Preparing for remote learning

School leaders are constantly under pressure to make decisions, and they make these with the best interests of their pupils, staff, and community as a priority in each one they make. So here we will look at how teaching and learning can continue without the use of traditional school buildings and classroom structures.

But really before we look for solutions, we need to ask and consider the following questions: 

Can we deliver learning through technology that everyone can access?

Is there anything offline we can do in support of this? 

What can we reasonably do to continue with education when school is closed?

Through the interconnected world of Educational Technology, we can now ensure teaching and learning takes place by considering the below 10 points.

But, let us look first at a no-tech solution…

1. The no-tech solution

In an ideal world all UK Schools are now able to embrace ICT and turn to technological methods of remote learning – The reality is that sadly some schools are not even close to being ready for this so instead let us look at the no-tech model which may be the most likely one to work with dispersed pupils, so let us consider what can be done without relying on any online tools to begin with:

• Send an empty exercise book home with each child for them to use for creative writing or as directed for some of the activities below.
• Allow each child to take several reading books home from school or the local library (they can keep a reading diary or write book reviews or reflections on chapters as they go).
• Print off and send home a menu of activities for children to do (make available on the school website and update if needed too), this could be based on an existing 30-day challenge such as a wellbeing, music, or a drawing challenge.
• Direct children to create mind-maps/sketch notes from their existing class books and notes (useful for revision and consolidation work).
• If you can afford them, buy revision guides for children to work through at home.
• Share your knowledge organisers or scheme of learning with the children and ask them to refer to this.
• Ask your PE colleagues to share a fitness scheme for children to access from inside their home, if you have time you could baseline them on these skills before and check progress afterwards.
• Provide a plastic cup and cress seeds or beans for the children to grow while they are away.
• A final consideration, will you collect in or mark the work afterwards? This could lead to a massive workload issue which would be unreasonable for staff to manage.

That is a few ideas for a no-tech solution, it is not an ideal situation and the lack of direct engagement could (and does) lead to frustrated pupils and parents. It is also not very sustainable over a prolonged period of time as we saw in the first lockdown and it easy for engagement between school, teachers and pupils to be lost. Ideally all schools need a robust technology backed strategy in place and when done correctly this approach is far more successful.

So, what do schools need to consider when embracing a technological approach to shut down (I.e., an isolation closure such as a snow day or power/building issue) or a Lock down as we are currently experiencing?

2. Make sure everyone has the correct communication channels, web links and login details

Good, clear communication is absolutely critical as if staff and pupils are suddenly not in school it will be too late/or certainly more difficult to start sharing login details and passwords on the day of closure. So, take the opportunity before a closure event to create a master list of websites, apps, and tools which your pupils and staff should be able to access. Share this list with everyone and check that they are all able to successfully log in and use the tools as intended. - PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL A SHUTDOWN HAS OCCURRED as its important that any access issues or training needs are identified beforehand as this will limit any impact on teaching and learning.

It is also recommended that the remote learning list is publicised and is prominent on your school website, in you learning/teaching repository, on a physical noticeboard outside school and via your newsletter and social media channels too.

Be clear with all staff, pupils, and parents (do not forget suppliers and contractors) what the communication channels will be for contacting school and share a statement of how and when a response should be expected, e.g., will emails be answered on the same day? Which email address should be used to contact the school to request login details/ password resets? How will your school contact and support families who are not online? Finally, if your staff and pupils have devices make sure that they have the technology, logins (and knowledge of use) not to mention always have access to their device and check they have appropriate internet/broadband access.

Creating a digital learning strategy for your School - All learning paths - Microsoft Educator Center

3. Setting your expectations for online access for staff and pupils, especially with regard for online safety

You will need to clarify your school expectations and perception of online learning, and a lot of this will be driven by your ecosystem and learning strategy. 

If pupils are all going to use apps without social interactions, you will not need to be too detailed at this point. However, if you are going to deliver online learning through a virtual learning environment, online classroom, or Teams etc, you will need to set the ground rules for both online safety and responsible use of the technology. 

Refer to your school policy for this in the first instance and add further information as an FAQ if deemed appropriate. For example, you may wish to state that staff members should not be alone in a video chat with a single pupil at any point in time, or you may highlight that everyone must only use their school credentials to access services/ resources etc. 

