Remote Learning: A Survival Guide for Parents...

If, like us, you have school-age children, then chances are your kids are doing some version of remote learning in your home. Which means we have all earned a new role -- video conference / IT specialist. This new role has many feeling overwhelmed. For us as parents of three kids under 8 who are now learning remotely until at least the end of 2020, the process is extremely frustrating and stressful. Needing some answers, we looked at ways to make it less stressful and now I want to share some ways we tackled the job. Maybe our learnings can possibly make your life a bit easier and we can navigate these waters together.

First, Some Ground Rules

• Don't blame the teacher. Just like most people who struggled/are struggling with adapting to daily video conference calls while working from home, teachers have not had much, if any training using online tools for video conferencing or learning management systems (LMS). It's not like they were trained all summer on these tools either. Most of them were thrown into some sort of plan at the beginning of the school year and are trying to do their best to make things work. They are juggling school, new tools, their families and possibly other things - please be kind and remember they are trying their best to adapt to world where things change on a daily basis. If you can, offer to help in any way you can.
• Set low expectations for your child. Our kids have seldom used a mouse or a touchpad; they've only used tablets and smart phones. I've sat through some classes for preschool where teachers are trying to teach students on how to use the mute button; it was eye opening to me because even some adults don't have a grasp on this, so why would you expect a child to understand how to do this? Obviously, they will learn, but expect it to take some time. We have also noticed that different classes have different meeting IDs - your child will need some help setting these up because they most likely don't have email or don't know how to navigate an LMS either. My point here is - while our kids can pick up technology as digital natives, not everything is straightforward, so a lot of hand-holding and guidance will be necessary. They will get the hang of it in no time.
• It's not your fault. The truth is that there is no one to blame; we are all dealing with remote work and remote learning in different ways. You have to take one day at a time, and do things at the pace you are used to. But there are many things you can do to make things a bit better, and I certainly hope my Survival Tips below will help.

Surviving Remote Learning / E-Learning or whatever the cool kids are calling this 'learning from home' thingy

CREATE THE RIGHT LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

While everyone's homes and situations are a bit different, some of the following suggestions will help create some stability and consistency for your kids so that they evolve into remote learning whizzes:

1. Set up their space - Put them in their own room, or divide a part of a room and allow them to customize it. While not everyone has the space for a dedicated room, it does help isolate your child and most importantly, it will help keep the noise out of their ears, and will create less noise for all the other kids and teachers on the video call as well! Sure, you can use a mute button, but you know how I feel about that already.
2. Virtual Backgrounds - I'm one of those who don't like virtual background, it seems to distract people, especially when you have videos running behind you. But in some situations, when you don't have the luxury of a dedicated space, you may need to use it. If you do decide to use a Virtual Background to hide the mess or the kitchen on your kid's call, please discuss with your teacher first and use a static image, something not too distracting to the other students. If you can't use a Virtual Background, the next best thing is to get a poster board and place it behind your child's chair. Get creative - you could also buy inexpensive posterboard and have your child decorate it as their artwork behind them on video calls. It's up to you.
3. Make it fun - let them hang pictures, paintings, their favorite blanket etc. to make them feel like it is their own space.
4. Light up the room - if you have natural light, great. Have your child's desk face the natural light, versus their back to it. If windows aren't an option, then some lamps will suffice.
5. Setup their workspace - Get a desk big enough for your child to place their computer/tablet as well space to write, draw paint etc. To avoid the computer from falling off the table, secure it with a clamp, place the desk against the all, or get creative with Velcro. They may have to be plugged in the whole time to keep their battery charged - so factor in proximity to an outlet, or get an extension cord long enough and be cognizant of them tripping over it or rolling a chair over it. There are no right/wrong answers here. Your kid will have a ton of papers, crayons, and potentially a ton of folders. You can use red solo cups for writing utensils and buckets/bins/old amazon boxes for all the papers, books and other stuff.
6. Sit em' down - Clearly your kid needs to sit down, but there are a few things to consider. Firstly, if they are sitting on an adult chair, their legs may dangle off the floor. Put something under the desk - a stool, some books, anything to help them rest their legs or they will probably get numb after a while. Revolving chairs seems to be common, even for kids, but, I caution you to two possible issues. #1 - your kid will probably keep swaying side to side, and while it may not be an issue for them, it is an issue for everyone on the video call that is looking at your child. It is, very distracting to look at. #2 - this one hits home for us because our son is borrowing our office chair - and because his legs are suspended in mid-air and we have carpet in his temp space, he can't move back easily, which means he's rocking his desk just to get away from the desk, which means cups of water are falling over and displays are rocking/falling. My advice - don't get a revolving/swaying chair - they don't have them in the classroom, they probably don't need it at home.

