Tag: eLearning

5 tips for remote learning

As we head towards the end of the Easter break and into the new term and for a lot of schools, a period of remote learning, I thought I would share my thoughts and tips on remote learning.

The first point I would make is that there is no one solution to remote learning.  It depends on your context including the age of your students, previous experience using technology and online learning platforms, individual subject requirements, teachers confidence with platforms and their own personal experience of those that are available and the equipment available to teachers and students, to name just a few factors.

  1. Seek feedback from students: Be clear and open with students, for most the use of technology in this way is new, and for all the current pandemic is new.   As a result, things may not be perfect and issues/challenges will be experienced however if we accept this we can then all work together to review, revise and improve, and to get to the best possible use of technology.  It is therefore important to seek feedback from students often in order to then revise how remote learning is delivered.
  2. Use video conferencing to regularly check in with students learning: A key part of teaching and learning is the interactions between teachers and students. Video conferencing is a key method to achieve this however we should not simply seek to substitute classroom teaching with video conferencing sessions of the same length as traditional classroom-based lessons.  We should however ensure that at the minimum there are regular check in opportunities for teacher and students to interact, discuss and share by video conferencing however this could be at the start of each lesson, once daily, at the start of a short unit of work, etc.   We need to experiment to identify which works best for the teacher and each class taught.
  3. Set clear expectations for video conferencing: Video conferencing presents challenges in relation to background noise, interruptions, talking over each other, etc.   This can clearly be seen simply by watching the use of video conferencing technology within BBC news broadcasts.   For teachers this is no different from working in a classroom, albeit the challenges when interacting virtually via video conferencing are different to those which occur in the traditional classroom where working with students face to face.   Like in the classroom it is therefore important to establish clear expectations as to how students should behaviour while on a conference call as part of the class.   It is also important to review these expectations via feedback from students, especially in the early use of video conferencing to support remote learning, to ensure all, students and teachers, share ownership of these expectations and that they meet the needs of the teacher and learners alike.
  4. Set personal boundaries for responding to students: Remote learning, the use of video conferencing, email and other online platforms can lead to teachers feeling they are always working, and even more so in international schools where students may live and therefore interact with the teacher from different time zones. This is not good for teacher wellbeing.   Boundaries need to be set as to during what times a teacher will interact, how quickly responses can be expected, etc.   I find a useful technique to address this is to have a dedicated workspace meaning the rest of the house means I am not working.   It is also important to consider what devices emails and other platforms are installed on plus how notifications are presented on devices.   On my phone, for example, I have do not disturb enabled for the evenings to stop me from instinctively responding to emails simply by suppressing the notifications outside normal working hours.
  5. Find your balance in lesson delivery: Learning can be delivered in a variety of ways both in real life and via remote learning. In remote Learning you may choose to create video content in advance similar to flipped learning, or you may do live video sessions.  You may provide students presentations to work through, or links to videos online or even worksheets or workbooks for more self-study style learning.  You may ask students to work collaboratively in groups using video conferences or you may ask them to complete questions where you can provide remote live feedback, such as via OneNote.  I do not believe any single of the above approaches to be correct as each has strengths and drawbacks with some requiring significant prep time.  You need to experiment and seek a blend of these and also other approaches I have not listed.    A point that I have seen multiple teachers state is that this is a “marathon not a sprint” so we need to be careful to not burn ourselves out by creating lots of content and exciting learning experiences in the short term, only to find this quickly used up in lessons.

The five points above are the key suggestions I would make in relation to remote learning.   You will notice they are inter-related in a number of ways.  They are purposely not over specific, as given the different contexts of teachers across a single school never mind across the globe, I don’t believe it is possible to be specific and precise without either ruling out some learning opportunities that would work or proposing approaches which in some contexts may detract or damage learning.

To all engaging in remote learning, good luck, and please do share your thoughts, successes and what hasnt worked as together we can get through this, and together we can learn a lot from this experience which may help us start to reshape the educational experiences of the students yet to grace our classrooms.

Online compliance courses

Education and schools have to cover a number of risk areas which staff need to be aware of including safeguarding, health and safety and data protection to name but three areas.   The wider world, beyond education, has similar issues which might also include COSSH, lifting and handling and personal protective equipment (PPE).   So how do we address these issues and how do we “train” staff?

Recently I have had the opportunity to see a number of online training platforms, in different contexts, which are being used to address some of the above.   The idea is that these online platforms allow staff to receive training on the areas which relate to them, while maintaining a central record of what training has been done and also sending out notifications and reminders when training has to be renewed.    All sounding good so far?

The issue I have with this is that the focus has almost totally shifted to that of compliance rather than developing learning in relation to the risk area which is being covered.    The platform shows who has done which training courses plus ensures that people do the courses, but does this actually improve the learning related to the particular risk area?

One look at some of the online training content shows multiple ways in which content can either be quickly skipped through or missed out altogether.   I must admit my own urge, when presented with some of these online courses, is to simply get it finished as quickly as possible to allow me to get on with matters I deem to be more pressing.    In addition, the content is not particularly engaging taking the form of video lectures or large amounts of text, with only minimal interaction.   Even the attempts at testing user knowledge at the end of units or modules is superficial in nature plus very much dependent on short term memory of facts as opposed to testing more longer term, or deeper learning of the subject matter.   A user may therefore seem to be proficient in a given area such as cyber security, having completed the relevant online course however may have learned very little if anything from it.

Here we see an example of the focus shifting from developing an understanding of health and safety, for example, to ensuring all have done the health and safety online course.     We stop worrying about understanding of health and safety as we can demonstrate that all staff are deemed proficient having completed to relevant online course.   We have achieved compliance but not competence.   We are considering what we can measure, the completion of online training, as what matters as opposed to trying to measure what matters.

I think we need to take a step away from the compliance culture.  Yes, it is easier to measure an organisations health and safety awareness by the number of people who have completed the annual training, but does this mean the understanding and practice is there?    I believe it doesn’t.    And if it doesn’t why should be spend the time, money and effort on these courses.   Surely, we need to find a better way?

The key for me lies in two areas, the first being how we educate and then on how we measure that learning has taken place.    In the area of education I think it is about making use of multiple delivery methods from short online content to in person training, posters and email awareness programmes.  We also need to continually adapt and revise our approaches which brings me neatly onto measuring.   We need to find methods of measuring whether this is short tests at intervals throughout the year, playing out scenarios, audits or focus group discussions.   This can help inform us as to what has been learned and what has not, and in doing so can help us revise and redesign.   In revising and redesigning we can then seek to build better understanding in our staff.    Yes, this is all much more difficult than simply firing out an online course for staff to do however it builds deeper learning.

Deeper learning is likely to serve a staff member and the organisation much better than a tick against an online training course in the event of a cyber, health and safety, COSSH or other issue.