The following are discussion talking points to "get the conversation started" with regard to remote learning considerations for the BPS District. All examples are only for illustrative purposes, and no endorsements of any products or services is intended or implied. Many community members have posed questions for discussion, and I have incorporated many of those, with some brief answers, below. For example, the difference between Learning Management Systems and Learning Content Development.
Again, this is just a discussion-starter, as I believe the best decisions are revealed through intentional collaboration between the Community, Educational staff, Administration, and Board, with significant feedback from the students. As well, I assure the community that I receive no pecuniary benefit from any particular path on which the District goes. My interests are strictly as an involved parent and civic-minded community member.
What Are Realistic Expectations of Teachers?
- Most teachers are not trained in remote educational pedagogy/practices.
- Most teachers are not trained in remote educational materials development (i.e. remote Learning Content Development).
- Many teachers have families at home that they need to take care of while they are working/teaching.
- The current, transitional model implicitly telegraphs that teachers are responsible for:
- Providing top quality (i.e. BPS quality) curricular plans
- Implementing successful remote teaching methods
- Providing accurate and meaningful grading
- Monitoring social-emotional support for students (and families)
What Are Realistic Expectations of Families/Parents?
- Many, if not most, parents need to work from home, so they have limited opportunity to tutor/guide students at home.
- As parts of the economy open up, many parents will be required to go back to working outside of the home, while students may still be remote, creating a supervision dilemma.
- Without adequate supplementary materials, many parents will not be able to tutor/guide their students with remote work.
- Electronic resources (computers, networking, peripherals, etc.) are being procured through the BPS Technologies Department
What Are Realistic Expectations of Curricula?
- Fully vetted, whether on-premise or remote
- Curricula will result in a viable BPS-quality student diploma, including honors and AP options
- Be welcoming to home-based families in our District
- Of a quality that could increase our BPS student count by attracting other District families
- Remote curricula should be in relatively seamless concert with on-premise education
- Community support and buy-in
- Financially viable, especially with potential use of bond dollars wherever possible
What Are Realistic Expectations for Special Needs Student?
- Possibly the first group of students back on-premise full-time
- Possible building/room modifications to accommodate for reasonable distancing
- Possibly hiring additional staff and acquiring additional resources
What Are Realistic Expectations for Building Use?
- Possibly alternating full-days to accommodate for half-population attendance
- Possibly extending workdays into two “shifts”—but this creates bussing problems too
- Possible repurposing of large gathering areas to create new, temporary, mobile classrooms to thin out density
- Disinfecting between days and/or “shifts”
Native BPS Program Development vs “Out-Of-The-Box” Solutions
- Speaking candidly, from a personal and professional perspective, I believe development and implementation of a native BPS remote learning program is not expedient in the short run. Such an approach is viable in the long-run, but those types of curricula often take years to fully develop.
- More specifically, I believe it is too much to require teachers to create accredited, remote educational materials, consistent with the high quality of the BPS District—with all that entails--as well as keep track of the social and emotional concerns of all of their students in a remote learning scenario. That is just too foreboding of a task. Both academics and social-emotional support for students will suffer, and the personal toll on teachers will be inescapable in all but a few situations.
- It is far more expedient for the District to purchase and provide teachers with state-of-the-art "out-of-the-box" remote learning solutions. This will then free up the teachers to keep a closer pulse on social-emotional issues, as well as allow them to provide added support for students who need extra help. I believe this paradigmatic role change for the teachers will allow them and their students to find the greatest level of success and personal fulfillment in less than optimal circumstances.
- The future of our District (like so many others) likely involves hybrid learning environments, so there is little reason for BPS to delay the inevitability of purchasing and implementing state-of-the-art remote learning tools. Let’s be on the forefront of this evolution.
Learning Content
Learning Content refers to the actual content that is disseminated and managed by teachers and other staff for each course/curriculum. The methods for creating quality remote learning content are significantly different than the methods for creating on-premise leaning content. However, in either scenario, teachers can create their own learning content, purchase out-of-the-box learning content, and/or utilize a hybrid of purchased materials with natively developed content.
