Day 109 Remote

Earlier in  the year I wrote a post [Love First] about the closing of schools, and the resulting loss in the hearts of teachers that comes with cleaning up of vacant classrooms.

Teachers, often with a week’s time when the covid pandemic hit, offered educational changes online or in packets for students so school could continue. They are heroes in our communities, for sure. If you haven’t taken the time to thank them, please do.

Remote learning was difficult, and it surely is if the goal is to recreate a physical classroom’s atmosphere.  But remote learning is different, though the pedagogy of learning is not.

First and foremost, it’s the relationships developed through careful connections and kindnesses that create a learning community. Without that care — online or face-to-face, learning seldom happens.

Learning remotely involves integrating technology tools in ways that engage and involve students in conversations and collaboration through choices that enable student agency in the learning process — it is the pedagogy, not the technology that promotes learning, even and especially in remote, online learning. And, everything is not online: students work within their own homes on projects, with the materials available, to learn and practice objectives that may or may not be shared online. Online connections encourage the focus and framework for flexible learning.

But what does this mean? Many teachers have taught online for years; learn from their experiences.

From my Love First post, here are resources to clarify this: