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A New Reality
Getting Remote
Learning Right
APRIL 2020 WWW.ASCD.ORG
Educational Leadership • SP ECI AL R EP OR T • sponsored by Kognito
Educational Leadership • SP ECI AL R EP OR T • AP R IL 15, 2020
A New Reality: Getting
Remote Learning Right
ASCD is making all the stories in this special issue of Educational
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2 Keep It Simple, Schools 22 Maintaining Connections, 36 Three Strategies for Better
Justin Reich Reducing Anxiety While Online Discussions
To ensure equity and engagement in School Is Closed Michael B. Sherry
remote learning, schools need to zero in Classroom discussions in distance-
Jessica Minahan
on key priorities, including enrichment and learning settings are different, but can be
manageable projects. Teachers can play a huge role in helping
students with anxiety or trauma histories no less powerful.
feel safe—even from a distance.
6 Restoring Connection: Real- 38 A Brave New World:
Life Advice on Transitioning to 28 Seven Steps for Districts A Teacher’s Take on
Online Learning Navigating to Remote Learning Surviving Distance Learning
Anthony Rebora Michael B. Horn Alexis Wiggins
Distance-learning expert Mike Flynn School districts must keep students’ needs How to preserve your curriculum—and
shares tips on moving to teaching online in and individual circumstances front and sanity—in this unprecedented time.
a difficult time. center.
10 42 Cybersecurity Guidelines for
Successfully Taking Offline 32 L.A. in Action: A Multi-Pronged Remote Learning
Classes Online Approach to Distance Learning Tara Laskowski
Catlin R. Tucker Anthony Rebora Technology keeps us connected to our
How to build community and create How the nation’s second largest school students—but how can we ensure it’s safe?
student-centered lessons. district is retooling to continue instruction
16 Accommodations,
and support students in need.
43 To Grade or Not to Grade?
Modifications, and 34 ASCD Community in Action
Joe Feldman
How districts can enact fair and equitable
Intervention at a Distance District PD directors discuss the tools they grading policies during the coronavirus
Lee Ann Jung are using to support professional learning closures.
amid school shutdowns.
To support special education students
during school shutdowns, educators need
close coordination and a focus on what
matters most.
74
Editors’ Note
This spring, school leaders and educators across the world entered what
the superintendent of one major district has called “truly uncharted JOURNAL STAFF
waters.” The spread of the novel coronavirus—and the subsequent Anthony Rebora, Editor in Chief
shutdown of many school systems—has created a new reality in K–12 Naomi Thiers, Managing Editor
education, one in which many educators and families have had to make Tara Laskowski, Senior Editor
a rapid, unplanned-for transition to remote (or distance) learning and in Sarah McKibben, Senior Editor
which issues of student equity and well-being loom larger than ever. Lucy Robertson, Production Editor
This special issue of Educational Leadership was designed to provide Judi Connelly, Senior Art Director
guidance and spark reflection, discussion, and problem-solving on these Kelly Marshall, Senior Production
issues. Bringing together a range of expert educator voices, the issue Specialist
spotlights technological, infrastructural, and instructional best prac-
tices for remote learning in difficult circumstances. At the same time, it Ranjit Sidhu, Executive
explores the social-emotional, cognitive, and resource challenges that Director and CEO
many students and families are facing today, in effect providing a whole- Ronn Nozoe, Associate
child lens on distance-learning practices. Executive Director
Of course, as our contributors make clear, there are no easy answers Stefani Roth, Publisher
in a time like this. But we hope this special issue serves as a basis for Marge Scherer, Editor in Chief Emeritus
impactful collaboration and decision-making as schools move forward. Ronald S. Brandt, Executive Editor
Emeritus
—The Editors
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Educational Leadership • SP ECI AL R EP OR T
Keep It Simple,
Schools
To ensure equity and
engagement in remote
learning, schools need to
zero in on key priorities,
including enrichment and
manageable projects.
Justin Reich
O
n March 26, Massachusetts’ suggests that schools aim for about one-half
Education Commissioner Jeff of a typical school day of learning time, with
Riley released a thoughtful a combination of student-driven learning,
pathway forward for remote educator-recommended activities, teacher
learning during a pandemic check-ins, physical activity, arts, and play.
(2020). The plan has three main principles. For credit-bearing classes that do continue,
First, care for students. Prioritize keeping stu- the state recommends switching to credit/no-
dents fed and sheltered, supporting emotional credit grading for work.
needs and mental health, and attending to My intuition is that whether by fiat, by rec-
the most vulnerable students. Second, create ommendation, or by necessity, most school
opportunities for projects and enrichment. districts across the country will adopt similar
The state recommends that schools focus models that focus on projects and enrichment
on student interests, family projects, and over trying to maintain a regular schedule of
reinforcing previously taught skills over classes. The vast majority of American schools
addressing new material or learning objec- are not set up to rapidly switch to remote,
tives. Third, set realistic expectations. The state online learning in the midst of a pandemic.
