Maybe I am behind the times, but I had not heard of “eDays” until I viewed the epanel interviews. Within a week of watching the interview, our high school announced they were hosting an eLearning day. So, I began to research this idea. What does an eLearning day consist of and how are schools using this to not lose days due to weather issues.
According to the Mountain Brook School web page eLearning day can be defined as “a day in which students receive their classroom instruction electronically.” Mountain Brook started their eLearning Days in 2015 with scheduled days throughout the school year when teachers had professional development sessions. Students participated in grade level standard lessons that were linked to their classroom instruction while at home. Teachers provided these lessons on their classroom/grade level website or through a LMS program. In Mountain Brook, students are able to use their personal devices at home or visit the local library to complete these assignments. The teachers develop lessons that flow from their classroom instruction and further develop the content taught. Many teachers, especially secondary, are using the flipped lesson design when creating these eLearning day lessons. They want their lessons to be more than just an electronic form of a handout.
What must the teacher do to prepare for eLearning day ? Lesson plans are still the same as if the instruction will take place in the classroom. The teacher needs to take into account access to devices and internet. If a family is unable to complete the assignments at home, alternative option needs to be available. The purpose of an eLearning day is not to further separate the “haves” from the “have nots” (Schwartzbeck, 2014).
Another consideration is for the district to define what “present” looks like. When assignments are posted, the teacher needs to provide a clear expectations of what present means. The state department will need to be included in the planning process to make sure the eLearning day is counted as a regular school day. This will allow schools to give credit for attendance. (Schwartzbeck, 2014) The district also needs to clearly define what it expects teachers and administration to do during eLearning day. Do they need to hold “virtual office hours” or participate in a form of chat session? Do they need to be available for conference calls? Making clear expectations for everyone involved can cause some challenges in the planning stages.
“While these obstacles are not insurmountable, it is important that school and district leaders plan e-learning days with precision to ensure that all children can take advantage of the learning opportunities they are given. Similar to a traditional school day, the content must be rigorous, the lessons designed with proper learning objectives in mind, and high-quality learning experiences created. E-learning days shouldn’t simply become forced busy work from home. With proper meaning, a high quality learning experience can occur. “ (Schwartzbeck, 2014) I love this explanation of planning for eLearning day. If eLearning day are in our future, planning needs to take top priority to ensure they are used for the benefit of learning for our students.
When our high school hosted the first eLearning day, parents found out about it the night before. Students were given the option of coming to school to complete the lessons or staying home. As you can imagine, this caused numerous issues. Many parents did not believe the students were being truthful about the news. Many of the students who may not have had a device chose to not go to school because their friends were not there. The assignments were not completed. Needless to say, this eLearning day experience was not as planned and well thought out as needed. I can see this being a great way for our system to make-up missed time out of the class for the next school year. Hopefully the planning will come with it.
What are the benefits of eLearning day’s for students? The first is students will not lose instruction time. If the lessons are planned well, students will be able to continue their lessons just while at home. Second, the students are gaining independent learning skills necessary for college. Many college classes use a form of LMS. This would be giving students a taste of what college is like with a little extra guidance from their teachers. To be honest, this maybe the future of many schools. So why not start small and see how it goes. References:
eDays / Overview. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mtnbrook.k12.al.us/Page/384
Schwartzbeck, T. (2014). Replacing snow days with E-learning days. Alliance for
Excellence Education. Retrieved from
http://all4ed.org/replacing-snow-days-with-e-learning-days/
Jaclyn, I had to review the video to understand what an eDay was as well. It seems like a really wonderful thing. Students do their school work online when they miss a day of school during bad weather. However, my first concern was about those students who have no internet access at home. Then, I listened closer to discover that they has several days in which to turn in those activities, so they could be back at school and access it there. I kinda like the idea. This way they would not have to get behind and yes, they develop some life skills about time management and responsibility (something that 5th grade is all about). This is one place, that according to Whiteside, Jensen, & Boschee (2013), we could blend mobile learning opportunities with lessons in the classroom while meeting the needs of the students and recovering some lost academic time.
ReplyDeleteWhitehead, B.M., Jensen, D.E.N., and Boschee, F. (2013). Planning for technology: A guide for school administrators, technology coordinators, and curriculum leaders. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
Jaclyn,
ReplyDeleteI had not heard of eLearning days either. I'm glad you shed some more light on the topic. I have many questions that I will have to explore further like:
Is there a time-length that is required of the virtual experience? Is it mostly a video recording? What if it is a day when the gov. declares a state of emergency? If there is inclement weather, most of the time, my satellite internet goes out- so that would not be an viable option for some. Is there an extended time period that the students would have to complete the assignment?