Introduction
Steven 00:01
Hello, everyone, and welcome to our district administration had talked here today, which is entitled, online learning versus remote learning strategies for success in each model. And all this is brought to you by the generous support of our sponsor with us here today, Elevate K-12. Now for some quick housekeeping items, and we’ll get right to the presentation. So at the end of our events, there will be a live q&a with our panel here. You can submit your questions right from now until then any time via the red ask question icon with a question mark, and that is at the bottom of your screen there. I’d also like to direct your attention to some resources you can safely access and those are in the blue related content icon with the paperclip. And that is also on the bottom of the page here. Also, we do invite all of you to please stay on until the very end to participate in our post event survey. It’ll launch right when the event ends. So please stay on we’d love to hear from you. And lastly, everyone who was here today, and everyone who registered all of you will receive an email tomorrow from us at DA and that email will include a link to the slides as well as the on demand video. And now it is my pleasure to introduce our speakers that we have with us we have Carolyn Lanctot who is senior director of customer success at Elevate K-12. Allison Pollack, who is Solutions Engineer at Elevate K-12. And Kamilee Quinlan Jorgenson, who is a teacher for Elevate K-12. Carolyn Ally, Kamilee, it’s great to have you with us today. You may now begin.
Agenda
Carolyn Lanctot 01:51
Hi, everyone, thanks so much for being here today. Busy school schedules. But so nice to have this group and to be able to chat and to connect. I’m coming from our Chicago office, they’re actually testing out the Christmas lights behind us in our office today, which is pretty crazy. But we’re excited to be into the school year and really today talking about the discussing online learning and remote learning and how we found building success with different strategies in the model from the administrator, teacher and student perspective. And the topics today just going through, you know, the the pros in the synchronous online learning and asynchronous learning how we’ve been successful in implementing each of those models for our students, and some of the solutions that we found to work with different tools and platforms and really creating that effective online remote learning environment. And like I said, I’m in our Chicago office here, former administrator and network leader, and I’ll kick it over to Ali.
Alison Pollock 02:57
Hello, everyone, I am ally, my family and I live here too in the bustling downtown area of Chicago. I was a special education teacher for 11 years, and I’ve now been with Elevate for the past two years. I began on our curriculum and content side. And now I’m so excited to be on the solutions engineer side of the house having conversations and supporting solutions across the country. Kamilee.
Kamilee Quinlan Jorgenson 03:02
My name is Kimberly Quinlan Jorgensen, why live with my husband in northwest Colorado, a little teeny, tiny frontier town, where we have our family farm. I have been teaching in the teaching environment for more than 20 years. I retired from the classroom due to health reasons but wasn’t quite done teaching yet. So I found this opportunity to return to the classroom environment. And I’m entering my third year with Elevate.
Synchronous & Asynchronous Learning
Alison Pollock 04:02
Awesome, thank you so much, Kamilee. To kick it off. We’re actually going to start with a question for Kamilee, prior to the COVID 19 pandemic, what was your level of understanding regarding synchronous and or asynchronous learning?
Kamilee Quinlan Jorgenson 04:19
My experience with it had been very superficial at the time. Naturally, having been through college, I did experience some of the asynchronous learning, which was convenient, having a family and a job and things like that. But there were definitely some pieces missing the synchronous option was not as available to me, given where we were living at the time. As that transitioned into my classroom, I started seeing more and more of the synchronous asynchronous hybrid entering into the classroom. But it was mostly from the college level trickling down into the co-classes that we were hosting with the college where I was in my last district.
So, today, we’ll talk a little bit about the teacher shortage crisis, nothing is going to be news to you all because you’re all dealing with it. We’ll learn some alternative hiring options and talk through some of those. We’ll talk about the live teaching solution, and then implementation and then have lots of time to answer any questions that you guys might have. So, before we dive in, we have a quick poll for you all. Are you facing a teacher shortage in your school or district? This is a quick Yes or No question. We’ll give you a few seconds to answer. Alright, few more, few more, we’ll cut it off in three, two – this is my teacher count down, – one. And we have 20 submissions. So, we’re gonna get, let’s see, 95.5%. So I, we assumed it would be pretty high since that’s why we’re all here today. So, we know that this is a really prevalent issue that’s nationwide. And so we’re here to kind of talk about that. So I’m going to hand it off to Jen and Dr. Kakela.
