Preparing For A Possible Distance Fall Semester.

After a summer of not going anywhere, I'm still waiting to hear what my school district will be doing for the fall semester.  I just heard that the Anchorage School District will be distance for the first couple months because of the sudden spike of cases in the city.  They just hit over 150 cases for the first time.  In fact, this is the first time the in state numbers have passed 100.  Hopefully, I'll hear from my district sometime this week what they'll be doing.

I've been researching teaching virtually since last spring my district settled on packets that did not have to be returned.  I need to know more about how to do it and want to take some time to plan, just in case.  I'm sure there are others out there in the same boat.

The learning scientists have six recommendations they make for teaching virtually so students are able to learn better. This group researches topics associated with learning and make recommendations.  They have taken their six strategies recommended for use in the classroom and made adjustments for the virtual classroom.

1.  Spacing.  Spacing is where learning opportunities are spread out across a period of time.  In distance learning, students need to be a bit more self-driven and it is suggested they spread their study time over five days rather than trying to do it all in one day. Normally, in class, students have the opportunity to work on problems with the teacher there but with distance, the student has to take more responsibility to work independently.  This means they need to schedule enough time to complete the assignment using videos, reading the material, take quizzes, etc so they are not rushed and allow the brain enough time to absorb it all.  Since students often wait to the last minute to complete assignments, teachers can help by spreading the topics across several weeks so there is a built in spacing.

2. Interleaving.  Interleaving is mixing up the types of problems students work on instead of having them do all the same type of problems.  Most textbooks are set up so that the problems in the section correspond to the examples but it is more important to mix up the different types of problems so no two in a row are done exactly the same way.  In addition, one should add previous problems into the mix to continue spacing while interleaving current material at the same time.  Furthermore, in distance classes, it is important to pose questions which require students to integrate knowledge throughout the topics.

3. Retrieval.  Retrieval is where students are asked to bring memory forth from their memories.  The most obvious ways to do this is when students take quizzes or tests but there are other ways to do this.  Ask students to write down what they remember on a particular topic, or play a game like Kahoot, or other game.  When asking students to write down what they remember about a specific topic, let them know they are not expected to remember everything.  They can fill in missing information later, it is just a way of working to connect things in their mind.

When teaching by distance, it is good to include a lot of low point or no point quizzes but write the questions so they have to use what they have in their memory to answer it rather than just copy the answers.  The questions might require students to apply the concept to a specific situation or identify the parts of the answer.  Another suggestion is to create a large data base of questions that can be pulled so not everyone answers the same questions.

4. Concrete examples are much easier for students to follow than abstract ones.  Concrete examples are the best but there must be multiple concrete examples provided and the examples should contain different details so students connect with the concept.  Unfortunately students tend to remember the surface details but not the deeper details so by using a variety of situations in the examples, students do better remember the concept being illustrated.  It is easy to incorporate multiple examples in a video if that is the way your school is going this fall.

5. Use elaboration.  Elaboration has you asking students "How" and "Why".  When students work on answering questions dealing with how and why in reference to the concept, it helps them understand and learn better.  One can also ask students how this topic or concept relates to their own lives or ask them how two topics or concepts are similar and different.

6. Dual coding which is about combining words with drawings/pictures, or diagrams to make the material easier to understand.  In addition, students learn best when using multiple representations and students need time to digest both the words and the illustrations.  Furthermore, students should be taught to explain how the different representations show the same idea or concept.  When using this in a video, use words while presenting the illustration and take a pause to give students the chance to explain it to themselves.

Keep these things in mind when you return to classes this fall either in person or via distance.  I'll be discussing this topic in more detail later in the week.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.