4. Make use of your existing Website

You may wish to use your school website as a broadcast for resources and learning links for pupils and their families to engage with from home. If you do this, signpost the learning area clearly and explain what they need to do and how to do it. A short video or presentation would make a good welcome point for this page on your website. Consider making this your landing page.

In the event of your school being advised to close we know you will want to post update messages on your website. 

 5. Teaching live or via recording using Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, or other online platforms such as Zoom

You can use video learning tools to deliver a more personal learning experiences, this often involves the teacher sharing their screen/slides with the students, who access the webinar directly. Each tool has a slightly different way of using it, however the key aspect remains the same - the teacher should be the first to log in and should ensure all learners have left before closing the session – The teacher should be the only participant who can mute and unmute other people and have the ability to remove disruptive participants if need be. This means collaborative services will need to be set up correctly by IT admins with staff and pupils being assigned with the appropriate access rights and importantly given training and advise in use of services beforehand. 

As a point of safety, we would recommend not sharing videos for any non-teacher user as this avoids the online safety risks inherent with video sharing. To avoid background noise and distractions we suggest that you mute all microphones too unless you want to hear from a specific individual in the class. Depending on which service you use different features are available – WE RECOMMEND THAT TEACHERS ONLY USE SANCTIONED SERVICES AUTHORISED BY THE SCHOOL - This should never be left for individual staff members to decide what to use neither should the staff dictate preferred method this should be pre-decided by appropriate SLT members and built around their learning strategy for the school.

If you do share videos, teachers should ensure their background are plain and suitable for their class to see. They should also be aware that each of these platforms (Teams, Google Hangouts, Zoom) have the ability record webinars for playback later for pupils/staff or for staff development/appraisal. Some teachers may not want to be seen on video, they may have distractions of their own in the background (such as their own children, spouses, or pets) some solutions such as Teams have features which remove background noise and the ability to Blur or add a more appropriate background therefore staff should be trained on how to deliver online lesson in a variety of ways i.e., screen sharing or delivery through slides with a voice over etc.

You may find the following links useful if you use, or plan to use, MS Teams or Google for distance learning:

6. Setting up Microsoft Teams and OneNote if you have Office 365

Schools using Microsoft’s Office 365 have the same benefits as Google G-Suite and in addition, Microsoft has a popular application called Teams which can be used for gathering learning resources and directing learners. Additionally, Teams includes collaborative features such as chat and video calling which can be switched on in preparation for co-operative learning experiences from remote locations.

OneNote is a shared notebook which does not intrinsically have the communication tools of Teams, but it can be used in a collaborative way to both distribute, assign or review work. There are online videos by Microsoft about these tools, as well as the online shared drive of SharePoint. It is worth watching them to raise your awareness before you need to use them. Of note are the maths tool and immersive reader for assisting pupils who have accessibility or where English is not their first language.

Set up of Teams IT Pro’s - Microsoft Teams resources for Education admins - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Docs

Set up of Teams for Educators - Introduction to Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Educator Center

Immersive Reader - All About the Immersive Reader - Microsoft Educator Center

7. Setting up your Google Classroom if you have Google G-Suite for education

Schools using Google (which is free to set up for education) have access to many tools which would enable groups of children to access an online learning environment. Teachers can then upload class resources and direct pupils to websites for learning, YouTube videos, and share presentations, worksheets etc. Google provides a great range of introductory videos to get you started.

Please note, the timescale for a full school set-up for Google classroom is something which is achievable as a long-term project. However, once set up, a ‘Google school’ can continue to be of use for learners and teachers in a myriad of ways, which can benefit learners in less disruptive times too.

Set up of Google G-Suite and Hangouts: G Suite for Education Setup Guide | Google for Education

IT’S WORTH NOTING THAT THE BASIC PLANS FOR MICROSOFT AND GOOGLE ARE COMPLETELY FREE AND BOTH WITH PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR SET UP OF SERVICES – HOWEVER IF PROFESSIONAL SERVICES ARE REQUIRED THERE COULD BE A COSTS IF THIRD PARTY ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED 

8. Teaching using Forms and existing lesson plans as a template Online feedback via MS Teams or self-marking forms

What if you do not have pupil logins? Well, if your teachers have access to Forms - the Microsoft or Google tools for surveys and questionnaires, you can use these to distribute a structured lesson to your learners without the learners logging in as individuals or interacting with one another.