2 Educational Leadership / Special Report • April 2020 VISUAL GENERATION/ SHUTTERSTOCK
Many families lack access to devices of students most likely to be hit younger ages, more of this happens
and broadband internet, and even hard by COVID-19 and a possible with students working under the
families that do have a computer economic recession. In the best of direct supervision of parents (a tre-
at home often don’t have one for circumstances, we’d expect these mendous challenge during a pan-
each school-age child. Meanwhile, students to struggle in a transition to demic), but as students get older,
many teachers are not familiar with online learning, and we can expect there is a greater expectation for inde-
digital learning pedagogies, and some yawning gaps in outcomes to emerge pendence and synchronous learning
districts don’t have the curriculum during a pandemic. As a result, a with teachers and peers. To simplify,
resources prepared to support remote
teaching. As growing economic
uncertainty raises anxiety and causes
Even in the best of circumstances, effective distance
hardship in families and the pan- learning can be difficult to accomplish. Schools
demic potentially causes widespread
illness among students and teachers, now pivoting to online learning can learn from the
the barriers to remote education will
grow. experiences of virtual schools already in operation.
Even in the best of circumstances,
effective distance learning can be focus on projects and enrichment virtual schools do two things: they
difficult to accomplish. Research sug- is probably not only the most equi- publish curriculum materials and
gests that young people have great table way forward for the weeks they coach students and families. For
capacity for online learning, but and months ahead, but likely the regular public schools and district
much less facility and persistence most effective for keeping students to pivot to distance learning, they’ll
with online schooling. Young people learning and engaged in school. need to become good at the same two
are remarkably facile at using the things.
internet to learn how to cook a new Key Questions to Address For students to pursue projects
recipe, beat a level in a video game, for Remote Learning and enrichment, schools need to
or explore their interests (Ito et al., For schools and districts that want recommend and distribute them. As
2012). Unfortunately, the research to adopt Massachusetts’ proposed much as possible, these curriculum
on pursuing formal schooling and remote learning model—one based materials should be accessible to
courses online provides much less on projects and enrichment—there learners in every dimension. They
cause for optimism. are four big questions to address: should be designed so that students
Over the last decade, researchers can pursue them independently, with
have identified a kind of “online How will you publish good projects limited support from busy parents
penalty” in terms of grades and and enrichment activities? who may be working, caring for other
dropout rates when students switch Schools now pivoting to online children, or sick. Instructions should
from face-to-face to online learning learning can learn from the expe- be simple, with realistic expecta-
(Dynarski, 2018). High achieving, riences of virtual schools already tions as well as opportunities for
affluent learners tend to be minimally in operation. Full-time virtual extension. They should be dissemi-
affected by this penalty: students schools typically operate with an nated in as many ways as possible:
who do fine anywhere will do fine asynchronous learning model that printed and mailed packets, online
online. But most students do worse depends upon parents and caregivers document downloads, text message
in online courses, and the online acting as coaches. Schools publish broadcasts, pre-recorded phone
penalty is more severe for vulnerable curriculum materials, parents help messages, and radio or television
and struggling students—students their students proceed through these broadcasts. Schools should prioritize
with low prior achievement, ethnic materials, and teachers provide low-bandwidth options for families
and racial minorities, and younger assessment of student work and with limited internet access. Materials
students. These are the same groups coaching to students and parents. At should be translated into multiple
ASCD / www.ascd.org 3
At every level of schools, we need to find new struggle academically and who have
unstable home lives will be the most
ways to listen to each other at a distance. severely affected by the transition
to online learning, teachers should
languages and adhere to accessibility send messages to their students to make a special effort to reach out and
guidelines for disabled learners. provide support, offer feedback, connect with these students. The stu-
I appreciated a remote learning celebrate progress, mourn loss as ill- dents who need the most help during
lesson plan from Kelly Gallagher, an nesses and deaths mount, and offer these challenging times may be the
English Language Arts high school guidance. In an Advance Placement least likely to reach out.
teacher in Anaheim, California. He class, this might mean recording lec- The last two communication
encouraged his students to journal tures for students who are determined modes—facilitating whole class and
two pages a day about their experi- to take the tests this spring. In an small group/peer to peer meetings—
ences and to seed their writings with elementary class, teachers might read will be the most challenging. Not
interesting readings, news reports, chapters of the class book. Again, only is it logistically difficult to have
or stories from the pandemic. He teachers should prioritize accessi- students meet at the same time, but
promised to share his own writing, bility: making materials available in there are privacy issues with having
and he also encouraged students to simple, low-bandwidth communica- cameras turned on (and potentially
read for 30 minutes each day. That’s tions with attention to translations recording) in teacher and student
it. While he published more details and accessibility. In contexts with homes across the country. Syn-
online, the gist of his syllabus fits into diverse learners, this may mean that chronous meetings can be a powerful
a text message. whole class broadcasts will need to be time for celebrations and community
Given all of the complexities of limited (weekly rather than daily), as building, but they raise challenging
curating, translating, screening for it can be time consuming to produce issues. In the early days of the pan-
accessibility, and publishing projects accessible materials. demic, online college courses were
and enrichment activities, teachers Teachers should check in with beset with trolls interrupting lectures,
and schools should focus on these their students as regularly as possible; sharing pornographic images, making
kinds of activities, which are simple, the best virtual school teachers report vile comments in chat boards, and so
rich, extensible, reinforce important that they spend most of their time forth. Teachers face additional risks
skills, and tap into student interests reaching out to students individually. of having their teaching recorded
and agency. These communications could happen and broadcast without permission,
by phone calls, messaging services, or of witnessing abuse in homes, and
How will teachers remotely coach video conferences, but districts will other potential issues. With strong
students? need to provide guidance about how cultural norms, thoughtful selection
Teachers will need guidelines about to safely facilitate the communica- of technology tools, careful attention
how to safely, compassionately, tions and how to keep parents and to default settings, and clear guidance
and regularly support students and caregivers informed and involved. for teachers, these can be powerful
families. There are four categories of During check-ins, teachers can modes of learning, but they come
ways teachers can engage students: offer tutorials, feedback on projects with risks that schools need to under-
(1) whole-class broadcasts, (2) indi- and enrichment work, or just stand and address.
