Online and Blended Learning

  • How have your past experiences with online/blended learning impacted your goals for your future students?

My experiences with online learning from last school year and this school year have impacted how I approach online learning and student goals. I have seen how stressful online learning can be for families, especially families with multiple children or families who have children with special needs. My students entirely depend on their parents to manage online learning since they are so young and have disabilities. I have also seen how technology can hinder my students’ performance in the online learning environment. I provided some online variety last school year to help with differentiation and academic IEP goals. With some experience and research under my belt, I have learned about a variety of other tools to help my students with meeting their academic goals. These tools can them to show their mastery of certain skills in the online learning environment.

My expectations for how students show what they know have changed due to benefits and limitations of technology. On top of academic goals, I have seen that I need to have goals for technology skills based on the student’s overall functioning. For one student, it might be completing an activity on Seesaw and for another it could be finding Schoology within the apps on their iPad. In regard to academics, if a student is online I have to think of goals differently. In regard to academics, certain IEP goals would have to be transferred into an online format which could add a level of difficulty for certain students that would impede their ability to show their skills. It is more than imperative that I think of what my online student’s (or future online students) technology skills are when planning academic goals.

  • How do you hope to engage your students effectively in online learning?

I plan to continue to effectively engage my students online through the current methods I am using during synchronous instruction. I also plan to continue research and exploration to find new methods of engaging my students. Currently, Boom Cards have been very helpful for engaging my students during part of my synchronous instruction (ex: individual sessions during virtual snow days) because they are interactive. Some sets are more elaborate than other sets. My students view them more like “games” than work which helps with engagement. Although, my students definitely know that they are not free play games like on PBS Kids! I also use a variety of other methods, such as using my humor, showing excitement, and relating activities to their interests.

In regard to asynchronous instruction, I plan to continue to engage students through a variety of activities that I provide for all levels. I currently use Boom Cards, Seesaw activities, Flippity matching cards (made by me), YouTube videos (story time and skill videos), Starfall games, SplashLearn (math games), CodeMonkey Jr., digital books on ARC Bookshelf, and PebbleGo.

  • What has been (or do you anticipate being) the most challenging aspect of online/blended teaching for you? What solutions have you considered to this challenge?

The most challenging aspect of online learning would be the limitations my students have in the online learning environment. Much of online learning revolves around being able to navigate online learning, communicate through typing, read and comprehend what is read online, and use executive functioning skills to complete tasks. My students fully rely on an adult to help them get on to virtual sessions, maintain focus during sessions, and complete classwork or reinforcement activities. Most of my students are in-person but one student is permanently online. Our school has been using virtual snow days during which all of my students get live, individual instruction from me. Additionally, our school allows parents of students who are in-person to choose online instruction on any given day. When this happens, I arrange a time to do live, individual instruction and I make sure that they turn in classwork on Seesaw for the day. There is much variety of math and reading activities posted on Schoology for them to use, as well.

My solution for helping my students with online learning challenges is to continue to provide simple navigation (Ex: picture directions, audio directions/activities that have immersive reader built in, minimal clicks to reach a destination, and etc.). Another solution is to provide very engaging activities that will hold the interest of students. I have to go through different online tools, activities, and videos with a fine tooth comb to make sure they will benefit my students (ex: help them meet their goals), hold their interest, and help them access their learning.