How? Create your form and use the text areas to lay out a lesson, along with video links, attached files and text information. Once this is done, you can add a variety of questions at key points. You then have a lesson anyone can access at any time. Publish this form so that anyone can fill it in, so long as they have the link, and share the link via your contact list for your classes.

This can be a quick solution which requires comparatively little time and enables online learning to occur quickly. Read this Schools ICT article to learn more about using Microsoft Forms with Office 365, the lessons are easily transferrable to Google Forms too.

9. Online feedback via MS Teams or self-marking forms

Online feedback can be immediate and useful via online self-marking forms, or it can be in depth via a digital response through tools such as OneNote, Google Classroom or Teams. In each of these environments, the teacher will be able to manage the feedback and marking as they would in their real-world lessons, however they should set expectations for their class so that they can manage their own wellbeing and work life balance. 

Despite the inherent disturbance caused by working and learning remotely it should be realistic that a teacher can maintain a work-life balance and not be expected to be on call 24-7 just because the technology would allow it. Both Google and Microsoft have features built into their services to assist in mental wellbeing which is especially important when school closures occur – It is recommended that schools invest time in researching these services for their staff and pupils.

10. Monitoring engagement and offering challenge as well as supporting staff and pupil wellbeing

If your school has a Virtual or Managed Learning Environment (VLE/ MLE) you should prioritise enabling teachers to get resources online and accessible to pupils. It will also be worth checking out if any suppliers are offering free access to their resources during this time, at the time of writing, Innovate My School have curated a definitive list of home learning solutions and promotions on EdTech Impact - they plan to update this every hour. 

Over 1,000 curriculum and whole school solutions are available for comparison on

https://www.edtechimpact.com it includes over 60+ school closure promotions

For other sources of support, you may find answers and updates at https://homelearninguk.weebly.com/plans.html

This freshly created and curated website to support all educators (also includes a parent section) as we prepare for and establish home learning in the UK.

Home learning resources

Schools have been massively affected by the ongoing pandemic and for many parents, much of 2020 was spent home schooling children, as they were shut or partially open to specific year groups. Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, all mainstream schools and colleges are now closed, other than to vulnerable children and those with parents who are key workers, until February half term at least and this most likely will be extended to March or even April 2020.

During a televised address, the prime minister acknowledged that the closures mean it will not be “possible or fair” for all exams to go ahead as planned this summer (which was confirmed last week W/C 4th Jan 2021 ). But juggling home schooling with working from home is no mean feat, but we’ve found all the best resources that might just make teaching from home a little easier and these could be used by both teachers and parents in combination with school organised lessons.

In April last year, the BBC launched an extended version of its Bitesize educational website. Students can now access BBC Bitesize Daily, where resources and lessons are helpfully divided up by age groups.

Here are some of the best online resources available, most of these are free, covering all the subjects your pupils or your children may be learning, from KS1 to KS4. Click on the underlined links to visit the websites…

English

TTS - For KS1 and KS2 students, TTS has free downloadable workbooks created by teachers to keep your child’s curriculum on track while they learn from home. It has literacy tools to help with grammar, writing, spelling, punctuation, guided reading, comprehension, handwriting and English as a second language. It’s also created this essentials page full of educational resources such as whiteboards, reward stickers, worm words and spelling programmes to kit you out if your child learns better kinetically (these are not free but are affordable for schools and parents).

Fun Phonics - For younger children, Fun Phonics has made its digital products free for home learning which includes lettering, flashcards, word searches, objectives, name labels and spelling cards. It ranges from children who are just developing key speaking words and vocabulary up until kids who can identify words using a digraph – when two letters put together to make a sound such as "ph".

 The Story Starter - To encourage children’s storytelling imagination for a creative writing lesson, try The Story Starter which generates the first sentence of a fictional story which children then springboard from to write their own. It’s accessible across all ages, but if you’re using it for home schooling, we’d recommend it towards children in KS3 and above as some sentences may be too complex for younger ones.