vidual coaching and check-ins, (3) support, care, and listening during
synchronous meetings, and (4) facili- a challenging time. There are major How will you partner with students,
tating small group and peer learning. obstacles to how much educators teachers, and families?
Schools should provide teachers with can teach and instruct at a distance The coronavirus pandemic feels like
guidance for how best to approach during a pandemic, but hopefully something that is being done to us.
these four modes in their local many schools can find coaching and There is a sense of powerlessness as
context. support models that work. we watch our worlds contract to
Teachers will need to regularly Since we know that students who our homes, apartments, and
4 Educational Leadership / Special Report • April 2020
temporary shelters. But our response they will need in the beginning of 4th your existing online infrastructure?
to the crisis can be something that grade or the beginning of a calculus How much coaching and checking in
we can do together. At every level of class? can be done with tools that students
schools, we need to find new ways Grade-level teams, department are already using? It may be that after
to listen to each other at a distance. heads, curriculum coordinators, and days or weeks of remote learning,
If school leaders haven’t surveyed coaches should be looking ahead to a glaring weakness in the distance
teachers, students, and families these challenges. How can you make learning infrastructure emerges,
about how things are going, today is more time for that urgent material where some kind of new technology
the day to start. Even a simple three in the fall? How can courses be rear- might be worth introducing. But gen-
question survey can gather valuable ranged so that if a fall class typically erally, keep it simple.
data: “How are you? What has been starts with 1 day for review on an Publish good projects and learning
going well for you? What could we important topic, teachers can make resources. Make them accessible.
do more of, or do better, to help your time for 3 or 4 days? With federal Disseminate widely. Check in with
learning?” Teachers can ask these and state stimulus money for schools, students. Solicit feedback. Plan for
questions of students; schools can ask what might be possible for summer re-entry.
these questions of parents; districts school in August or extended-day Schools that do a few simple things
can ask these questions of faculty and time in the fall? well, listen to stakeholders, and plan
families. In the current scramble to remote for the future will likely be in the best
Asking these questions will do learning, it may feel like nothing position on the other side of this
two things. First, the answers to is more important than making crisis. My hat is off, and my heart is
these questions may provide useful something that works for tomorrow with, all of the teachers and adminis-
new ideas. Perhaps more important, or next week. But given all of the trators serving students and families
the more that stakeholders feel like challenges that schools will have in in these difficult times. EL
they are partners co-constructing a teaching during a crisis in April and
response, the more invested they will May, it may be more productive to References
be in learning. invest substantial time in planning Dynarski, S. (2018, January 19). Online
for making things up in summer and Courses Are Harming the Students
Who Need the Most Help. The New
How will you plan for re-entry? fall. York Times.
In its guidance, the state of Massa- Ito, M., Gutierrez, K., Livingstone, S.,
chusetts recommends that schools A Cautious Approach to Penuel, B., Rhodes, J., Salen, K., Schor,
aim to get in about 50 percent of Experimentation J., Sefton-Green, J., & Watkins, S. C.
the typical amount of learning time. I have spent the last ten years (2012). Connected Learning: An Agenda
for Research and Design. DML Research
Many students facing difficult home studying education technology Hub.
lives, poverty, disengagement, or and online learning, and yet I have Massachusetts Department of Elementary
illness will simply miss all or most written very little about fancy digital and Secondary Education. (2020).
of their learning during the next few tools in my advice here. That’s Remote Learning Recommendations
weeks or months of school closures. because spinning up new school During COVID-19 School Closures.
While schools are understandably technology initiatives during the
scrambling to set up modes of remote best of times is challenging; during Justin Reich (jreich@mit.edu) is an
learning, perhaps the most important a pandemic it is just extraordinarily assistant professor at MIT and the
work of this period should be difficult. As much as possible, schools director of the MIT Teaching Systems
Lab. He hosts the TeachLab podcast
planning ahead. What gets taught in should try to publish materials and
(teachlabpodcast.com) and is the author
your school during the spring quarter check in with students using their of the forthcoming book Failure to
that students really need to be suc- existing technology infrastructure. Disrupt: Why Technology Alone Can’t
cessful in future years? What do stu- How much can you publish and dis- Transform Education from Harvard
dents learn at the end of 3rd grade or seminate through phone trees, text University Press. Follow him on Twitter
the end of a pre-calculus course that messages, email, simple webpages, or at @bjfr.
