"What help has the school district presented / offered to get teachers set up? Did they leave folks to figure it out on their own (visit Skype, etc and create accounts...) or did they say this is the platform that is going to be used between you and your students?"
JeffCo is a google supported district, so we use a lot of google stuff....Schoology is also popular and supported by the district, and has better control on assessments etc....The big issue isn't access to software, its the teach it to yourself while trying it out with students in a crash course that is difficult. In some ways, the districts tech center just keeps sending us 'cool' software that could be really useful, but most of us can't figure it out fast enough to use it effectively. I choose to focus on and use Google Classroom as its more easily tied to my existing Google drive cloud storage and calendar. Supposedly its also connected to our district gradebook function so I don't have to manually transfer grades from one to the other, but so far I am transferring manually - its not really a huge issue at this time. A lot of other software and web apps for various communication etc (e.g. google meet, chat, zoom etc) are tricky as it has to be pre-approved by the district for all sorts of child and information protection/security issues. It doesn't really bother me as I am not up to speed on most of this stuff - and I am not trying to re-create my classroom environment. In other words, I don't really intend to try and video myself 'lecturing' and then post it up...I'd rather just link to something like Khan Academy. I become less of the teacher giving direct instruction, and instead am trying to provide my students with useful places to get good info without wasting lots of time, and re-create the assignments to build on what was emphasized in the information I linked them to. Without a doubt, the content will be less connected and more isolated topics than I'd like, but we're also dealing with the reality of what the situation is. I certainly will have some more project type assignments that will be longer and more individually researched etc....Google classroom is pretty nice for how it organizes and keeps up with each student's turned in work etc - much easier than me trying to collect 150 emailed attachments and sort them into a bunch of different folders etc - especially if I am trying view a bunch of different images the student have made or attached.
But any digital interface will always have an issue with managing students doing independent work - especially for something like a quiz or test. So, I guess a decision has to be made as to whether one wants to try and give some sort of traditional 'test' or just accept this environment and the 'honor code' among a significant number of students will not be followed. Sorry - I am a bit negative on this, but my experience is that students cheat all the time in traditional classrooms - and over my first week of distance learning, the amount of 'independent' work that looked just like another students (including errors, mis-spellings, odd font changes in the middle often due to blatant copy and paste from different websites) is very high. On any given assignment, I would estimate/expect 30-50% of students to push the boundary of what is independent work and not follow the honor code - the attitude is completely about getting the passing grade with minimal work as opposed to learning the content. In a traditional environment, that attitude will come back to bite the students on a traditional test, but in this environment, that is not so easy. I'd rather not fight it, and give alternative type assessments where the goal is to actually utilize web sources and information. As i joked with my jr/sr physics student, I have no problem making your tests open note and book, unlimited time etc, but if you want it that way, be prepared for one helluva hard test! I truly believe there is value in traditional testing in a monitored environment (whether that be a unit test, final exam, SAT etc), but I believe that value is lost quickly when the environment cannot be monitored.
A different environment requires a different learning experience and different set up from the instructor...and also a much more motivated student to truly accomplish much learning. I am already seeing an increasing divide between the typically motivated A/B students, and then the less motivated, just get by students. In the traditional environment, students at least see an hour of content each day - just by attending class. Plus, most teachers give quite a lot of time to get classwork/homework done in class. So many students I have will never complete an assignment out of class - if they don't finish in class, it will eventually get turned in just as is. I have no expectation that about 50% of my students will actually do 'homework' at home. Those students that need the structure and time that actually going to school/class provides, if not the teacher's energy to drag them along (or should I say support them with completing work) will need to find some new motivation to be successful in this remote learning situation. I actually think there is some good reality that will come from this...It going to put more responsibility on students (and parents) take control on their own learning and do what they need to do to pass, as opposed to being carried along by the system or other students or teachers etc...we'll see, but I think the bi-modal split with grades is only going to get more extreme.
Tom started this as a humor thread, and it got serious....
COVID: A little something to lighten your day.
I feel like I have spent most of my life preparing to be stuck at home indefinitely.
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