Jenn Russart 04:09
Yeah, awesome. Thank you, Kim. So, when we’re looking at trends and patterns within our education workforce, there is not only a stark decline in the number of certified K-12 teachers across the country, but we’re also seeing the open rate of vacant positions is accelerating at a rapid rate. The most recent data is showing, that’s been collected by the National Education Association NEA projects that by 2021, we will face a shortfall of nearly 2 million teachers.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Alison Pollock 05:10
Thank you so much for that feedback. So similar to Kamilee, many of you on the call may have the knowledge of these two types of learning modalities. But today we’re going to be diving into the advantages of both synchronous and asynchronous learning. Before we get started, we’re going to build just a bit more background on these types of learning. Synchronous learning is a learning event that happens at the same time for the teacher and the learners. So that’s the real-time interaction. And this can happen either online or in person. Asynchronous learning is learning that doesn’t necessarily happen at the same time for the teachers and learners. So there’s no real-time interaction. The content is created and then made available for consumption at that later date and later time. What we’re seeing is there are three main advantages of synchronous learning or that real-time instruction. Advantages include social interaction opportunities, immediate feedback, and the ability to clarify misconceptions in real-time. Synchronous learning allows for social interaction opportunities. Within the learning environment, a camera, a speaker and a microphone can be set up. Virtual tools, including a class chat, a private chat, and a raise hand tool can allow for individualized attention within that large group setting. And immediate feedback can increase student engagement, leading to stronger academic outcomes, and social-emotional skill building. Finally, teachers and students alike can clarify misconceptions in real-time with that two-way communication, along with the private chat between our on-site and our virtual teachers, regular check for understanding prompts can be employed for students and staff alike. So back to you Kamilee, what type of feedback do you see as most useful for students and teachers during synchronous instruction?
Kamilee Quinlan Jorgenson 07:27
I see most of my students get really excited about that. Hey, I just did this. Will you check this for me right now? Am I going the right direction with this? Oh, wait, as my students call me, Miss J? I don’t understand that. Can you say that again? Please? Can you rephrase the question? The opportunity to really check in with my students as it’s happening, versus the they have to send an email, they have to wait until office hours, they have to wait for a response and then they have to as quickly as it’s available to them check back in with their emails. It it takes a lot of the boundaries, the borders, the the walls that we might experience in the asynchronous setting. It removes those allowing me to actively engage with the students. I’m actively helping them which in turn, they actively respond. They engage with me, all by itself, it increases the student engagement.
Alison Pollock 08:32
Thank you so much Kamilee. Like synchronous learning advantages what Kamilee was just referencing the research has also shown that asynchronous learning has its perks as well. Because instruction can occur at any time. There are no geographical restrictions, right? This allows for time for our teacher and or our students to reflect and information can be archived and revisited later. Asynchronous learning can accommodate instruction regardless of geographical location of our teacher and our learners. So state-certified teaching can be streamed into classrooms across the country, allowing time for reflection. Teachers can pose questions provide time for student research, student collaboration, and general composition of delayed responses. Assignment and assessment deadlines can be adapted based on various factors. And like a flipped classroom model, students can view archived information in class recordings following the completion of those lessons. Carolyn.
Virtual Teaching and Student Engagement
Carolyn Lanctot 09:50
Thanks, Ally. So yeah, now that we’ve talked about the advantages of both of those learning models that we know that are out there, and how we’re all being creative and innovative with our staffing and Technology and all the different products that we’re using. We also want to think about what our students and our teachers are saying. And so looking into the research, we know that 84% of students prefer asynchronous learning over an asynchronous learning model. And so as we think about that Kamilee and just kind of what you were speaking to, with how you can give that immediate feedback, you can do that formative assessment, you can really differentiate for those kids and know what they need the next day, the next week. How have you seen this to be true in your virtual live synchronous teaching experience? What does this statistic look like to you, in practice with the kids that you’re working with every day?