ASCD / www.ascd.org 5
Educational Leadership • SP ECI AL R EP OR T
RESTORING CONNECTION:
Real-Life Advice on Transitioning
to Online Learning
A distance-learning expert shares
tips on moving to teaching online
in a difficult time.
Mike Flynn, a former 2nd grade teacher, is the director
of Mathematics Leadership Programs at Mount Holyoke
College in Massachusetts, where he and his colleagues
have created an innovative and highly regarded online- perspective of what’s available in terms of technology
learning system for graduate students in math education. and then figuring out how to use that as a teacher. It’s
He is also a widely sought distance-learning trainer who more important to look at how do you want to teach
has worked with K–12 school districts and higher edu- and what’s out there to help you do that. So what I
cation faculty around the country on best practices for find easiest—the combination that causes the least
online instruction. He recently launched a popular online amount of disruption—is to use some kind of video-
teacher support group based on a series of free video conferencing platform, along with the Google Suite,
training sessions. because those applications are so easy to use. For the
With many schools making the transition to online- video conferencing, in some ways it doesn’t matter
learning platforms in response to the coronavirus out- which one you use—it’s a matter of finding the one
break, we talked with Flynn about what school leaders that has the features you want.
and teachers need to know.
Do you have any advice for school leaders on rolling
What should schools or educators be looking for in an
out a new platform for a large group of teachers?
online-learning platform, especially if we’re talking
What would you focus on in training?
about a fairly quick transition?
In a time like this, people are going to be scram-
The first thing I always recommend is to think about bling, and there’s a steep learning curve. In the short
what teaching practices or pedagogy you want to term, I think one important piece of advice is to help
leverage—that’s the priority. Often people will make teachers prioritize what’s the most important for them
the mistake of looking at online learning from the in terms of their instruction and their connection
6 Educational Leadership / Special Report • April 2020 PHOTOS COURTESY OF MIKE FLYNN
with students. Everyone’s going to be oper- The point is to help students see that
ating on limited amounts of time—elementary
teachers in particular might just be meeting we’re still a class. Yes, we’re in a
with students for a short period of time. So you
need to figure out what are the most important different space, but there’s still some
things to cover.
The other important advice is to be mindful
familiarity to what we’re doing.
of our learners, who are all going to be nervous
are doing a project based on a book they just
at this time. At this point, there’s probably a
read, you might have them create a presentation
little bit of fear and uncertainty setting in. So
using Google Slides. That’s a good way for them
whatever bit of normalcy teachers can inject
to synthesize their learning in a new medium.
into these live online settings is important. For
This kind of thing mixes it up for kids so they
elementary teachers, that might mean holding
get different experiences.
your morning meeting, or in kindergarten, you
might have a morning song. Or for high school
teachers, think about an engaging or interactive You emphasize the importance of providing
routine that you always do with your class that guidelines for students for working in an
you can bring into this new setting. The point online learning environment. What would that
is to help students see that we’re still a class. look like?
Yes, we’re in a different space, but there’s still
some familiarity to what we’re doing. And then A teacher who is beginning to teach online
as you move forward, you start thinking about should think about what a week looks like,
how do we leverage those live online times what a day looks like in this class. What’s hap-
we have together—and what are some mean- pening live versus asynchronously? What’s the
ingful, creative ways that you can create work schedule? What technology is going to be used
for kids to do when you’re not on camera with when? So these are the things that teachers
them, because a lot of the work is going to be and school leaders need to be thinking about,
independent. in effect putting the pieces of the puzzle in
place. This is why I always say less is more: The
fewer platforms you’re using, the less confusion
What are some ways that teachers can ensure
there is.
that kind of ongoing engagement?
Once teachers know what they’re going to
Part of this is to use the live time to make sure do, they need to create a concrete way for kids
kids have a sense of what’s expected when and their parents to be able reference the plan
they are working on their own. You also need and procedures. It could be in a Google Doc,
to make sure that the independent work is it could be a slideshow, or even a short video.
something the students have some level of The point is just to explain, here’s what we’ll do
familiarity with, so that what they’re doing is at this time, you’ll get on, you’ll log-in here, or
working on practice—basically, we’re talking you’ll open up this Google Drive folder and see
good homework strategies, which means not today’s work in there. Having a good, sharable
giving new learning for homework. That’s a big plan makes it easier to have everyone on the
piece of it. Another strategy is to think of other same page.
creative ways that you can mix up the kinds of
work kids are doing outside the live class time, What kind of tech support do teachers and
so it’s not all just paper and pencil. Maybe the students need in transitioning to an online
students can create a slideshow to show their setting? How best can schools prepare for and
learning, or maybe they could collaborate using troubleshoot problems?
Google apps. If you have some 8th graders who
ASCD / www.ascd.org 7
Most schools have some IT folks on board, and Are there effective ways schools can address
this is where they step up. Working with school access or resource disparities within a class—
leaders, they should know what platforms are for example, if some students don’t have regular
going to be used and then try to anticipate the access to the internet or to a computer?
common tech problems. These are fairly pre-
dictable—there are connectivity issues, there One good rule of thumb is to design the mate-
are microphone problems, there are difficulties rials based on the lowest level of access. So
locating particular features. So you identify if one of your students doesn’t have internet
the most common tech issues that are going access, you essentially proceed as if no one
did. This might mean distributing packets of
materials and assignments to students’ homes.
