Co-Authored by Jason Ablin and Dr. Rachel Lerner.
Dr. Rachel Lerner is the Dean of the Graduate Center for Jewish Education at American Jewish University.
Jason Ablin runs the Mentor Teacher Program at American Jewish University, training master teachers to mentor their peers, and is an adjunct instructor in the university’s Graduate Center for Jewish Education. He can be reached at: hello
ablineducation.com.
As school leaders anticipate moving classes online, educators are forced to grapple with the reality that online learning is not simply an equal substitute for in-person all-class learning. In fact, we are looking at an entirely different pedagogical and learning experience. And yet, this is becoming the presumptive option.
We would like to think about this moment as an opportunity for teachers to show their pedagogic and leadership strengths and expand their toolkit.
How should teachers think about online learning? We discussed this with our students in a masters-level pedagogy class at American Jewish University. Here is what we came up with collectively:
First, school leaders need to work with teachers to articulate the goals of learning. For many, academic goals are a priority including maintaining specific skills, allowing kids to stay curious and engaged, and meaningfully progressing through curriculum. Just as important, though, are the social/emotional goals of keeping kids connected to each other, maintaining a sense of routine, and feeling a part of the school and class community. Finally, we recognize that schools are attending to the needs of parents who are concerned about their children’s academic progress while balancing the economic challenges of school closures.
Once we articulate our goals for students, we need to look at the student experience to realign student learning objectives within the reality of the learning experience.
How can educators achieve these goals?
- Less is more: students will not be able to be fully present on a computer screen for the length of a regular school day. Think about teaching in pieces, rather than in long blocks.
- Scaffold independent and group work: instead of simply giving more worksheets, how can teachers create meaningful self and group-guided learning experiences? If students are reading texts, don’t just ask questions to check for understanding, but provide visual organizers for them to make sense of the material and then do higher order thinking.
- Don’t reinvent the wheel: make use of the online tools you know and love and learn some new ones. Embrace games, interactive learning tools, and videos in an effort to engage students and add levity. Some suggestions include: Kahoot, mystery science, quizlet, nearpod, flipgrid, peardeck, and explain everything.
- Body breaks: think about how much your students move around in your class regularly just by breaking into groups or sharpening their pencil. Don’t shy away from body breaks to help kids focus, be mindful, get some energy out, or just have fun. Our favorite platform with videos for all kinds of needs is gonoodle.com.
- Make use of other adults: the fact of the matter is, especially for younger kids, those who are on break from school will need to be supervised. Provide guidelines for educative activities away from screens such as cooking activities that incorporate math, LEGO challenges that explore engineering, or parent-child interviews as part of a family history project.
- Make time for community: kids need to feel the familiarity of routine and being with their friends. Adapt morning meeting or class songs.
The takeaway from our class was that we should not take the same activities and lessons that we do in class and simply do them online. We need to rethink our responsibilities to students at this critical moment. Students receive many benefits from the school day which have little to do with the delivery of curriculum or learning goals. Our children are thriving from the social and emotional landscape which includes friendships, community, and their relationships with caring adults. Many students will feel the acute anxiety of this moment as well as feelings of isolation and detachment. Our mission as school leaders and faculty is to use the vast resources of technology to maintain and build their human connections.