA's "Summative Assessments: Tips for Designing Assessments in Online Learning Environments" - watch this video for more
Tools for Online Learning
HGSE Project Zero's Thinking Routines Tool can help you design lessons that work well remotely: click here
Northwestern University's Icebreakers in Online Classes. While we already know each other in face-to-face environments, ice breaker activities will help us get to know our "digital twins" in a digital environment. Click here
School Reform Initiative has curated a list of Feedback Protocols, many of which work nicely for online learning.
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 these lists.
Research & Recommendations from Experts
This is a helpful article from Harvard Business School entitled "How to Quickly Adapt to Teaching Online": click here
Stanford's Teaching Through Disruption document has compiled resources and best practices for teaching in times of disruption: click here
The Boston College Center for Teaching Excellence has compiled best practices for Synchronous Learning: click here
Harvard University has curated a Best Practices: Online Pedagogy page: click here
An excellent article by Ken Wheeler, Head of St. Thomas School in Washington state, with concrete steps you can take to set up teachers, students, and families for success during remote learning: click here