But you could also have students connect to
online experiences by phone—for example,
students can call in to a Zoom meeting if it’s
set up for that. So the teacher can design the
lesson to be more of an auditory experience.
Another option—assuming kids have at least
limited access to a computer or cell phone—is
to record lessons and distribute them by email
or text or even snail mail. To avoid privacy
issues, you can record the lesson with the stu-
dents’ images and voices turned off. Or you can
pre-record the lesson. My son’s middle school
language arts teacher records read-alouds for
his class—she’s reading To Kill a Mockingbird
to come up and you put those in a table. Then and then asking questions which the kids
you have separate troubleshooting columns respond to in writing afterwards. So students
for what the students are supposed to do, what are still getting the teacher’s voice, clarity, and
the parents are supposed to do, and what the direction, but they don’t have to be able to
teacher is supposed to do when these issues attend a live online class.
come up. For instance, if the tech issue is that a
student’s internet goes down, then the parents How do you approach assessment in an
and students can look at the table and figure online class?
out, “Oh, my job is to continue with the assign-
ments that I printed out and to let the teacher That’s a big question. With the assessment
know by texting them.” piece, we’re going to have to recognize that
You can’t predict everything, but the nice we’re not going to have the same sort of control
thing when you do this sort of contingency we’re accustomed to—because it’s done asyn-
planning is that you predict most of the things. chronously, and we can’t necessarily see what
Then if something out of the ordinary happens, students are doing. There are some software
you have the brain space to address it because programs that students can log-in to to take
you don’t have 20 emails from people saying, tests, but there’s still really no way to verify
“Hey, my internet’s down,” or “I can’t find the that they don’t have someone else doing it for
Google folder.” You’ve already taken care of a them or aren’t looking at course materials. So,
lot of that stuff. opinions differ, but my stance is that at a time
like this, the most important thing for us to
focus on is the continuation of actual teaching
and learning. Assessment is part of that process
8 Educational Leadership / Special Report • April 2020in terms of helping find out what kids are We need to think hard about workload
learning, but we need to look at it through that
formative lens, and we need to have a level of management. It’s important for kids
trust in students that they will do the work on
their own to show us what they understand. It’s to have some quality time doing things
that feedback that’s important. The alternative
is the accountability lens, where we focus on
other than sitting in front of a screen.
whether a kid is cheating, but I think we need
to suspend that view of assessment in the outside in the yard or getting some exercise
present context. There’s just not a place for it. or doing something creative on their own. I
recently saw a great quote on Twitter about
Many parents and caregivers are also feeling how what we’re doing right now isn’t really
overwhelmed by the transition to remote home schooling or even distance learning, it’s
learning. Are their ways teachers can help them crisis learning. We have to keep that in mind.
or make things a little easier on them? We need to design instructional experiences
that move kids along but also take into account
I think a big part of this is being mindful about that we’re in just a really weird time right now
communication. We need to recognize that and need to be flexible.
parents have a flood of emails coming in every
day from schools right now, on top of their Any other general tips for educators who are
regular work emails. So we need to try to be facing this transition right now?
super concise and to the point in our emails.
Use bulleted lists and take out extraneous text The biggest thing is to work together—to find
and narrative. It’s just really helpful for families communities of educators in spaces where you
if they can scan your email and get what they can collaborate, where you can share resources
need to know. I’d also recommend limiting and share ideas. My other advice is for everyone
emails to parents to one a week. If possible, to please practice self-forgiveness. You’re going
send it as team and break it down by subject to make mistakes in the platform, things aren’t
matter with bulleted list for each subject on going to work the right way, you’re going to try
what to do when. One step better is to provide to do something that you think will be very fun
checklists. This can save parents a lot of time. and interactive, and the kids will get confused.
I’d also emphasize again the need to follow There’s going to be a level of frustration, but as
the general rules of good homework. If we’re long as the choices we’re making are what’s in
giving assignments or tasks that allow kids to the best interests of students and their learning
practice skills and synthesize their learning and in this time of crisis, then we’re making the
not have to learn new content on their own, it’s right decisions, even if they don’t work out per-
going to eliminate the need for them to have to fectly. Forgive yourself. We’re all learning and
constantly get help from their parents. This is we’re all going to get better. EL
really an equity issue as well. If I’m assigning a
project that has kids working with their parents —Anthony Rebora
for 45 minutes, that’s going to be unfair to kids
whose parents have to go to work or who have
multiple children. Editor’s note: This is an updated and extended
So we need to think hard about workload version of an interview that originally appeared
management. It’s also important for kids to on ASCD’s Inservice blog. The interview has been
have some quality time doing things other than edited for space.
sitting in front of a screen—whether it’s going
ASCD / www.ascd.org 9Educational Leadership • SP ECI AL R EP OR T
T
The keys are eachers who have taught exclusively offline
in a traditional school setting may find
prioritizing the transition to teaching online daunting
community and and foreign. As educators navigate this
new reality of school closures, social iso-
designing student- lation, and remote learning, it’s important to remember
that education and learning encompass more than dis-
centered lessons. seminating and collecting assignments. Learning, at its
core, is a social endeavor. People learn through their
Catlin R. Tucker interactions with each other and the world around them.
