Key points:

• Educators must support efforts that boost online student motivation
• Peer mentors, change of scenery, and spending time with students are important for online students

A student’s motivation in school is a key driver of their academic success. Yet, the demanding nature of high school classes, mixed with a teenager’s natural craving for independence and individual identity, can stand in the way of that motivation. COVID-19 took a toll on student motivation, and 80 percent of educators are still feeling the effects. Following the rapid and sudden shift to online learning, parents and educators remain concerned about keeping online students motivated and engaged. 

As we move past the pandemic and rethink the role of online education, it’s vital to education reform that teachers remain focused on fostering student motivation.

Fortunately, online educators have been addressing this concern for years and have learned how to instill motivation among their students–even when not in a physical classroom. Here are my top tips to help educators foster motivation among students.

1. Take the time to get to know your students

It can be highly beneficial for educators to engage with their online students about their lives outside of school by asking about what they enjoy doing in their free time, their goals beyond school, and challenges that are consuming their time and energy. 

Key points:

• The COVID-19 pandemic facilitated the introduction of new learning technologies into the mainstream
• Educators and students were forced to adapt to new edtech tools, which now have a permanent place in today’s classrooms

It goes without saying that the Covid-19 pandemic affected every aspect of our lives in one way or another. The world was forced to adapt to a new reality to overcome the numerous challenges and hardships brought by the virus.

The field of education was affected like no other. More specifically, online education saw massive changes and transformations that were accelerated by the pandemic. Without further ado, here’s how pre- and post-Covid education differs and how online classes changed.

Before Covid

Online education wasn’t introduced during the pandemic. In fact, online learning classes have been a thing for a while now. Two of the most well-known e-learning platforms – edX and Coursera – were both launched back in 2012 and were gaining new students every year. Traditional educational institutions generally weren’t offering online courses and preferred to stick to in-person teaching.

In most cases, taking online courses could only give you a certificate or diploma rather than a bachelor’s or other degree. Despite that, online education was becoming more acceptable, and even employers were hiring candidates with e-learning certificates and documents. Overall, there was a positive trend in the popularity of online education, mostly due to its accessibility.

Key points:

• Virtual learning expanded access to student mental health support
• Hybrid learning offers improved satisfaction during IEP meetings

In the business world, we’ve seen a sea change in the way people work. While some have returned to the office full time, some are still working remotely, and others are opting for a hybrid approach of being in-person just a few days a week. If the pandemic showed us anything, it is that flexibility is in the best interest of the employee and the company in a competitive marketplace. 

The same lessons are true in schools. Forced to go online, in some cases for a year or more, schools quickly turned to video conferencing and online tools to facilitate the development of Individualized Educational Plans (IEPs) and even deliver mental health services to help students cope with the changes resulting from the pandemic. These new approaches offered ways to reduce many of the traditional barriers to services and support. Plus, they provided flexibility to create individualized plans that best meet the needs of students and their families.  

But now that schools are again in-person, does it make sense to resort to the old ways as we look to the future? Having many new, effective tools in educators’ toolboxes, it’s time to cast aside conventional processes and rethink the way we provide services to, and support, our students. 

The pandemic effect 

School closures and new procedures during the pandemic threw students, parents, teachers, support staff, and administrators into chaos as they tried to navigate remote learning and keep students on track. By the time they returned to classrooms, they had to contend with learning loss and behavioral challenges resulting from the disruptions and isolation during COVID-19. 

As the latest results from the National Assessment of Academic Progress (NAEP) make clear, we have a long way to go to ensure that our students are achieving at grade level in reading and mathematics.

Yet, we don’t just want to address the gaps in students’ learning—we want to make sure each one of our students grows and advances.

At Baker Charter Schools, we’re a K–12 public charter school with students all over Oregon. Online tutoring gives our students access to the critical academic support they need, even outside traditional school hours. By making this support available to all our students, we’re not only closing opportunity gaps but helping students reach their full potential.

The benefits of high-impact tutoring can’t be ignored—for all student groups. Recent research shows that tutoring is one of the most effective ways to increase academic achievement, including among students from lower socio-economic households—one of the groups disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet, while the pandemic shined a light on tutoring as an academic intervention, it’s important that we recognize tutoring is a crucial strategy for student advancement regardless of a student’s abilities.

There were 1.3 million fewer students enrolled in U.S. public schools in fall 2021 than there were before the pandemic began–a drop of nearly 3 percent. Given that educational funding is tied to enrollment, this development has serious implications for the availability of resources in our schools.

Some of this decline may be the result of changing demographics. But much of it can be attributed to families who have opted out of public schools during the pandemic, choosing private schools or homeschooling for their children instead.

On top of these losses, traditional school districts also have lost about a quarter of a million students to charter schools since the emergence of COVID. An analysis by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools found that charter school enrollment increased by more than 7 percent from fall 2019 to fall 2020 as families found other alternatives for their children’s education.

Families have chosen to leave their traditional school system during the pandemic for a variety of reasons. For instance, some weren’t happy with the quality of remote instruction their children were receiving. Some were afraid to send their children back when schools reopened. Whatever their motivation, it’s clear they felt their local school system wasn’t aptly meeting their needs.

Encouraging families to stay or return to their local public schools is a complex challenge that requires a multifaceted approach. Families want options for their children’s education, and these options must be of high quality. Partnering with an experienced provider to offer high-quality online learning is one way traditional schools can give students more options—and it’s an important strategy for attracting and retaining families.

Choices in modality

Although some students fell behind during the shift to remote learning, others thrived. Giving students the flexibility to learn online instead of in-person can serve the needs of many families more effectively.

For instance, when done well, online learning makes education more convenient for students who have health problems or those who feel threatened while at school. It provides an option for students who are immunocompromised or have family members who are at a high risk from COVID. It even provides more autonomy for students and a self-paced learning option for those who are bored by the traditional pace of instruction.

A Pew Research Center survey conducted in spring 2022 found that 9 percent of teens would prefer learning fully online when the pandemic is over. Another 18 percent said they would prefer a mix of face-to-face and online instruction. In other words, more than one in four teens would like to have online learning as an option in their schools. As this CNN story makes clear, some families sought other options for their children’s education that specifically included online learning once their local school system returned to in-person instruction.

Partnering with an experienced online learning provider can help school districts expand the options available to families for their children’s education with minimal effort. The ability to choose online instruction as the method in which their children learn could encourage some families to reconsider their decision to leave their local school system—and it could give others a compelling reason to stay.

Choices in learning opportunities

Online learning expands not only the modalities available to students, but the learning opportunities as well.

Many K-12 schools can’t offer the breadth of courses needed to match all students’ interests. They might not have the budget to offer these courses themselves, or they might not be able to find and recruit teachers with the necessary expertise. For example, students in rural areas are less likely to have access to Advanced Placement (AP)® courses—and only half of all high schools offer computer science courses.

Supplemental online courses offer a compelling solution, instantly expanding the range of courses that schools can offer. This allows students to explore subjects they’re curious about from knowledgeable and qualified instructors worldwide, which can be a powerful incentive for families to choose a school system. According to one study, the range of academic opportunities that a school system has to offer is a key factor in where families choose to send their children to school, with researchers writing that parents “were highly influenced by the multitude of opportunities the district of their choice had to offer.”

Expanding choices is critical

Choice is a major watchword in education today. Whether from homeschooling, private schools, charter schools, or even neighboring school systems, public schools face significant competition for the students in their local communities—and the educational funding that follows these students.

To attract and retain families, districts must provide a wide range of options for student learning. This was true even before the pandemic, and it’s especially true now. Providing full-time or supplemental learning options is a key strategy for doing this effectively. It can make districts more attractive for families and is one part of a multifaceted approach to solving the challenge of declining student enrollment.

Related:
5 components of a great hybrid learning program
How virtual tutoring reinforces our after-school program

We’ve been working to reinforce and reinvigorate our after-school program with the goal of reaching more students who need it. Staffing shortages and not enough hours in the day have made it difficult for us to achieve this goal, but when we started using the FEV Tutor live, 1:1 virtual tutoring platform we realized that we had discovered the missing piece of our puzzle.

At the time, we were really ramping up our summer program and trying to create as much programming as possible for it beforehand. One of the sites integrated the virtual tutoring into its program for four weeks and we received good feedback from the staff, teachers, and students.

We took those results and ran with them, rolling the online tutoring platform out across all 21 of our school sites with a goal of reaching about 2,500 students in grades 3-8. We offer the tutoring in 45-minute, dedicated blocks of time and alternate between math and reading.

Here are five steps we took to ensure the best possible results with our virtual learning platform:

1. Use it to provide individualized instruction. It’s great to be able to offer students individualized learning opportunities that are tailored to the information that we get through our i-Ready assessment data. This is key because we know that learning is not one-size-fits-all.

2. Leverage the data from the platform. We love looking at the data whenever we can. We can easily see the positive impact that tutoring is having on our students. We can celebrate those successes within the school community and the greater community, and really understand what else is needed to help our students succeed in school.

3. Work together to figure out who needs it most. Our after-school program is open to all of our students but space is limited. We prioritize based on the data that we get from our i-Ready assessments. We get input from our schools’ social workers, guidance counselors, principals, and teachers. Ultimately, we want to make sure we’re reaching the students who really get the biggest return on their investment of time.

4. Get in some good learning time.  Because the tutoring takes place after school the district is able to allocate a full 45-minute block to the virtual tutoring. That’s enough time for them to get situated, open their computers or Chromebooks, engage in the lessons and then wrap up and go on to the next activity. They can get acclimated quickly and really get in some good learning time with their online tutors.

5. Think beyond traditional lessons. Our online tutoring provider also helps improve educational equity by putting 1:1 tutoring into the hands of students who may not otherwise be privy to it.  It also serves as an extension of the district’s support structure. For example, if a student is having trouble in eighth grade biology or science, she may not have time to stay after school for a teacher conference. However, that student can log into the online tutoring platform, input her questions and within 15 minutes she can be working with a tutor who can assist the student in gaining an understanding to address those science questions.

Set them Up for Success

Due to the pandemic, we’re seeing a lot of students who are one or two grades behind and struggling to catch back up. Unfortunately, there just isn’t enough time in the day for every student to be able to work one-on-one with a teacher to achieve that goal. Our hope is that our virtual tutors will help them recapture that knowledge and get back on track. This is a golden opportunity and we’re hoping to see the results of our efforts in the spring i-Ready assessments.

At that point, we’ll be able to see that the tutoring made a difference for the cohort of students that went through the 21st Century program and/or participated in the tutoring during the school day. So far it feels like we’re doing the right thing for the students, and that we’re going the extra mile to set them up for success.

Related:
The best ways to approach high-impact tutoring
How online tutoring helps us close learning gaps and support teachers

Each year, we share our 10 most-read stories. Not surprisingly, many of this year’s Top 10 focused on innovative ways to engage students, digital resources, and online and hybrid learning strategies related to post-pandemic teaching. This year’s 4th most-read story focuses on creating an online elementary program.

Elementary education is the foundation for early learning, providing students with the skills and community they need for future success in school and life. Thanks to today’s technology, helping them start on the right foot is easier than ever – especially with online learning opportunities.

Online learning has become a growing trend among K-12 students, including elementary students. In fact, we successfully launched our own online elementary schools, which grew by 10,000 students over the past four years.

If you are a school or district leader looking to build an online elementary program, knowing where to start can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are five steps that helped our teams successfully build and maintain an online elementary program that drives student and parent engagement:

Step 1: Start with the Basics
First, determine the specific goals you want for your online elementary program. For example, do you want to expand curriculum offerings, provide effective flexible learning options for students, or build a personalized program that meets students’ needs? Or perhaps you have multiple goals you want to accomplish. No matter what your program’s goals are, determining and discussing them is the most critical factor when launching a new program.

Then, it’s best to decide how you want your program to incorporate digital learning. Do you want your program to be fully online? What about a blended learning model that combines the use of online courses and resources in a face-to-face setting? Or could hybrid be what works best for your students – combining in-person and virtual days?

Step 2: Focus on your teachers and staff
Your teachers and staff make the magic, so it’s important to focus on hiring staff and teachers who are passionate and excited about online learning. Then, it’s critical to ensure they have the resources, tools, and professional development they need to feel confident and prepared to teach in the online learning environment.

Throughout our FlexPoint and Florida Virtual School professional development, we show elementary teachers how to implement best practices in online learning and create fun and engaging activities for their students online. For example, we encourage our teachers to bring props into their lesson, like they would in a physical classroom. This could be using a guitar to sing songs, puppet animals, and more. The sky’s the limit.

Step 3: Utilize interactive curriculum and instruction
Elementary-age students have shorter attention spans, which is why it’s vital to provide them with group learning time, like a live lesson, as well as individual time. This also allows students to have more flexibility in their schedule so they can work on assignments at their own pace, or take a break if they need to. Additionally, our teachers provide instruction that requires interaction with onscreen content such as image markers and tabbed panels, so that students feel like they are part of the lesson.

Also, utilizing a curriculum that includes interactive elements such as videos, games, and more, can make all the difference. I highly recommend either creating your own curriculum with these elements, or partnering with an online learning provider, like FlexPoint, to license interactive curriculum.

Step 4: Build a strong community
Even online, it’s important for parents to feel confident that school leaders know their child as an individual and care about their success. There are many ways to build strong connections with parents and students online.

At Florida Virtual School we developed a self-paced onboarding course for parents and students to take before they start their classes to learn how to navigate the online learning platform, find their schedule, look up grades, and more. We also encourage our teachers to schedule welcome calls with parents and students to answer any questions they may have about the upcoming school year.

Step 5: Plan for all scenarios
There are situations that are unique to the online learning environment. For example, what do your teachers and staff do when a student stops responding or submitting assignments? Providing guidelines on how teachers and staff should approach a variety of scenarios it’s important so there is already a plan in place.

To start building guidelines and best practices, I would start by asking yourself and your staff questions such as, “do you have safeguards in place to ensure academic integrity?” or “how will you communicate with families and students who are actively participating in their learning?” And don’t forget questions about technical support and how to support students with IEPs or ESEs in the online learning environment.

Related:
5 ways to prep students for online learning success
4 blended learning strategies for better student engagement

Each year, we share our 10 most-read stories. Not surprisingly, many of this year’s Top 10 focused on innovative ways to engage students, digital resources, and online and hybrid learning strategies related to post-pandemic teaching. This year’s 5th most-read story features an episode of Kevin Hogan’s Innovations in Education podcast that focuses on the state of online learning.

In this episode of Innovations in Education, sponsored by Galaxy Next Generation, host Kevin Hogan explores:

• 5 steps to an engaging online elementary program
• 6 tips to begin an elementary esports program in your school
• What Tech Should Stay With The “New Normal”

Each year, we share our 10 most-read stories. Not surprisingly, many of this year’s Top 10 focused on innovative ways to engage students, digital resources, and online and hybrid learning strategies related to post-pandemic teaching. This year’s 10th most-read story focuses on creating a great hybrid learning program.

Over the past year and a half, “hybrid learning” has become quite the buzzword when it comes to education. With the COVID-19 pandemic impacting learners across the world, we’ve witnessed the growing need for hybrid learning, an education option that combines the benefits of a traditional in-person classroom and online learning. But the need for this option won’t just be a fleeting trend. The future of hybrid learning is bright, and the benefits are unmatched. I’ve seen it for myself.

As an educator for 10 years, I’ve worked in in-person, online, and hybrid classrooms. I’ve experienced the dos and don’ts of creating learning environments where my students can not only learn but be their best selves. When my colleagues ask me for my secret for success, here are the tips that I share: 

1. Establish a positive hybrid learning culture and a strong learning community. 

A strong community is at the heart of every good classroom. While we can’t hug and high-five our students through a screen, a hybrid classroom can still foster a warm community of connected learners.

A great way to accomplish a positive environment is by first highlighting the benefits of this teaching method. Hybrid learning has numerous benefits for your students, parents, and teachers, including increased flexibility, accessibility, and the ability to use innovative learning tools. If you are switching over to a hybrid learning environment, ease any questions or concerns by communicating these benefits and encouraging your students to get the most out of this valuable learning experience.

Your classroom community will act as the foundation of your learning environment. You can keep your community strong by using connectivity activities like daily or weekly check-ins, small group activities, and full classroom discussions. Don’t be afraid to use your creativity and have fun with it, like asking your students to use emojis to check in on how they are doing. A strong, unified classroom (in person and virtually) is possible when you foster conversations, encouraging innovation, and establishing a safe and open learning environment.

2. Use hybrid learning to enhance educational experiences.

A hybrid learning environment has the potential to improve the educational experience for your students. This method allows for creative, innovative, and fun lesson plans that employ the advantages of both remote and in-person learning. When designing learning layouts, you should facilitate both remote independent learning and classroom collaboration.

Remember how you made friends in the classroom? For in-person lessons, focus on student collaboration and socialization activities, like creating pairs or small group team building activities. This is the chance for your students to gain deeper connections with their classmates and learn to collaborate in the classroom.

When crafting online learning activities, this is the perfect opportunity to create lessons that encourage independent thinking and student choice. For example, allowing students to draw their response and show it on camera, rather than typing it out, or utilizing tools like survey sites and online polls to ask questions to your students can help them stay active and engaged. These lessons will allow for students to develop their thought processes, self-confidence, and independence.

3. Make independent learning a key component.

With hybrid learning, there will be days when students participate in online learning. These are the moments you can encourage independent learning lessons that are essential to your students’ growth. Asynchronous online activities allow students to analyze and absorb the subject matter at their own pace, helping them gain the tools they need to think independently inside and outside of the classroom.

When it’s time to reunite as a class, encourage students to reflect on what they’ve learned independently through engaging, collaborative discussions with other students.

4. Students should have consistency.

For students to succeed, they need routines, resource availability, structure, and support. The last thing you want your classroom to be, whether online or in-person, is unpredictable. Successful hybrid learning environments have a consistent schedule. Whether students attend in person learning on Monday and Wednesdays each week, or half of your school’s students go in person every other week, the schedule should always be consistent and reliable.

5. Maintain continuous communication with students.

Communication is always key, but especially when teaching from a partially online classroom. Keeping a strong line of communication with your students is vital in ensuring your teacher-student relationships are strong, as well as your classroom community. You should consistently communicate with your students, both online and in person, whether it’s through one-on-ones, messages, or email.

Students like to feel seen and heard. Using a tool like Google Forms or another survey tool is an excellent way to communicate with your students while receiving feedback to better your classroom. You can ask about their favorite activity, their preferred way to learn, and what they believe could make your hybrid classroom better.

Always communicate with your students collectively and individually, encouraging them to feel safe to ask questions and take risks to improve learning. Whether verbal or through a creative technological tool, communication is essential to making your students feel connected.

Related:
5 ways to prep students for online learning success
A supe’s 6 back-to-school tips for virtual district leaders

A 2019 Gallup study that included 128 schools and more than 110,000 students found that student engagement and hope were significantly positively related to student academic achievement progress in math, reading, and all subjects combined.

This is why it’s even more concerning that we continue to see student performance decline, with the National Assessments of Educational Progress, also known as the Nation’s Report Card, reporting that students in the U.S. had the largest average reading score decline since 1990, and the first ever score decline in math in 2022.

Knowing that many students are struggling with learning setbacks can feel overwhelming, but we’re hoping we can help you look at these scores as an opportunity to implement new instructional strategies that engage students, and therefore, help mitigate learning loss.

Blended Learning Increases Student Engagement

A learning environment we recommend to increase student engagement is blended learning, which combines a mix of face-to-face and online instruction for students. Gen Z is the first truly internet-dependent generation – getting their entertainment, information, and socialization online, oftentimes from social media. Therefore, to reach these students where they are, we need to evolve our instructional strategies.

This doesn’t mean teachers need to utilize Instagram Reels or TikTok, bur rather use technology strategically to engage students in their learning.

Plus, according to Education and Information Technologies, when compared to traditional learning, 73 percent of educators believe blended learning has improved student engagement. As former teachers that have transitioned into a school leadership role, we hope these four blended learning instructional strategies help you maximize student learning and engage them where they are.

Blended Learning Instructional Strategies

Our instructional model at Florida Virtual School includes evidence-based approaches, professional development for teachers, curriculum specifically designed for the online learning environment, and flexibility for students and families to communicate with teachers to individualize learning and provide support.

With this in mind, we recommend starting by enabling your teachers to connect with students and their families one-on-one to truly understand their needs. By starting with what students need, it will be easier to determine which blended learning instructional strategy will work best for your students.

Related:
Tips for blended learning success
Blended learning models can help schools reopen–here’s how

Students who attend online school today range from homeschoolers, to those seeking an alternative to in-person public schools, to learners who want to mix virtual schooling with in-person learning. Also, some districts have decided to keep an online option open for students who choose that method.

And while numerous parents and students have chosen to make online learning part of their education, the transition can be challenging. As someone who’s been involved with online schools for more than eight years, here are five common areas of concern and tips for how teachers and parents can navigate these challenges successfully.

Organization and Scheduling are Vital

While the idea of controlling the time and pace of a child’s education sounds freeing, this can be a major impediment for students unused to making their own schedule. Studies show that students’ executive functioning, the part of the brain that governs planning, organizing, and paying attention, is not fully formed until high school or later.

The first thing a parent or teacher should do for students new to online learning is create some type of calendar, whether online or physical. This will give learners a go-to spot to view what’s due, when, and allow them to organize. A planner can also help parents track their children’s tasks, especially if they have multiple children in different grades.

Also, students need a routine that includes both time and place. Make sure your students have all the tools they need, from computers to notebooks to headphones, and a place that signifies it’s time to learn. Headphones are vital, especially if the learner will share space with other children.

Don’t Forget Manipulatives and External Rewards

Online learning doesn’t have to be only screen time. Students should incorporate manipulatives into their routines, from younger students learning math basics to older students who may be completing lab work. Scan Pinterest or other social media sites if you need examples. Also, note that these tools don’t have to cost a lot.

Related:
How to prepare new teachers for virtual learning
4 tips for online learning success in schools

Our school has been using online learning since the mid-1990s when we became one of the first to sign up for VHS Learning. Since then, we’ve expanded our use of the program and involved more students.

Here are four tips for success that I’ve learned along the way, and that other schools can use to get the most out of their online learning partners:

1. Involve all types of learners. Online learning isn’t just for high-performing students who want to earn more credits or expand their learning horizons. We use it for learners of all levels, and it can serve as a successful alternative for struggling students, allow students to explore specific areas of interest not offered at our school, and for those who want to take more Advanced Placement (AP) courses than we offer on campus. I always have several students who are interested in AP classes that we don’t offer at our school, but I also make sure that I keep half of the online semester elective courses open for students who are interested. I want to make sure that students at different levels have an opportunity to learn online as well.

2. Dedicate the space and time. Our students have a dedicated class period for online learning that either lasts for one semester (for an elective) or a full year (for an AP class). This effectively replaces whatever elective the student had previously registered for offline. About 50 percent of students using the online platform take AP courses and the rest are taking other courses.  

Related:
How to prepare new teachers for virtual learning
How I make online teaching work as a high school educator

I have been teaching at traditional and charter schools for the past 18 years, and I remain encouraged by the determination of the students I serve, even when faced with the challenges we’ve seen over the past several years due to the pandemic.

It’s a humbling experience to be a part of their academic journey, knowing that in some way I played a role in their success. To provide positive and meaningful experiences for students makes me feel honored to be an educator.

Like many of my peers, however, the onset of COVID-19 showed me it was time to make changes in my career and put my needs first after nearly 20 years in the profession. I’ve always had a passion for traveling, exploring other cultures, and learning new things—part of the reason why I became a teacher.

Five years ago, I moved from my hometown of Lansing to Sweden, where I met my husband, a fellow adventure enthusiast. Since then, traveling has been a major part of our lives, though I quickly learned how challenging it can be to balance this passion and my career as an educator.

Teachers having the summer off is a misconception. Many times, summer break is spent putting together lesson plans for the next school year, prepping the classroom, attending professional development opportunities, and more.

When the pandemic hit and schools across the country shifted to virtual, I saw an opportunity to make a change that would support my career and love for traveling. I found Great Lakes Learning Academy, an online school serving students grades 6-12, and joined the team in 2020. At Great Lakes Learning Academy, I teach in a fully virtual format, which allows me the flexibility to live out two of my lifelong passions: teaching and traveling.

Great Lakes Learning Academy has opened my eyes to a new world, both literally and figuratively, as I am currently enjoying the beautiful views Turkey has to offer from my work desk. This summer, my family packed its bags and moved to Turkey for two months to introduce my two-year-old daughter, Ruby, to her grandparents for the first time. From across the world, I am teaching students in Michigan a full schedule of virtual classes, including pre-calculus and algebra 2. Teaching summer courses in addition to the traditional school year is a full-time job, but the fact that I can travel internationally and introduce my daughter to new cultures, all while continuing to work closely with students and having an impact on their academic, social and emotional growth, is incredible.

The past three years working at an online school have shown me that it’s possible to have a rewarding career while still following your personal dreams. For fellow educators who have an itch to experience something new, consider teaching at an online school as your next adventure.

Over 30 years ago, I took my first job in public education as a biology high school teacher, and instantly knew this was the career path for me. What solidified my passion for education were the “ah-ha” moments, or those moments when at first a student struggled, and then, after teaching them in a way they could relate to, seeing their eyes light up from the excitement of learning.

I worked in a variety of roles in Miami-Dade County Public Schools, from dean of students to principal to now overseeing the strategy and vision of one of the largest online public school districts in the nation. No matter my position, my priority has and will always be making sure we are doing what is best for students.

I have prepared for the first day of school in many roles throughout my career, and while the planning may seem overwhelming at times, I found that if you have a list of tasks to check off, the entire process runs smoother.

If you are a school administrator or education leader who oversees the vision, strategy and implementation of an online school, I have put together six steps that will help you start the year off strong and ensure that you are always doing what is best for your students and staff.

1. Establish and share online learning guidelines
First, I recommend asking yourself these key questions: Do you have safeguards in
place to ensure academic integrity? How will your staff communicate with students who aren’t submitting assignments? What is your grading policy?

If you don’t have answers to these questions yet, then it is critical that you set and
establish guidelines to ensure that you and your staff are on the same page when it
comes to these topics.

Other questions you should consider are: What is the ideal teacher response time? Do you want to mix synchronous and asynchronous lessons throughout the week? How often and when will students take exams? Do you want to create a website or resource center that helps families find counselor office hours, pace charts, and more?

Once you have the answers to all these questions, create written guidelines and
communicate them to your staff. Then, be available to answer any questions that may
arise.

2. Discuss communication guidelines
One of the great benefits of online learning is that engaging digital curriculum and tools allow for teachers to have more one-on-one interaction with students, providing teachers with better insights on how their students are doing. As such, the connection and rapport your teachers create with students and families can go a long way toward their success, which is why my second step includes developing and discussing communication guidelines.

Elementary education is the foundation for early learning, providing students with the skills and community they need for future success in school and life. Thanks to today’s technology, helping them start on the right foot is easier than ever – especially with online learning opportunities.

Online learning has become a growing trend among K-12 students, including elementary students. In fact, we successfully launched our own online elementary schools, which grew by 10,000 students over the past four years.

