Distance Learning: Take a Breath, You are More Prepared Than You May Realize!

As many educators around the world reflect on their practice and move to a distance learning model – not by choice – please, take time to breathe. Yes, a period of transition and challenges has been placed in front of you abruptly, but I promise, you are more prepared than you may realize.

 

 

At the heart of your teaching practice are core pedagogies and teaching philosophies that have always guided your instructional approach and how you build relationships with students. Whether you are a behaviourist, cognitivist or constructivist who practices lecture-based, active, project-based, inquiry, and/or participatory learning activities, there is a place for all of these in distance learning. Right now, a myriad of digital resources are being shared, which, can lead to feelings of anxiety, fear and being overwhelmed. To help you through this transition, I have five phrases of wisdom – or reminders – to share…

1. Do not lose who you are as a teacher. Those approaches and tasks you find success and comfort in are still valuable, and may still be quite easy to transfer to a distance model. As many research-based instructional design methods highlight, when planning any learning, you first determine learning outcomes and the task (ID4T; (Carr-Chellman, 2010), prior to selecting the technology. This is just as true for distance education models. In other words, the task determines the technology, regardless of how the learning is being shared.
2. You already have tools you are familiar with. No matter what level of blended learning format (a combination of face-to-face and online) you are at on your teaching journey, I guarantee you have already began. Some may be only communicating via email to parents, while others may have a fully-developed Learner Management System (LMS) in place. Plus, almost all of you have access to a video recording device (remember, we are our own worst critic!). This could include Google Classroom, D2L, Moodle, FreshGrade, or any other online web tool that provides a way to communicate with students and/or parents. Whether it be simply email that you choose to share your lessons/projects/resources or a platform that allows for discussion boards, assignment sharing and task submission, the most important component is communicating with your learners.
3. You know your learners, and you know how they learn best. To get technical, you have already completed your learner profiling. You are aware of which students struggle with reading/writing, you know who your class leaders are, and you know who is good (maybe even better) with technology. You also know how to use this knowledge to create the best learning environment you can with the resources you have to work with. Plus, let’s be honest, you are also quite good at creating magical learning tasks with less-than-ideal conditions. Now, you just have to add one more ingredient… how will the student learn best through a distance model? Do not be afraid to ask the student and parent what he/she needs to be successful. But for a quick synopsis of K-12 Distance Learner characteristics, please click here (shorter than this post, I promise).
4. You are aware that inequities exist and do your best to reduce the divide. Yes, with distance learning, there are new challenges. Students may not be getting their lunch or have a face-to-face weekly check-in with their guidance or resource teacher. But you know how to advocate for these guys, and will continue to do so.  They will not be forgotten.  Plus, lies the challenge of the digital divide – how do we support those who have limited or no access to wifi/computers/technology? This, too, will work out, as distance learning is part of our history. You may need to mail some packages home to those in need and make phone calls to check in and check for understanding. This may require including a self-address stamped return envelope, but the work will come in.
5. Your students already have tools they need to complete the work… in ways that will support your competency and curricular outcomes. Many of us have “gone Google”, incorporating Drive, Docs, Slides, Forms, Sites, etc. into our practice. For some, this is only among colleagues, while for others, their classrooms are already paperless. Wherever you are in this journey, your kids CAN use these effectively too. Group work can still be done and peer/teacher feedback can occur. Students can share their workspaces with you and you can communicate with them in real-time or asynchronously to provide support. They can collaborate with one another, demonstrate critical thinking and contribute to each others’ learner. Plus, if there was ever a time to demonstrate flexibility and adaptability, here it is! Just think of those year-end summaries!! If you do not use Google, writing on paper and then sending it to a peer or group member by a photo or over FaceTime, can work. Take this time to leverage those devices that your learners have. If they are too young, use this as an opportunity to engage the parents in learning and see just how beneficial a mobile device is for a student’s learning is, if used properly (see a great summary graph here).

Overall, hopefully these phrases provide some grounding in a world filled with chaos and uncertainty.  And remember, you are an educator, you are an expert in overcoming obstacles to create incredible learning for your students… and you’ve got this!!

References:

Carr-Chellman, A. (2010). Instructional design for teachers: Improving classroom practice. Florence, KY: Routledge. eISBN: 9780203847275