The role of technology in our classrooms has never been so prominent, nor so strained as during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instructional technology coaches for Dearborn Public Schools, Amy Gwizdz and Bob Harrison, share their hopes that we can emerge from this crisis not adverse to technology in the classroom, but simply more intentional with it.
A compilation of our top-viewed content in 2020, including blog articles, podcasts, webinars, research articles, and more.
Bitmoji classrooms exploded during emergency remote instruction in Spring 2020. Bitmoji classrooms are two-dimensional scenes depicting a teacher-created avatar in a drawn classroom environment; the scenes feature a variety of imaginary objects.
Should we go fully digital, use paper copies, or use a hybrid model? How will we assess the technology needs of our students? Should we arrange for meal pick up, delivery, or some combination? How will we manage and monitor student learning? How will we continue to meet the social-emotional needs of our students? These are just some of the questions that school leaders faced as they developed their plans for continued learning after school doors were shuttered for the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
What does a supportive online learning environment look like? Administrators, parents, mentors, and teachers must work together and communicate effectively. While overlap in responsibilities is inevitable, each has a defined role in shaping an online learning environment conducive to student success.
What factors should schools and districts consider when selecting a learning management system (LMS)? What are the key processes that you should follow? What challenges and opportunities exist within the process? Where should you start?
Dr. Chris Harrington has a conversation with three accomplished researchers (Erin Stafford and Jacqueline Zweig of the Education Development Center, Joe Freidhoff of Michigan Virtual) to discuss the details of their recent study focused on the impact of an orientation on the success of online learners.
In this video, Dr. Chris Harrington talks to educational leaders from across the state and nation about the impact of the extended school closures on schools and districts. They compare the teaching and learning we’re experiencing today due to rapid shifts to remote learning models to what we know to be effective online and digital learning and discuss new opportunities on the horizon for schools and what we’ve learned during this emergency remote learning period.
We are certainly living in uncharted waters right now. Who would have ever thought that we would be remote learning and teaching for the final
We’ve talked previously about monitoring student progress as an essential responsibility of online instructors. Today’s blog post will dive deeper into instructor responsibilities around monitoring student progress, including providing support services or enrichment opportunities to students. These services are incredibly important as they can make the difference between student success and students failing to thrive in their online courses.
Most teachers would agree that communication and engagement are key factors for student success in any classroom. In the online classroom, however, these variables play out a little differently than they might in a face-to-face setting. In this article, we break down what communication looks like in an online course, who is responsible for student engagement, and, finally, how communication and engagement interact in practice.
On Digital Learning Day, what can be done to improve online instruction? In this article, we share suggestions for researchers and practitioners from EDC’s Erin Stafford and Jacqueline Zweig.
With eLearning, students can learn from home when extenuating circumstances (such as snow storms) prevent them from being able to attend their brick-and-mortar schools. Many states in the U.S. have eLearning policies, but Michigan’s not one of them. Why is that and what would it look like if we did have eLearning days?
A healthy support system for online students involves interrelationships between students, mentors, and parents. In this article, we take a look at how students, mentors, and parents can all work together to help students thrive in the online environment.
Last month, our team discussed key systemic program supports for K-12 online learning based on the National Standards for Quality Online Programs released by Quality Matters
What do successful K-12 online programs have in common? Beyond obvious variables like student support and quality curriculum, there are many systemic supports that effective programs put in place to provide a foundation for student success. In this article, we break down the importance of leadership, multi-level support, and program evaluation.
Each month our team of researchers will be discussing all things K-12 online learning in Michigan and across the nation. Our hope with this series is to provide a primer on K-12 online learning, cover established and emerging topics, and provide relevant research and resources.
Learning analytics provides a mechanism to support educational decision-making and provide in-time interventions. This webinar focuses on recent research by Dr. Kerry Rice and
In this episode, Jeff chatted with Kevin Santer, Lead instructor with the Career & Technology department at Michigan Virtual. Kevin shared his story about coming
Debunking the common misconception that online courses are “easier” than face-to-face courses.
We’re sorry to inform you that we have reached capacity for several of our Semester 1 and Trimester 1 courses. You’ll notice when attempting to enroll students in our Student Learning Portal that some courses are unavailable. While we are no longer accepting new enrollments for these courses at this time, many courses continue to remain open for enrollment.
With many students across the state 100% remote, demand for our online courses is greater than ever before. Because every course we offer is taught by a Michigan-certified teacher, this high volume of enrollments has created capacity issues for our teachers who provide each and every student with individual feedback.
While the Michigan Virtual team anticipated and planned for significant increases in student enrollments this Fall, the increased demand we’ve experienced has been unprecedented. As a result, we are taking steps to hire even more part-and full-time teachers to support larger numbers of student enrollments for Semester 2 as well as for Trimester 2 and 3.
For schools that still need online learning options this year, please fill out the form at the bottom of our virtual pathways page to meet with someone to discuss other solutions. While some of our teacher-led courses are full, we may still have the capacity to help you in upcoming terms or can discuss timing to implement a whole-school or collaborative program in which local teachers from your school/district use our online course content to teach students. We also have free course content and resources available for you to use.
We know this is an incredibly stressful time for all, and we’re sorry if the courses you’re looking for are unavailable. We never want to turn away a student who wants to learn from us. Our top concern, however, is student success, and we have a policy to not take on additional enrollments if we cannot guarantee that all students will have a quality online learning experience.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate the unusually high volume of enrollments we are receiving.