Kamilee Quinlan Jorgenson 10:42
Pulling from an example of my classroom, just today, I’m able to verbally address the student I can call the student by name, I can engage them by saying, will you please help me by doing this, I need you to provide me read this objective. Tell me what from this objective stands out to you, I can address that student by name, engaging that student, pulling them back from all of the different distractions going on in their life, pulling them back to the items that we’re working on now, gradually releasing responsibility to them, helping them make that transition to where they can be more independent, where they can engage more freely, even more so where they will engage more freely with anything that’s being offered to them. It’s a beautiful opportunity to to transition them into those 21st century skills that they are needing, though, we’re all struggling with this from time to time, I will say, where we send the email out to the co worker or something like that. This hybrid model that we engage in, allows the students to explore some of those 21st century skills, such as sending emails, such as live chat, such as collaborative work, when you’re not next to that person. This hybrid model allows the students to engage in that, to learn to grow, to have failures, so that I can see that real time, I can say, hey, this approach isn’t working. Let’s transition and try it this way. And they have that safe environment where they can be free to try out those opportunities, where they can be free to say, Nope, that didn’t work. Let’s do it differently. Honestly, my classroom this way doesn’t look much different than when I was in the regular classroom. We have very similar activities. We have very similar conversations. We engage in a very similar fashion. I’m just not right there with them to high five them.
Elevate K-12 Results
Carolyn Lanctot 12:51
Thanks so much for sharing. Yeah, it’s always a joy visiting, you’re visiting your class and feeling that and seeing that, you know, even that, like you said, they interact with you, but also that they’re able to do that peer-to-peer interaction synchronously as well. So thanks for sharing that. And so speaking to a little bit more what we’ve seen, you know, in that in from your perspective, and then the data, you know, knowing that our students prefer that synchronous time, really craving that social interaction and having that quality teacher thinking of, you know, successes outside just Kamilee’s classrooms in, you know, with our school partners, and one of them Dillard Academy down in Goldsboro, it’s North Carolina, those students had been doing, you know, that asynchronous time and, you know, working kind of in that parallel isolation, and we were able to see that when they had that interaction with the teacher on their, you know, North Carolina check in their interim state assessment for reading, they had the highest test scores in the building, we’re able to see that comparison. And then we were able to replicate that in their other classes and subject area needs that they have. Thinking then up in Michigan, one of our districts on Lakeview school district having about 1000 students seeing a huge boost in student attendance and engagement. There there accuses that Ali was talking about those formative assessments we do, we’re kind of giving that diagnostic progress monitoring. And so they saw huge boosts compared to when the kids were doing that solo asynchronous learning. And so we see our students responding to that by having that live, synchronous teacher really makes a difference. And they value having that helpful and caring teacher as their partner in their learning.
Carolyn Lanctot 14:40
And so as we look ahead to you know, where we’re going and how we’re being creative with our staffing and which products we’re using with our students and partners that we’re working, working with, as we think about the HyperFlex, you know, learning environment and how it evolves and, and fits into each of our districts and the problems that we’re trying to solve to make Sure, if students have, you know, those best experiences, we want to make sure that, you know those students have that, that in class experience, they’ve got a balance. And they’re having that hybrid experience to prepare them for, you know, college career and beyond wherever, wherever they’re going, giving them those digital skills that they need. And having that experience with the asynchronous and synchronous learning, knowing that we have a ways to go in terms of the advancements that we can use with with AI and ML and what we can do with our products, and whether that’s an asynchronous or a synchronous option, how we’re advancing those and continuing to, you know, get input from our students and our teachers on what they need, and where we can evolve. So it’s really exciting to be working alongside you, Ali and Kamilee with other 1000s of teachers who are really thinking of ways that we can reach our students in different and unique ways. So I’m excited for where we’re going and where we’re going to be evolving to. So, Ali, you’ve been monitoring our chat for us today. I’m excited to hear from some of our audience members here today, Ali.
Alison Pollock 16:15
Building Executive Functioning Skills for Students
yes, of course, we do have people from across the country streaming in here today. So thank you all for being here. We do have two questions in the chat. But feel free to throw more questions in the q&a chat that Steven had mentioned earlier. We do love to hear from you. Other first question here is actually for you, Carolyn, and your opinion, what type of executive functioning skills are students building during live learning, but from a distance?
