TEXAS, USA — The academic world is changing rapidly as we know it and COVID-19 has pushed that acceleration button more than ever.
In a matter of days, school districts, colleges and universities around the world have turned to online learning to continue educating even when teachers and students aren't in the same classroom.
For those who haven't had experience with online classes, the learning curve is steep.
Those who have been working remotely for some time now, say it all starts with a schedule.
"Parents need to be able to find out what the kids are doing for the day. You need to have a way to be able to communicate back and forth even with your child," said Lynnette Crawley, a 4th grade teacher with Texas Connections Academy.
Teachers might not see a student's hand raise, but they'll continue answering their questions just like they would in class.
"We also have our own program called Adobe Connect that we use in our school. But I'll put it up. I'll do a recording where I've got the question up, I'm talking about the questions and make it not more than 2 minutes," she said.
A digital elementary teaching expert, Crawley has been working from home since 2012.
"Sometimes I just want to be able to walk through that computer screen and be sitting there with them," Crawley said.
But because she can't, she uses several tools to make it feel like she's there.
And because sitting down by a computer can feel like an eternity, they encourage taking break and moving.
"If it's a page of 60 questions, you may need to stop at 20 and take a break and have a list of different ideas of activities y'all can do, whether that's if you've got a soccer ball or you've got a Frisbee," Crawley said.
Students and parents are getting used to this new kind of normal, where school doors are closed and parents are the new teachers.
On-screen or off, education continues despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We need to keep things moving for them and learning is one of those things that does that for them. It keeps a little bit of normalcy for them," Crawley said.
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Online Resources:
You can access many academic resources even from your Xbox, like Khan Academy.
Other Helpful Applications:
- Brain Pop
- Go Noodle
- Science bob
- Enchanted Learning
- World Book for Kids
- Kahoot
- Study Island
- Google Forms
- Flip Grid
- Quizlet
- Adobe Creative
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