Tag: School

Why every school needs a Head of Remote Learning (and yes, we should talk about this during a crisis)

Most schools are facing multiple transformations. These range from digital transformation, to future-skills transformation, to the most important and urgent right now, which is distant-teaching and learning transformation.

Whilst the corporate world has innovated with new roles from chief digital officers to agile coaches to futurists to attempt to capture value from these transformations — the roles we have in schools are still operating within the legacy mindset and systems, ranging from Math teacher, English teacher, PE teacher, and Art teacher, representing probably 90% of the roles that exist in any school.

Leaving the titles aside, if we look at it from a skillset point of view, we know ‘subject’ teachers are more than the purveyors of subject knowledge. They are counselors, data analysts, advisors, experimenters, storytellers, investors (with their time), relationship builders, technologists, and today they are required to be remote teaching specialists.

Teachers are more than the purveyors of subject knowledge. They are counselors, data analysts, advisors, experimenters, storytellers, investors (with their time), relationship builders, technologists, and now they are required to be remote teaching specialists.

There’s never been a better case to be made for a Head of Remote Learning in schools and districts.

With 70,000 students told to stay at home and over half the schools closed across the country as of March 18, 2020, for COVID19 prevention measures. With some schools potentially not opening until after summer break, teachers are scrambling to remotely continue the academic learning for students.

Before we go on, it’s important to state that this role can be taken on by more than one person in any school, and needn’t have to be a full-time role in the initial instance. First, by experimenting and creating value in the role, it can be used to justify the hiring-case to the wider district to fund this position.

First, let’s discuss why this role is a must-have.

Aside from once-in-a-lifetime (we hope) global pandemics, there are many reasons why schools should now have a remote learning role. Just take examples from the past two years, when schools closed for fires in California and the polar vortex in Wisconsin. Each region has different susceptibilities that threaten the continuation of the education of our children for periods of time.

Remote learning doesn’t only have to occur for school-wide closures. Take, for example, the student with lice or Strep throat who’s out of class for a week who undergoes significant stress on top of their illness due to the difficulty of catching up on missed learning. What if some of those absent days can instead be counted due to remote learning plans?

Never has there been a better time for remote learning than now. The confluence of fast internet capability and quality education technologies, both curricular and administrative, leads to the power to produce high-quality Remote Learning experiences. The considerations of equitable access, student (and home) privacy, screen-time, routine and movement management, and social isolation all need to be addressed. We can look to online high schools, like Stanford K-12 online schools and homeschooling experts, that likely have addressed many of these challenges as a starting point.

March 19th’s article in Politico describes how lack of planning has led to last-minute efforts like how a “school sent home a paper survey Friday for parents to asses their technological access and received 114 responses — 92 percent have smartphones and 94 percent have internet access, but only 58 percent have computers and laptops. There are six different languages spoken at the school, with more than 60 percent of families on the poverty line.” Having someone who is responsible for processing this data in advance would result in better outcomes for the community.

The role of Head of Remote Learning is essential for bridging the gap between school and home. A gap that has existed since the invention of schools. The role includes 3 focus areas, to ultimately create shared-knowledge, skills, mindsets, and behaviors between teachers and teachers, between teachers and parents, and between teachers and children.

Between teachers and teachers

• Professional development of teachers to convert to remote learning, including training on the various product platforms and how to integrate technology into learning design, such as with the SAMR Model.
• Communication guidelines and templates to make life easier for all teachers to convert to remote learning plans rather than each teacher inventing their own solutions.
• Sourcing of products to fulfill the role of communication, curriculum continuity, and emotional support.
• Implementation plan for administrators, teachers, students, and parents, whether it’s for a single student or the whole school.

Between teachers and parents

• Parent support for difficult conversations with their children to ease anxieties by sharing resources and discussion questions.
• Equipment planning, including devices and Wi-Fi hotspots for students’ homes. Why? 10% of students in the U.S. don’t have internet access at home. In these circumstances, the burden falls on parents who aren’t able or confident to take up their child’s education — things have changed so much since we were at school.
• Equip parents with the resources to effectively use educational technology, not just to supplement curriculum learning, but also as a way to engage kids in subjects beyond the classroom.

Between teachers and students

• There are endless technology options that need to be experimented on, and where there is efficacy of the use-cases they then need to be scaled fast. Creative new technologies that can enhance the learner’s journey, include audio learning tools for connection, communication, and learning. For example, remote learning plans may include podcast tools for students to submit work to teachers and interactive voice technology apps, like Ask My Kid, with social-emotional support, movement breaks, and short academic practice sessions. Unlike most remote learning technology, audio technologies can be screen-free, helping parents stay within the American Pediatric Association’s screen time guidelines.
• Show students how to use educational technology to become resilient, independent learners who are capable of organizing their own learning and educational objectives.

A final benefit of remote learning is that they facilitate increased connection to the home. Healthy levels of parent engagement in their child’s education have long been coveted by educators. With children at home, whether due to sickness or catastrophic events, parents can reliably feel connected, and even contribute to the learning, with good remote learning plans.

The most important part of this role is becoming an expert in keeping students calm and on-track. There are sudden isolation and disconnection from classmates, disruption of precious routines, uncertain parents, and distracting home learning environments. Direct daily communication and connection through hearing the teacher’s voice are essential. Students need to know the plan each day and hear it from their own teacher.

Learning in social environments is critical. There will never be a complete substitute for physical togetherness, from the informal play at recess to the smell of the art room and science lab, but quality remote learning plans will only add resilience to our system of education. The role of Head of Remote Learning is central to strengthening the resilience of our schools and the continuity of learning for our children.

Before you go, there are 3 immediate next steps:

• If you found value in this article, we would love for you to share with your network to start a robust conversation and spread this thinking.
• Everyone is time-poor and dealing with massive change right now. It is natural to think that this conversation should be put on hold, but now is the right time to start documenting what’s difficult so we can define this role with more fidelity when students return to school.
• We are working with school, district, and foundation leaders to onboard the Head of Remote Learning role into the education system. Please reach out to us if you are interested to learn more at [email protected].

by Dr. Aparna Ramanathan, CEO and Co-Founder, AskMyClass

Aparna Ramanathan is the CEO and co-founder of AskMyClass. Aparna worked for over a decade as a medical doctor in Australia. After moving to the U.S., she coached professional women in practical stress management techniques, using a data-driven approach. That work led to the development of the first mental health games and programs using voice technology for parents and then the classroom — which lead to the founding of AskMyClass, a Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator-backed startup that creates classroom-specific activities to help students build essential social-emotional skills while increasing their classroom engagement.

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