Spelling Training - If you're looking to brush up your child’s spelling but aren't sure where to start, Spelling Training is a simple-to-navigate tool to aid you when teaching children in KS1 and KS2. It creates spelling practice lists, tests and word games from a drop-down menu of subjects such as colours, the human body, musical instruments, irregular verbs and popular songs.

Collins Dictionary - For an extra helping hand, Collins Dictionary is also running a word of the day series, which can help you explain what a pandemic is, what furlough means, why we’re in lockdown and more so you can help keep them calm and understand why they can’t go to school or see their friends as usual.

BBC Bitesize Learning at Home - The lessons on across all subjects are usefully organised by year group, from Year 1 to Year 9. They've been created with teachers and other educational experts and feature a mix of videos, animations, practice activities, quizzes and games, so kids won't get bored of the same style of learning. After choosing the right age, you'll see the lessons are split up into subjects and days, so kids will get a good range of the subject over the coming weeks. English lessons range from spelling to learning verbs and writing sentences for younger ages to learning how poets create meaning for the older years.

History

The British Museum - Although the actual museum has of course temporarily closed its doors, that doesn't mean we can't still access its enormous wealth of knowledge. It has created an interactive learning tool to allow you to visually explore history across the five continents through its artefacts; Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe and Oceania which goes from modern day all the way back to 2000 BC.

BBC Bitesize - Each programme is 20 minutes and there are six a day from the BBC, with lessons available for students from KS1 to GCSE level. Covering topics across local, national and international history, subjects you can expect on offer include Tudors and Stuarts, the Roman empire, the cold war and Vietnam, the British empire and more. Lessons can be accessed all the way back to April too, so there’s plenty of choice.

What Was There - Another interactive tool is What Was There, which has photos from different cities across the globe, in different time periods, with dates and a little information on each picture.While it isn’t as comprehensive as The British Museum, it is a good starting point for a lesson to help kids focus and learn a little about their own surroundings in history, such as what London looked like during the Blitz.

History

National Geographic Kids - This has a variety of facts, games, quizzes and activities to set KS1 children, such as finding plastic pollution solutions, how to make paper straws and facts about species of animals. There’s also a detailed section dedicated to explaining the coronavirus to children and how it can spread across the globe and why travel isn’t permitted, which is a helpful tool in deciphering a strange, complicated time.

BBC Bitesize  - Whether your child is in Key Stage 1 or studying for their GCSEs, there’s content for everyone. Year 6 students can learn about settlements, while those in Year 4 have a lesson on maps, including learning how to read them and about compass points and Year 7 can learn about weather and climate.

Internet Geography - Developed by geography teacher, Anthony Bennett, Internet Geography is a GCSE-level resource which covers AQA syllabus, such as physical landscapes, natural hazards, population and urban issues. The site also includes mock AQA exams, quizzes and case studies across ecosystems, coasts, climate change, earthquakes, environmental problems and erosion and weathering. Each week, there's a different free homework task, called Geography in The News, that encourages students to engage with news stories that have a geographical element.

Twinkl - This online learning hub was initially created for teachers, but it has adapted itself for home schooling as a result of the coronavirus lockdown. It has lesson ideas, activities, and live videos for KS1 to KS4. There's lots of activities to download for free, including worksheets to label countries, flags, states and cities alongside packs of teaching materials, which include PowerPoints and visual aids which have specifically been created to accommodate parents at home.

Its KS3/4 resources offer comprehensive tools with weekly themes to debate such as "should animal testing for medicinal research be banned?". They include research projects for students to polish their debate skills with for and against arguments to finally conclude and present their ideas.

Mathematics

Bedtime Math - If you want to keep their minds active with mathematical topics such as spatial reasoning, measurements, volumes, ratios and fractions while reducing screen time, Bedtime Maths is a great option. It provides 10-30 minute exercises that you can do without using a phone or tablet. Instead of relying on technology, it details a maths-based game and how many children can play using household items, food, drawings and treasure maps that you can print off.

Math Playground - This hosts colourful games to entertain young children working at a KS1 and KS2 level. It covers sums, shapes, graphs, geometry and logic. We would recommend muting the page however, as the songs on the website are loud and could distract your other children, and you, from working. It also has videos to teach more complex terms such as perimeters, fractions, division and line plots if your child learns better with visual aids, and it will encourage independent learning while you get some of your own work done.