If you have multiple children in the same virtual class - You will have to resize your thinking. You need a larger desk or more desks. You will need a bench or two chairs. You will need to think through personal space, so they don't all bump into each other. In general, you are doubling almost everything you need, so a little trial and error of different tactics may help.

If your kids are small and you need to be present the entire time - factor space for your chair and if you will be in the video or not. Consider space for you to sit, maneuver, help with the mouse/trackpad etc.

GETTING YOUR VIDEO SETUP, SETUP RIGHT.

There are many things to think about when it comes to setting up your video. These are fairly high-level:

1. Lighting - Make sure the teacher can see your child - having a lamp on the table, preferably behind the webcam, or placing the desk in front of a window will provide the best light to see your child. You don't need anything fancy, but in general, you need some source of light in front of your face since most webcams have awful aperture. A lamp with a shade, or a soft box light will avoid blinding your child and will be a lot more comfortable for them. Something else to consider is lighting behind your child - this is something to avoid because the webcam will darken when it sees a light source directly in front of it. Many have issues with windows in the background - if your webcam sees it, close your shades, or close your drapes etc.
2. Choosing a Webcam - Let me save you some trouble - unless you have a high-end tablet like an Apple iPad Pro, almost any external Webcam will be better than the thin camera that is jammed into your laptop. It's pure physics - a bigger sensor will generate a better image.
3. Placing your Webcam - This can be tricky, but in general, you want the webcam at or close to the middle of your child's head. If its on your notebook, you may have to put your notebook on a stand or a few books. With tablets, this gets very tricky - you may need a clamp mount or something to make sure it stands straight up almost at 90 degrees, or find a couple 2x4s and build your own stand; one of our executives did this to raise his iPad Pro to eye-level and to stabilize the angle. Many options here - just try your best.
4. Framing your picture - You want the teacher to see your child's face on at least 70-90% of their screen, not a little speck that is barely noticeable. If you have a big screen PC/Mac with a built-in webcam, this becomes challenging because you have to position the monitor away from your child because the screen is so big, but the negative is that they now appear far away in their own video. There are some video conferencing platforms that can automatically zoom to your face, but most don't do it, or don't do it well. This is where a Webcam can come in handy, because most webcams have software that lets you zoom into your child's face. For example, Logitech webcams come with great software that let you do this. This setup, is a nice to have, especially for the teacher to see your child.
5. If you have multiple kids using a single device - While framing in the above tip talks about a single child, you may have more than one in the same room, on the same call. In this case, moving the webcam farther away from them will help frame multiple children so they are "all in the shot." However, you may run into an issue where there are now "too small" in the shot. If you have another device or PC as an option, you can place it in front of another child or multiple children, but when you log into the video meeting, mute the audio or better yet, don't connect the audio at all. We have tested this multiple ways where the main call is happening on an iMac farther away, but each child has their own iPads logged in without audio so the teacher can see facial expressions of each child and they can watch the teacher on a larger screen. Parental guidance on this is obviously needed.
6. Always check compatibility first - Kids these days use a number of different devices - iPads, Macs, PCs, Android tablets, chromebooks etc. - but not all of them support a webcam, and may not even support software that lets you make customizations, like zooming into your child's face, so be sure to look at the specifications and platforms supported before making a purchase.

WHAT GOOD IS GREAT VIDEO WHEN YOU CAN'T HEAR THE CALL?

