Embracing Digital Learning Programs for the Success of ALL Students
Digital Learning Programs go beyond teaching a class remotely, and are inherently, an entire school experience delivered online. As we navigate schooling and learning environments in a post-pandemic world, administrators and school leaders have to plan for any possibility in education. We have realized that a school needs to be better at delivering its services online.
Schools aren’t just a place to learn, but to socialize, to be responsible, to celebrate achievements, and provide a range of services that go beyond an academic lens. Schools need to start thinking about creating entire Digital Learning Programs, rather than just a few remote classroom links. When successfully implemented, a Virtual School can transform a district and provide many opportunities for student success.
One of the biggest impacts of a good Digital Learning Program is that it opens up access to education to so many students who are challenged and would face a setback in a traditional in-person school. In routine school happenings, a student may experience leave of absence due to hardships or challenges as a result of their family circumstances. Students in those situations may be able to keep up with some assignments, but will miss out on the multitude of benefits of being in a school community, and consequently may feel disconnected. With the flexibility of a Digital Learning Program in a district, schools can provide choices so that those students can continue at pace, build a resilient mind-set that allows them to succeed, and are supported by an entire school community. When they’re ready to join back, these students haven’t missed a beat, academically, or socially, and that is huge in student success.
Now, a Digital Learning Program is not a fix-all, and there can never be one. However, all districts should be thinking about how to leverage virtual learning to reach even more students, and eliminate the opportunity gap. Students who attend school virtually during a challenging time may flourish, unencumbered by the pressures they may feel within an in-person school. Additionally, a digital learning program gives teachers more time to focus 1:1 with their students, a critical part of the recipe for student success, rather than spending countless hours finding, modifying, and copying worksheets.
But, what does a good Digital Learning program even look like? A few key things to look for:
Rigorous Coursework - One of the benefits of having an entirely virtual program is that coursework assigned to students can be easily modified and stored to challenge the individual student and facilitate their growth. Live teaching sessions are intense, and while a class can cover multiple students, the work is targeted to the capabilities of the individual student, ensuring that students aren’t left out, but have clear expectations.
Coursework and activities that allow for unplugged time away from the computer - While the classes and coursework are delivered through screens, a good Digital Learning Program recognizes the need to walk away from the computer as well. Classes are rigorous for a few hours; about 4 or so, and post-class assignments include time for students to log off, work off-line, and find ways to engage within their local communities in-person.
Built-in social calendars - In a K12 setting, school isn’t just for academics, it’s also for students to engage socially, and connect with peers of their own age. Activities like virtual recess; playing games like charades, pictionary, etc. are so important to a student's social growth, and these are held so important that they’re built into the Digital Learning Program’s schedule. Larger social in-person activities like a prom, school plays, and field days at the end of school are also planned throughout the year. These events are ones that connect the students to their school community, even if it is virtual.
Having a Digital Learning Program has enormous benefits to all students, and states and independent schools are preparing to build them. The next question then is what are some tools and technologies that can help make this type of program successful? Here are a few:
A Digital Lesson Library - where teachers can store and share lesson plans, and any linked worksheets, modified work, links, and plans. This is important to have at a school-level rather than by an individual teacher, or a single-source content provider, it provides a level of lesson diversity that can come from multiple sources and perspectives. This is particularly important with virtual learning - sharing the most effective, creative, and innovative lessons will help both students and teachers succeed. It also ensures that lessons continue to be engaging and relevant for the students a school is serving. Check out the Student Soapbox, a great solution for this, built with the entire school community in mind. Do you have any other recommendations?
A school-wide CRM - to help consolidate information for students, teachers, and all involved in the community, thereby driving learner and institutional success. A School-oriented CRM helps to codify and report on the data of students, helping to document what is happening with individual students, finding students who are falling through the cracks, and ensuring interventions are provided. Student records are holistic, provide all the information needed to any teacher and also maintain data integrity and security. But, similarly with enterprise level CRMs, being able to communicate and congregate all channels in one space can increase staff productivity, and reduce silos throughout the school. We are impressed with Salesforce Education Cloud, and the ability to leverage platform innovations to continue to ensure a high level of engagement and success. Do you have any other recommendations?
Education is at a crossroads, and the future can look a whole lot of different than what we had before March 2020. Many may say, well, after a Covid-19 vaccine is available, we can go back to what we did before, back to normal. But I ask you, why return to a system that even at its best, never did serve all of its students then? If we have an opportunity to innovate, and provide education services to an expanded constituency, we have to seize it. It is our responsibility as educators.