DrFrostMaths – developed by a British teacher Jamie Frost (Dr of Mathematics) this award winning website is free to subscribe to as a school or an individual and provides a huge selection of engaging maths lessons for KS 1-4  

Science

Ask Dr Universe - Does your child ever ask questions that you don’t know the answer to? Such as why are carrots orange or why do flowers smell nice? Next time, point them to Ask Dr Universe, which answers all of those tricky questions. They can input their own questions about the world, plus access a bank of answered ones across every topic imaginable. The service is for children at all learning levels.

Maddie Moate - Suitable for KS1 and KS2 children, Maddie Moate is a television presenter who demonstrates daily science experiments you can try at home. From dissecting daffodils, soap-making tutorials or discovering how snowflakes are made, it’s fun, easy-to-follow and will ensure primary school children stay entertained. The videos range between three to 30 minutes long so you can fit them into a homemade timetable easily.

Access Mars - For students currently studying planets and the solar system, Access Mars is an interactive tool that allows you to explore the surface of a 3D replica Mars. It’s built upon images of the planet and was created by NASA JPL scientists.It allows you to map the terrain and learn about its geology through the eyes of the NASA Curiosity Rover which was sent to Mars in 2011.

Computing and Coding

Dance Mat Typing - To improve your child’s skills with a keyboard, Dance Mat Typing is a free online programme that uses animated animal characters, graphics and sounds to develop typing abilities. There are three stages to complete in each of the four levels, and the animal cartoon teachers narrate where to put your hands on the keyboards and which fingers to type with. The child-friendly interface will allow you to leave kids unattended while they work their way through each level.

Scratch This is an online coding tool that encourages kids to create stories, games and animations from scratch. It’s designed for children aged between eight and 16, but it also has a simplified version for five to seven-year-olds. It also has a community where it encourages children and parents or carers to share work, collaborate on building things through coding and get feedback on creations. You can also download the Scratch app from its website here and it’s compatible with Android, Mac, Windows and Chrome OS.

Code - For budding Star Wars fans, Code was created to expand access to computer science in schools, particularly to encourage girls, young women and underrepresented minorities to get involved. You can start projects and play games and quizzes, and it even has a Star Wars project in which you build a galaxy using javascript – a programming tool that allows you to build code to perform specific tasks.

Dr Chips - For the first half of 2020, Dr Chips offered doses of science, engineering and computing three times a week where he taught children how to code, make musical instruments out of household objects and how cybersecurity works. All of the video lessons and quizzes are available on the Dr Chips website under “Past Doses.” There’s clear information on the tools you’ll need, some lessons require a laptop and internet connection, while others only pen and paper, so you can pick and choose which one to do with your child depending on your personal resources.

Health and Fitness

Joe Wicks - Kick off every morning with a PE lesson from fitness coach Joe Wicks, who has announced he is bringing back his hugely popular virtual exercise sessions from Monday 11 January at 9am on his YouTube channel. You don’t need any equipment, just some clothes you don’t mind your children getting sweaty in and a bit of space for exercises such as jumping jacks.

Art

Rob Biddulph - Children's book author and illustrator, Rob Biddulph, runs draw-along videos every Saturday at 10am and there is a range of pre-recorded guided draws too. You can leave your kids to follow along with Rob, armed with a pencil and paper while you get some of your own work done, or join in too. The videos are free to watch and subjects include some characters from his books, like sausage dogs along with dinosaurs, aliens, Sonic the hedgehog and even self-portraits. Biddulph also encourages sharing the finished piece on social media using the hashtag #DrawWithRob, a fun way to feel part of an online community.

I hope this helps you in you journey to digital online learning.

regards

David Poole

[email protected]

About the Author - Hi my name is David Poole I currently work at the BIST Group in Bingley, W. Yorkshire. My specialism is around Microsoft Licensing and cloud technologies with over 15 years’ experience in the ICT and telecommunication industries focusing primarily in the education, NHS, government and corporate IT sectors selling or project managing implementations. Before then I worked for 13 years in various customer-focused positions mainly within the B2B marketplace. At BIST I also manage the HP and Microsoft Surface device relationship and very interested in exploring Digital transformation within education. If you want a conversation regarding your licensing, the cloud or Surface, please call me on 01274-518 789 or email me [email protected]