Successfully Taking
OFFLINE Classes ONLINE
10 Educational Leadership / Special Report • April 2020 STOCKFOUR / SHUTTERSTOCKGiven the social nature of learning, educators teachers not to assume that the community they
who are moving their classes online must have established in-person will automatically
prioritize community building to ensure their translate to the online environment. There are
students thrive online. likely students in our classes who have shared
the physical classroom all year but who may
Creating a Community of Learners have never spoken or collaborated on a shared
The Community of Inquiry theoretical task. The transition to learning online presents
framework underpins much of the research on an opportunity for teachers to make sure that
online and blended learning and is grounded in everyone in the class community knows each
collaborative constructivism (Swan, Garrison, other and forms relationships with their peers
& Richardson, 2009). Given the concerns online that will make their interactions more
many teachers have about the isolating nature respectful and rewarding.
of online courses, I appreciate the focus that
the Community of Inquiry places on creating a
community of learners who can make meaning A staple of any online course is
while interacting online. This framework pro-
vides a structure for teachers to design and discussion, and a good online discussion
facilitate an online course to effectively engage
students in active learning. can be a great way to build community
The Community of Inquiry framework
is composed of three interconnected pres-
and communication skills.
ences—social presence, teaching presence, and
cognitive presence. The social presence refers The first step in establishing open, honest,
to the learners’ ability to assert their social and and respectful communication in an online
emotional selves, view their classmates as real community is to clearly define the expecta-
people, and communicate openly online. The tions for behavior in the online environment.
teaching presence encompasses the design, Teachers concerned about what students might
instruction, and facilitation of learning in say or do online should ask their classes to
the course. Finally, the cognitive presence is think about and articulate the behaviors they
learners’ ability to construct meaning through believe will help them to feel comfortable
a process of inquiry, dialogue, and reflection engaging with peers and sharing ideas. Teachers
(Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). Under- can ask the class to articulate these expectations
standing the interplay between these presences on a shared digital document.
can help teachers transitioning their courses Asking students to craft the norms and
online create learning experiences that are expectations for their online interactions gives
engaging, student-centered, and leverage the them ownership of the space and creates an
class’ collective intelligence. incentive for them to abide by these guidelines.
Teachers can add additional items to the list
The Social Presence: Cultivating or ask students to consider specific behaviors
an Online Community to ensure the guidelines address the teacher’s
As teachers move online, a critical first step is concerns about online interactions. Once a
to create a safe virtual space that will help stu- clear guide has been established, teachers can
dents develop their social presence. Traditional pose questions about what consequences are
teachers shifting classes online mid-year due appropriate when the expectations for online
to school closures may assume that their stu- communication have been violated. This places
dents know each other and will feel comfortable the responsibility on the community to think
participating in academic conversations and through the appropriate response to missteps,
collaborative tasks online. But I would caution and students are more likely to internalize these
ASCD / www.ascd.org 11are areas of overlap that may help traditional
FIGURE 1. Online Icebreaker Discussion Question
teachers feel more comfortable making the
move online. When I work with teachers who
Icebreaker: If you could have any superpower, are teaching a blended or entirely online course
which would you choose and why? for the first time, I encourage them to treat their
If you could have one of the superpowers below, Google Classroom or learning-management
which would you choose and why? system (like Schoology or Canvas) as their
online classroom—to think of it as a place
• ability to stop time where students engage and learn, not just a
• ability to fly place to just post things. This is the place where
• ability to become invisible students will access information and resources,
engage with their teacher and their peers, and
• ability to read other people’s minds
submit their work for feedback and evaluation.
• ability to heal the sick Once teachers begin to treat their learning-
Begin your post by clearly stating the superpower you management system as their virtual classroom,
would like and thoroughly explain your choice. they can begin to think about their roles and
Once you have posted your response, please read and responsibilities in this online environment. The
reply thoughtfully to at least 2 other members of the Community of Inquiry framework specifically
class. In your reply, ask questions, comment on identifies course design, direct instruction,
specific points made, compliment the ideas shared, and facilitation of learning as central to the
and build on ideas shared. teaching presence in an online course (Swan et
al., 2009).
Source: Catlin R. Tucker
Traditional teachers must think differently
about the organization and design of their
online courses. It is a mistake to think that
expectations and think about what they say and K–12 students who spend seven hours a day
do online. in a traditional classroom can spend that same
A staple of any online course is discussion, amount of time in front of a computer at home.
and a good online discussion can be a great That is an unrealistic, and frankly unhealthy,
way to build community and communication expectation. Students who are isolated at home
skills. Icebreaker discussion questions, like the because of school closures and social distancing
ones in Figure 1, can help students learn about mandates are juggling a lot mentally and emo-
their peers and help them to view their virtual tionally. They are negotiating a shared space
classmates as real people with feelings, values, with their family. They may be sharing devices
and beliefs. and limited bandwidth with parents and sib-
Research has established that higher levels lings. They may also be dealing with fear and
of perceived social presence in an online anxiety about the current health crisis.
course yield higher levels of interaction, It’s important to adopt a modular approach
engagement, and satisfaction with that course to designing distance-learning experiences.
