Educational Innovations: Charting an Educational Course for Success in Choppy Pandemic Waters.

Episode 15 January 11, 2021 00:28:50
Educational Innovations: Charting an Educational Course for Success in Choppy Pandemic Waters.
eSchool News - Innovations in Education
Educational Innovations: Charting an Educational Course for Success in Choppy Pandemic Waters.

Jan 11 2021 | 00:28:50

/

Show Notes

Marianthe Williams, School Administrator and Director of Technology for the River Dell Regional School District in Oradell, New Jersey, took a journey back in time to March of 2020 to help break down her district’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Call it good fortune, or maybe just innovative planning, but the River Dell School District already created the environment and infrastructure to provide remote learning for students and teachers. So, when the pandemic hit, it was ahead of the curve. On March 11, it knew school closures were imminent, and Williams said the staff used a PD day to plan for online learning.
 
“We’re a Microsoft school,” Williams said. “So, we had all the 365 tools, years of PD with the HP device, and this was the game changer; everyone had a digital pen.” 

With all of the digital tools in place, something the district was slowly rolling out, Microsoft Teams, kicked into high gear once things moved to remote learning.
 
Fast forward to the fall of 2020, and a new challenge emerged. Williams explained there was a combination of kids learning from home and kids learning in person. “Even though there’s a camera on your laptop, now there’s a barrier,” Williams said. “And everyone is six feet apart, and it’s much harder. You can’t just turn your laptop around.”

It was essential to make sure every student had a webcam to communicate with every student, whether in class or online.
 
One of the benefits of online learning Williams found is having one-on-one interactions between teachers and students. The situation was more manageable when everyone was doing online learning in the spring. This fall proved more challenging when teachers met new students with masks on their faces. “Even though you’re there, and there is a bond, there is a barrier too,” Williams said.

With her district's 'we got this' mentality, Williams believes there are no obstacles it cannot overcome.

Other Episodes

Episode 40

August 30, 2022 00:08:30
Episode Cover

Back-to-school success strategies

A new school year brings with it new potential for teaching and learning--here are some strategies to help make this year a success. In...

Listen

Episode 1

January 30, 2024 00:28:53
Episode Cover

How to Create a Culture-Conscious Campus

The Culture Conscious Campuses Model which has been approved by the Texas Education Agency commissioner as a research-based instructional model with proven results in...

Listen

Episode 4

January 24, 2023 00:12:17
Episode Cover

How to engage your students in order to build literacy

Engaged students are students who are excited to learn--and increased engagement can lead to better literacy learning. In this episode of Innovations in Education,...

Listen