How to Build a Strong Virtual Classroom Community
There is light at the end of our long tunnel of social isolation, but teachers still need to focus on students’ sense of connection to their peers and school community. It can be challenging to foster inclusive communities in the virtual environment. In addition to adapting trusted strategies for delivering instruction and learning some new ones, it’s important for teachers to make sure that their students feel safe and included. Even if a student is keeping up with their work, the pressures of learning how to navigate the virtual environment and social isolation can leave them feeling disconnected from their teachers and peers. While synchronous experiences, either online or in-person, can be more conducive to community building than asynchronous ones, there are plenty of strategies that teachers can use to cultivate relationships from afar that can occur in class or outside of it. Read the full article here
From previous newsletters…
Active Learning Online: Yes You Can
Because of their versatility, active learning activities can be designed and conducted in a variety of environments and formats. As we are getting more familiar with teaching and learning online, we discover various possibilities to actively engage students throughout the course. It does seem quite daunting, especially because it feels like these activities are more difficult to accomplish and monitor virtually. But leaving those fears aside, the author discusses what we need to be mindful of when using active learning in our online courses. Read the full article here
An Important Distance Learning Resource for Teachers, Students, and Parents
Wide Open School offers free learning activities for all grades. Students can browse activities related to various subjects including social studies, emotional wellbeing, reading and writing, math, arts, music, science, English language learning, digital citizenship, and more. Within each of these activities, you can search for materials by grade level or search label. You can for instance search for activities that include videos, worksheets, lessons, etc. Some of these activities offer free downloadable materials. You can also share them to Google Classroom.
Principles for Remote Instruction: Notes from a #TLAC Masterclass
Participant notes from a workshop about excellent remote instruction, delivered via excellent remote instruction. Read more here
Tools for Project-Based Learning
Project-based learning, or PBL, challenges students to design and engage in more authentic, extended, and complex learning. But while PBL is a trusted strategy for increasing student engagement and learning, it’s not easy to orchestrate. There are tons of moving pieces, and if you’re doing it right, students will be engaging in a variety of interest-driven projects all with various needs and on different schedules. So how do you manage it all? Tech can be a huge help. This list gathers some useful productivity and organization tools that can help both teachers and students keep track of, finish, and assess projects. There are also a few tools designed specifically for PBL, as well as plug-and-play PBL experiences. Learn about these tools here
Rough Guide for Spotting Bad Science
Being able to evaluate the evidence behind a scientific claim is important. Being able to recognize bad science reporting, or faults in scientific studies is equally important. Includes 12 points to help separate the science from the pseudoscience. Download the PDF here
Supporting the Continuation of Teaching and Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Annotated Resources for Online Learning
This brief discusses the second module of a series that presents the results of a comparative analysis of emerging educational needs and responses as the pandemic unfolds across countries around the world. The overall goal of this series is to facilitate the rapid design process and implementation of adaptive responses to the emerging education challenges and to protect young people’s educational opportunities during and following the pandemic. Get the PDF here
PeerLearning.net
Cooperative or peer learning is a thoroughly researched educational practice with consistently strong positive effects. PeerLearning.net provides a variety of benefits for teachers, students, and schools. Learn more here
Virtual Manipulatives to Use in Your Teaching
Toy Theatre offers a collection of virtual manipulatives that help model abstract mathematical concepts for deeper student comprehension. The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives offers resources organized into five categories: Number and Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, and Data Analysis and Probability. Check it out here
ABC Learning Design
Spreadsheet template to facilitate the collaborative design of learning scenarios. Check it out here
Common Sense Education Resources
UNESCO Resources
Quality Matters Emergency Remote Teaching Checklist
CANeLearn’s Emergency Remote Teaching Resources, Tools, Ideas
- CANeLearn has published a page with a collection of resources from other organizations, emerging tools, and ideas about pivoting to remote teaching
- Check it out here
eCampusOntario’s updated list of tools and resources
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