(Tu & McIsaac, 2002). This suggests that Teachers must break up the learning activities
the investment teachers make in building a into smaller parts and give students time to
cohesive online community with a strong social self-pace through those activities. The beauty of
presence will pay dividends. online learning lies in the flexibility it affords
learners. I would encourage teachers to plan
The Teaching Presence: Designing and a week at a time and post all of the videos,
Facilitating Online Learning Experiences articles, podcasts, online discussion ques-
Teaching online is obviously different from tions, and assignments that students will need
teaching in a physical classroom, yet there at the start of the week. When teachers post
12 Educational Leadership / Special Report • April 2020FIGURE 2. The Building Blocks of an Online Lesson
Building Block Objective Online Tools
Direct Instruction Transfer information (lecture Use Screencastify or QuickTime to record a screencast.
or mini-lesson) or explain a
complex topic.
Modeling Conduct a think-aloud as Use Screencastify or QuickTime to record a video
you navigate a task, apply a showing students how to do something or record a scre-
strategy, practice a skill, or use encast to demonstrate how to navigate something online.
an online tool or resource.
Discussion Engage students in academic Post discussion questions on Google Classroom or use
conversations about a text, the discussion question feature in your learning man-
video, podcast, topic, or issue. agement system to engage students in asynchronous
text-based discussions.
Host a synchronous discussion using a video confer-
encing tool like Google Meet or Zoom to allow students to
engage in a real-time discussion.
Research and Explo- Encourage students to research Give students a topic to research online and ask them to
ration a topic or issue and crowd- crowdsource what they are learning in a shared space
source the information they online (an online discussion board, shared online doc-
find. ument or slide deck, Padlet Wall, or FlipGrid).
Collaborative Tasks Group students online and Use a collaborative suite, like Google or Microsoft, to
allow them to work collabora- engage groups of students online (shared documents or
tively on shared tasks. slide decks).
Practice and Review Connect students with practice Use online resources, like Quizizz, Kahoot!, Quizlet,
and review activities. KhanAcademy, or NoRedInk, to encourage review and to
create retrieval activities.
Use digital documents (Google Documents or Microsoft
OneNote) to assign review activities or writing assign-
ments.
Assessment Assess student work and use Administer tests and quizzes using online assessment
that data to determine what tools.
students need moving forward. Assign a writing prompt, task, or project designed to
assess the students’ mastery of content and skills.
Reflection and Meta- Ask students to think about Use Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, or Socrative to
cognitive Skill Building what they learned, how they create an end-of-the-week exit ticket to encourage stu-
learned it, what questions dents to develop their metacognitive muscles. Teachers
they have about the concepts can also ask students to reflect in an online journal or
or skills covered, and what learning log about their progress each week.
support they need to continue
improving.
Source: Catlin R. Tucker
ASCD / www.ascd.org 13the week’s work, they should clearly identify classroom. It also gives them opportunities to
the learning objectives for the week, due dates practice, review, and apply what they learned.
for specific tasks, and times when the teacher The learning cycle ends with an evaluation
will be available for “office hours” via video activity to assess what students learned or
conferencing tools like Google Meet or Zoom. to ask them to engage in a reflective activity
This approach allows learners the luxury of thinking about what they learned to develop
completing tasks at a time and pace that works their metacognitive muscles.
for them. The beauty of the 5Es instructional model is
that it emphasizes the role of the learner in the
The Cognitive Presence: Engaging process of making meaning in a course.
the Class in Meaning Making
If teachers think about the building blocks of Student-Centered Online Learning
a traditional lesson, they will begin to see how Just because learning is moving online does not
those modular activities (direct instruction, mean that students should be relegated to the
discussion, collaborative group work, and role of passive receivers of information. Instead,
others) can be shifted online using a variety I would like to see teachers prioritize student-
of tools, many of which are probably already centered learning by developing online commu-
embedded into their learning-management nities and designing lessons that leverage
system. Figure 2 breaks down some of the basic technology tools and instructional models that
building blocks that educators use to design actively engage students in each part of the
offline lessons and describes how teachers can learning process. EL
use technology tools to engage students in these
activities online. References
As teachers think about how these individual Bybee, R. (2015). The BSCS 5E instructional model:
building blocks fit together to form a learning Creating teachable moments. Arlington, VA:
National Science Teachers Association.
experience that extends over a week or several Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T, & Archer, W. (2000).
weeks, it is helpful to consider using the 5Es Critical inquiry in a text-based environment:
instructional model—engage, explore, explain, Computer conferencing in higher education. The
elaborate, and evaluate—as a guide when Internet and Higher Education, 2, 87–105.
arranging these building blocks (Bybee, 2015). Swan, K., Garrison, D. R., & Richardson, J. C.