We were fortunate to have a school district that gave us a headset and a Chromebook. Our son chose to use his old wired beats headset, which works great, but after 3-4 hours, his ears started hurting - just like it would for an adult. This is something to keep in mind if you are on hours and hours of calls with limited breaks. Here are some things to consider:

1. You may be tempted to get a wireless headset - Personally, for a younger child, I would always recommend a wired headset because its plug and play, no charging needed, and it just works with no 'configuration' necessary. The key is - it needs to be comfortable, with cushioned ear pads that fit around your child's ears with very little tension - enough to stay on their head but not strong enough to cause them ear pain, especially if they wear glasses. Look for wired headsets that have a mic boom, with a mute button, because that is easy for kids to mute and unmute. Some light up red when its muted which is a great visual indication that no one can hear them.
2. If you must get a wireless headset - get one that has great battery life. Apple AirPods and AirPods Pro are fantastic, IMO, for music; that is what they were originally design for, but the battery will not last all day on conference calls; I know this because I've tried. So, consider battery life, a dock to have your child charge the headset every time they are done with their school day, and active noise cancelling options that block out noise for your child, and everyone else listening in on the conference call.
3. If you really want the best headset - then you need to look at a headset that uses DECT, not Bluetooth. We've all had our ups and downs with Bluetooth, which is far from perfect, but great DECT headsets boast great battery life, clarity and range. While these are designed for adults, they can fit most children's heads. Look at Poly, Jabra, Sennheiser and Cisco for great DECT options.
4. You can always ditch the headset - Especially if your child is in a quiet area or room, they could opt to not use a headset at all. Worst case scenario, they could use the mic and speakers inside the device or notebook, but they are generally not great. Another option would be to get a USB speakerphone, like a Jabra Speak, Poly Calisto or Yamaha. We started using these for our kids - it really helps take a load off your child's ears, but more importantly it gives them a "mute" button to hit. Another huge advantage, is that you can move the speakerphone close to your child/children - they can hear the teacher better and the teacher can hear them better! While these can be connected with Bluetooth, I plug them in via USB because its wired - you know how I prefer wired vs wireless already.
5. Check that pesky compatibility list- Once again, you need to figure out if you can hook up your wired/wireless headset via USB, USB-C, Bluetooth, etc. and need to make sure you have the right connections on your device first. Some planning here helps you get started off on the right foot.

SEEING AS MUCH AS YOU CAN

Our son is currently using a tiny 12" Chromebook screen for 6 hours a day, but many have suggested using multiple monitors so your child can see their teacher and fellow students on one screen, and all the shared content from the teacher on another. Here are some options:

1. Move the tiny screen closer to your child's face - I'm being serious - if that's the only option you have, try and make the best of it. Not the most ideal, but it is what it is.
2. Add a monitor - External monitors can be had for a couple hundred dollars today - even used ones on eBay are fairly economical. Before you purchase anything, make sure the device you are using can connect to an external monitor and identify what connections you may need. Sometimes its as simple as a VGA or USB-C cable, sometimes you need some kind of adapter, and that can be very frustrating to decode.
3. Add two or more monitors - This is an ideal setup since both can be the same size, but once again, you have to check what your device can support, and if you have the right connectors. In some cases, you may need a docking station to support multiple monitors.

ALL THIS IS FANTASTIC AS LONG AS YOUR INTERNET WORKS PROPERLY

By far, the #1 question I get from friends is around their internet connection, wireless, slow speeds or frequent disconnects. This can be a fairly difficult thing to get right, especially if you are unfamiliar with it all, so let me give you some straightforward advice:

1. Wire your computer, Mac, or iPad - Yes, you can buy an Ethernet adapter for almost any device you own. Wiring your device right into your router ensures you have the best connection possible and eliminates any issues with wireless.
2. What if your device is too far away from your router? - Well, you can buy a really long patch cable - that's the easy answer. I have seen people run a cable from a bedroom on a second floor all the way down the stairs into a closet in a basement, using blue painter's tape to secure the cable so no one trips and you don't ruin your floors. I have advised some friends to drill a hole in your exterior wall and drop an 'outdoor' rated ethernet cable outside your room and into the room where your router is. It is extreme, but just make sure you block and waterproof those holes externally and potentially internally. Obviously, the right way to do this is to run cables inside your walls and fish them through between floors and walls, but that could be an expensive option, especially if you don't have hollow walls.
3. Run speed tests regularly - Although most homes in North America have relatively fast internet access, it is possible that your area or your home is saturated. Using a Speed Test website like www.ookla.com will help you troubleshoot what your speeds are - both download and upload speeds should be looked at.

SHARE WHAT'S WORKING FOR YOU AND LET'S KEEP THIS SURVIVAL GUIDE GOING

You know what they say, sharing is caring. We're all trying to figure this remote learning thing out, so please comment below and we can make changes and add to what I've started above. Good luck with Remote Learning and remember, take one step at a time. You can do this!