Although BPS teachers are well-trained in on-premise learning content development (LCD), the typical teacher is not vastly trained in remote learning content development. That said, BPS teachers are quite capable of developing quality remote learning content, but that transition is not an overnight process. In fact, it is not unlikely that it would take a week or two of hard work to create a single hour of remote learning content. And as far as full curricula are involved, high quality, engaging remote learning curricula often take years to reach a high level of maturity.
Hence, while our long-term goal might be to have our teachers develop and disseminate their own remote content, in the short run, it is expedient to purchase state-of-the-art learning content, while our teachers take the necessary time to receive District-funded, quality remote LCD training over the course of perhaps years.
Below is a representative list of remote Learning Content providers of various types. No endorsement of any product is implied, as there are many very good learning content providers. This list is simply for illustrative purposes.
- Discovery Learning
- Apex
- Strongmind
- NewPath
- PACworks
- CK12
- Beyond Textbooks
Learning Management Systems (LMS)
A Learning Content Management System is the software platform from which teaching/learning can take place. It is not necessarily linked to the actual content of the course; it is rather, the platform from which all sorts of content can be disseminated and managed.
The linked slideshow below—which was published in 2016--and the recap is just an example of what a comparative exercise of common learning management systems might look like. No endorsement of any product is implied, as there are many very good for-fee and free learning management systems available. This example is simply for illustrative purposes, to show the types of things a professional utilizing an LMS might consider.
https://www.slideshare.net/MarkMaxwellMEd/which-lms-is-the-best-pros-and-cons-of-blackboard-d2l-and-canvas-64850738)
Sample Slideshow Recap:
- Blackboard
- Pro—Some modules are already budgeted within BPS District
- Pro--Longevity in the market
- Con—High management turnover in company
- Canvas
- Pro-Nice interface
- Con-Missing some core features
- D2L / Brightspace
- Pro—Drag and drop feature
- Pro--Gradebook set-up wizard
- Pro—Instructional Design wizard
- Anecdotal assessment of their respective strengths
- System Layout – D2L / Brightspace
- Discussions – Blackboard
- Assignments – Canvas
- Quizzes / Tests – Blackboard
- Gradebook – D2L / Brightspace
Remote Learning Content Development (LCD)
Remote Learning Content Development refers to the process of creating the actual content that is to be disseminated and managed to remote learners. There are several LCD training tracts offered for teachers/staff through private and public institutions.
Remote LCD is a legitimate professional development tract that is likely to see unprecedented enrollment due to the increasing reliance on remote learning for public and private education. Whereas businesses were often the primary targets for LCD training programs, over the last several years, school districts have seen the need for properly LCD-trained teachers and staff.
Make no mistake, the Districts that have teachers and staff that are well-trained in remote learning content development will have a marked advantage over all others.
BPS should not delay in making the necessary professional development investment for its teachers and staff.
Course Design Methodology
Deductive (building backwards) is preferable to Inductive (building forwards)
- Obtain Freshman course materials from local universities
- Build a 12th grade syllabi that dovetails into the university material
- Work “backwards” by grade level to build preceding grade level syllabi for each respective course and/or subject, so that it dovetails forward into the next, successive course.
- If classes are to be taken in cohorts, create course content that is semestral at most, utilizing typical 14-week semesters.
- If classes are to be taken as self-paced, create course content that is topical, but that dovetails into successive courses.
Teaching Methodology
- When possible, cross-teach subject areas, for example
- History and Writing
- Science and Research Methods
- Math and Logic
- Etc.
- Utilize recorded teacher-lead instruction
- That can be watched again by students, when further review is necessary
- Helps parents understand and support from home the items that are being taught by teachers
- Team Teaching as a Remote Learning Model
- Each teacher would be responsible to create a unit and present remotely, so that the students in several classes—who are taking the same course—could learn that common material. The other teachers, then, would be utilizing that time to create their respective units, which they would subsequently teach in the same manner. This gives teachers ample time to create lessons and prepare adequately, and reduces the likelihood of the same content being developed by different teachers at the same time.
- This approach would help to reduce teacher burn-out
Grading Methodology
- Proctored tests are preferred over un-proctored tests
- Test in-building when possible
- When remote testing is necessary, utilize a professional proctoring solution
- Reduce the number of assignments that lend themselves to plagiarism
- Conduct oral exams when possible, even remotely
- Implement a normal grading scale (i.e. A, B, C, D)