(2009). A constructivist approach to online
This model provides teachers with a clear path learning: The Community of Inquiry framework.
to designing a learning experience that will In C. R. Payne (Ed.), Information technology and
develop the cognitive presence in a distance- constructivism in higher education: Progressive
learning community. It prioritizes inquiry, learning frameworks. Hershey, PA: IGI Global,
exploration, collaboration, and communication. 43–57.
Tu, C. H., & McIsaac, M. (2002). The relationship of
Teachers begin by engaging students in a
social presence and interaction in online classes.
conversation about what they think or wonder, The American Journal of Distance Education, 16(3),
what they already know, or what they would 131–150.
like to find out about a particular topic. Then
students explore the topic. Teachers can
provide links to articles, videos, and podcasts
about a topic, or students can conduct their Catlin R. Tucker (CatlinTucker.com) is a best-
own research. The “explain” phase of this cycle selling author, international trainer, and keynote
speaker. Catlin is pursuing her doctorate in
encourages students to share what they have
learning technologies at Pepperdine University and
learned, and the elaborate phase encourages working as a blended learning coach. She has pub-
students to make connections between what lished several books on blended learning, including
they are learning and other concepts covered Balance with Blended Learning (Corwin, 2020).
in the course as well as their lives beyond the Follow her on Twitter @Catlin_Tucker.
14 Educational Leadership / Special Report • April 2020Educational Leadership • SP ECI AL R EP OR T
Accommodations, Modifications,
and Intervention at a Distance
To support special education students during school shutdowns,
educators need careful coordination and a focus on what matters most.
Lee Ann Jung
N
ever in our lifetime has a global learning. But for those who’ve never experi-
health crisis caused the need for enced online learning or teaching or feel less
such a broad swath of long-term confident with digital technology, this can be an
school closings as we are expe- unwelcome and stressful change. The challenges
riencing with the novel corona- are particularly steep for educators working with
virus outbreak. Teachers who have experimented students with disabilities.
with “flipping” their classrooms and other ways The good news for teachers new to some of
to teach online probably have a certain level the online technology is that we haven’t moved
of confidence in this sudden shift to remote purely to “online school,” but rather to remote
16 Educational Leadership / Special Report • April 2020 PEOPLE IMAGE STUDIO/ SHUTTERSTOCKlearning. Within remote learning, the options isn’t simple, even when students have no dif-
for connection with students and families ficulties with learning, a dedicated device in
include online videoconferencing, phone calls, a quiet space, a household with low stress
video calls to an individual, texting, email, and levels, and parents able to support learning.
mail. From an equity standpoint, it’s necessary But this ideal situation is far from ubiquitous.
that we’re prepared to use any of these methods The proportion of families who are currently
to support connecting (first) and learning. unemployed or underemployed, food insecure,
Yet the unprecedented nature of this health and experiencing high levels of stress is higher
crisis leaves us with new questions about how than we’ve ever seen. We have students who
to provide special services to students, not for require accommodations, modifications, and
a few days, but for weeks and months. The U.S. intervention now at home with their families—
Department of Education’s Office of Special many of whom are unsure of how to provide
Education Programs has responded with online the support they need.
documents and videos and has also been clear While the situation is unprecedented, there
that if a school moves to remote learning, it are steps schools can take to support students
must ensure that students who have IEPs have who have IEPs in remote-learning settings.
access to that instruction (OSEP, 2020). Many We will no doubt learn a great deal from one
special educators have implemented home- another and from our students and families
based instruction and interventions in the past, in the coming months. In the meantime, the
but never have they been forced to do so with following suggestions can be a way to start
no in-person contact and for the entire popu- thinking about some of the many service-
lation of students with IEPs. delivery questions our teams are facing.
Urgent questions are circulating. “How do
we deliver intervention at a distance?”, “How First, Support the Family
do we provide accommodations and modifica- Families are in some ways being put in the role
tions to online work?”, “How do I measure of “learning coach” now, and for some, this
progress?”, “What about students with severe role is uncomfortable. We want to maximize
disabilities?”, and “How can we support fam- the time families have to give to supporting
ilies?” Some support and intervention can be their child’s learning, streamline it as much as
provided by shifting to web conferencing and possible with their lives, and minimize their
phone calls, but direct, online services often feeling like a full-time teacher or therapist.
aren’t an option for our youngest learners and Already under enormous pressure, millions of
students with more significant intellectual people have lost their jobs. Millions more are
disabilities. In this “new normal,” special edu- tasked with working full-time at home in a new
cators are charged with serving many students way and supporting their children in online
solely through consulting with their classroom learning. Those of you who are both educators
teachers and families. For students whose sup- and parents no doubt feel this.
ports are now provided mainly through such By now, you’ve probably seen on social media
educator-to-educator consultation, the families the phrase, “We have to Maslow before we
are now an even more important part of the Bloom,” meaning we must attend to the needs
equation. How do we do this in a way that sup- identified by Maslow’s hierarchy before we can
ports families, rather than burdening them with engage students in the levels of learning shown
overwhelming responsibility? in Bloom’s taxonomy. This has never been
As we’re already seeing, the move to remote truer than now. To support students, we must
learning exacerbates preexisting issues of equity connect with them and their families to learn
in schools. Delivering instruction at a distance more about their resources, priorities, and
ASCD / www.ascd.org 17You can also read