Carolyn Lanctot 16:47
Yeah, so thinking through just what comes to mind in terms of like our, the teaching rubric and the training that we do for our virtual teachers teaching in a, in a synchronous model, we’re really grounded in the castle framework, that those social emotional learning competencies, and really building those in our students. So I think, for me thinking, you know, the the self awareness piece, the responsible decision making that they have to make that Kamilee referenced in terms of using you know, that group and private chat and how they navigate, working with peers, and, you know, sharing their their ideas and their answers in a respectful way, in terms of that communication. And those literacy skills, they need to develop with one another. I think the self advocacy piece to it with our students, being able to provide different ways for students to share their answers and in a safe way. And having those multiple measures of assessment. It’s like, do they want to, you know, do a short video clip, do they want to do an audio reading do they want to present in front of the class, so really providing different opportunities to assess our students, so that they can show you know, through those multiple varied measurement of assessments, and really providing that, that classroom environment that allows them to develop those those soft skills and, and whatnot is really setting them up for success and in our classes, and there are other classes as well. So that’s what we’ve seen in terms of our live synchronous model from a distance.
Keeping Students Engaged in a Virtual Classroom
Alison Pollock 18:27
Thank you, Carolyn. Another question that was posed in the chat, kind of is surrounding the student engagement piece. And so in Virtual Teaching are captivating students engagement from a distance or through a virtual tool. Kamilee, which engagement tools do you find most beneficial, and captivating students focus during live learning and your teaching experiences?
Kamilee Quinlan Jorgenson 18:53
Much like when I was still in the classroom, it’s not a tool that will captivate the student, you have to have the toolbox of tools. Probably the most captivating thing that I could do to really grab my students’ attention, is to be passionate about whatever it is we’re talking about, to have the excitement about the subjects, to bring that excitement to my students, and to really teach them hey, this is something you can have fun with. That’s probably the most engaging thing that I can bring. Second, to that is adaptability. Because if I have a class at 7am on a Monday morning, they are going to respond to me extremely different than my 3pm on a Friday class is yet I have the same information that I need to make sure both groups are willing to engage with both groups capture. So I reach into my toolbox. I pulled out these different tools that might wake up Monday mornings. students that might help to relax my Friday afternoon students. Now by these tools, I’m talking about things like slides where they can actually interact with them and type on the slides, open conversation where I’m asking questions. And then waiting. Everyone gets uncomfortable with that wait time, teachers can do amazing with wait time. So students will at some point, finally just give up and be like, purple, just to break the silence. I love it when they do that, because then it engages that character from those kids. It gets the chuckle going on. Suddenly, everybody’s back together, because oh, there’s laughing. Let me come back to the conversation. So those are probably my two biggest things that I can offer it any given day in the classroom, my excitement toward the subject, and my adaptability, my knowing how to read the audience, knowing Hey, this is going to work now. We better change our plan for this group, because they need something different to get excited about.
Alison Pollock 21:06
Thank you so much, Kamilee and Carolyn, we really appreciate that. Um, if there are no additional questions are here in the chat at this time? Well, we can do is we can follow up with emails, and and different conversations from there to be able to address any other learning issues. Stephen, I’ll go ahead and throw it back to you.
Steven 21:25
Definitely. Thank you very much. Yeah, actually, as I go through my closing slides, in just a few moments, please feel free to you know, access the ask question icon at the bottom of your screen, I’ll highlight it here and put those questions in while I’m going through those closing slides. So make sure that they’re sent over to our friends at Elevate K-12 to be answered at some point in the future. And also, again, make sure to stay on until the very end to participate in our post event survey. It’ll pop up on your screen right when I close out in a few moments. So look out for that. But first off, thank you again to Carolyn Ali, Kamilee, for sharing your expertise and time with us today. We really we really do appreciate it. And of course, thank you to Elevate K-12. And I’d also like to take just a quick minute to thank you, our audience for joining us here today as well. For those of you who enjoyed our presentation, we have more the talks like this one that are provided by us here at the cert district administration, which is the leader in editorial covers of news trends, as well as current issues in K-12. We have a wide range of readers and all of them subscribe for free to DA and they stay up to date with us in our print magazine or website. Many newsletters web seminars and da et talks like this one. Also, if you would like to watch this presentation again, or for those of you in here who think that what was talked about would be helpful to your colleagues. And I’m sure that is very much the case. You’ll be pleased to know that our team at DA we will be sending you an email at some point tomorrow and that email, it’s going to include the on demand recording of this presentation as well as a link to the slides. So look out for that. So with that on behalf of DA, this is Steven Blackburn. Thanks everyone. Have a great rest of your day. Thank you.