4. Substitute Teaching During A Pandemic – Demo

Full in-person learning comprises face-to-face experiences between students and educators that follow social distancing and sanitization guidelines, with the goal of minimizing the spread of disease while reopening the physical school environment for as many people as possible.

A remote learning environment connects students and educators through virtual platforms, with little to no in-person contact. Schools may consider full distance learning for immunocompromised staff and students, and keep it as an option for families to opt into based on their needs.

Hybrid learning models incorporate some component(s) of both distance learning and in-person learning. There are a variety of hybrid scenarios, but common versions may include rotating different cohorts of students on alternating weeks/days, or having set groups of at-home and in-person learners that get support from the teacher at different points in the schedule. While hybrid learning models provide flexibility, the constraints of staffing and physical space may require schools to prioritize access by grade level, learner needs, etc.

Synchronous learning refers to all types of learning in which learner(s) and instructor(s) are in the same place, at the same time, in order for learning to take place. This includes in-person classes, live online meetings when the whole class or smaller groups get together

Station rotation is a model in which students rotate through learning tasks/modalities on a fixed schedule or at the teacher’s discretion, and at least one of the modalities is online learning. Students rotate through all of the stations over the course of a day or multiple days. Stations might include activities such as small-group instruction, group projects, individual tutoring, and pencil-and-paper assignments (Adapted from The Christensen Institute).

In a concurrent classroom model, some students attend class in person while others attend remotely at the same time. The teacher works to meet the needs of both groups of students simultaneously (Catlin Tucker). This model has become much more common amidst the COVID-19 pandemic due to a variety of factors.

A Learning Management System is software designed specifically to create, distribute, and manage the delivery of educational content. The most basic LMS contains a core functional platform that enables [educators] to upload learning content, deliver lessons to students, send notifications, and share data with authorized users. An LMS most often operates inside of a web-browser, behind a secure sign-on process. This gives all students and instructors easy access to courses on-the-go, while administrators and leaders can monitor student progress and make improvements (Valamis). Commonly used LMS in Rhode Island include Google Classroom, Canvas, Blackboard, and Seesaw.

Google Classroom is a free web service that Google developed for schools to create, distribute, and grade assignments. The primary purpose of Google Classroom is to streamline the process of sharing files between teachers and students (Wikipedia). Google Classroom is a basic version of a Learning Management System (LMS).

Canvas is a web-based Learning Management System, which is software that allows institutions to manage digital learning. Educators can create and present online learning materials and assess student learning, while students can engage in courses and receive feedback about their skill development and learning achievement (Canvas). Canvas is utilized in several Rhode Island school districts.

Seesaw is a platform for student engagement that is sometimes used as a Learning Management System for grades PreK-2. Students capture their learning in a portfolio using creative tools to take pictures, draw, record videos, and more. It collects student work in one place for the teacher to view, and is also shareable with families; however, nothing is shared without teacher approval (Seesaw). In Rhode Island, Seesaw is most commonly used with young learners.

Jamboard is a collaborative virtual whiteboard in the Google Suite of free tools. Students can add sticky notes, draw, add images, and type in text boxes, which allows students to make their thinking visible. Like a Google Document, Jamboard allows multiple users to make edits to the same artifact simultaneously. It is similar to Google Slides or PowerPoint presentations in many ways.

Flipgrid is a free video recording, posting, and sharing platform. Teachers can create a topic/prompt, and students reply in their own words and voices with brief video responses that are viewable to all classmates. The teacher can enable settings that allow users to respond to one another’s videos with a video comment feature.