If you are a school or district leader looking to build an online elementary program, knowing where to start can feel overwhelming. But it doesn’t have to be. Here are five steps that helped our teams successfully build and maintain an online elementary program that drives student and parent engagement:

Step 1: Start with the Basics
First, determine the specific goals you want for your online elementary program. For example, do you want to expand curriculum offerings, provide effective flexible learning options for students, or build a personalized program that meets students’ needs? Or perhaps you have multiple goals you want to accomplish. No matter what your program’s goals are, determining and discussing them is the most critical factor when launching a new program.

Then, it’s best to decide how you want your program to incorporate digital learning. Do you want your program to be fully online? What about a blended learning model that combines the use of online courses and resources in a face-to-face setting? Or could hybrid be what works best for your students – combining in-person and virtual days?

Step 2: Focus on your teachers and staff
Your teachers and staff make the magic, so it’s important to focus on hiring staff and teachers who are passionate and excited about online learning. Then, it’s critical to ensure they have the resources, tools, and professional development they need to feel confident and prepared to teach in the online learning environment.

Blended and hybrid learning models are life-changing for many students, extending personalized and flexible learning options to select individuals or groups.

But with onset of the pandemic, widespread adoption of blended and hybrid models suddenly became a necessity across all student populations.

Two years later, how have districts overcome the initial challenges and applied the lessons learned to re-imagine teaching and learning and develop an innovative vision for change in their school communities?

Join eSchool News for a panel discussion with leaders and educators who share a passion for the bold new vision of blended and hybrid learning as the future of education.

You’ll hear how schools can:

• Integrate flexible in-person learning experiences with enhanced collaborative online learning to maximize facility use
• Build a custom curriculum with a mix of core courses, electives, CTE pathways, and more
• Deliver instruction with their teachers, virtual teachers, or a combination of the two
• Reserve the option for some students to attend 100-percent online

Had I been asked what I thought about online teaching two years ago, I would probably have given you quite an earful of the many known shortcomings of virtual teaching modalities, including the challenges to student engagement and community building. Ask me now and my answer could not be more different. Amid the latest push for a return to in-person teaching, many instructors have been adamant about the advantages of digital classrooms and look forward to continuing teaching online in a post-pandemic world. I am one of them.

I teach sociology at CUNY, the largest urban university in the U.S., which serves a very diverse student body of mostly first-generation college students. By the time the COVID-19 outbreak officially struck in mid-March 2020, I, along with millions of instructors around the globe, had to figure out how to move my in-person classes to virtual platforms. Many of us were caught off guard during the initial phase of “emergency remote teaching” and had no choice but to invest, learn, and experiment with technology by trial and error.

With incentives from the administration, we hurried to get online certifications and took summer workshops widely offered by our teaching centers and IT departments. When we succeeded, it was often not by replacing the in-person teaching with virtual scenarios, but by combining the best of both worlds: the interpersonal dynamics of face-to-face interactions with key high-tech tools that enhanced our online classrooms. If it is true that practice makes perfect, the more we conducted our business remotely the more we tightened up our craft. In this piece, I will tell you how this happened.

Deconstructing Online Teaching: Terms such as “virtual,” “remote,” or “online instruction” involve a cornucopia of instructing modalities, including classes taught fully or partially online (i.e., hybrid) and HyFlex. The latter means having a professor simultaneously teach two different student groups—virtually and in-person—what I call the “double dipping” method, which forces instructors to teach two courses but get paid for just one.  Despite its many modalities, one huge criticism of online teaching is that it cannot replicate the face-to-face interactions that are vital for ensuring successful learning experiences.

Over the past two years, education systems across the nation have been challenged with oscillating shifts, from classroom learning to remote and online learning, and even hybrid approaches, due to COVID-19 precautions and responsiveness. Amid these ongoing changes, educators reimagined the ways they engaged with their students, and many turned to museums and other community organizations for support to better understand how to leverage our collections, educational resources, and expertise creatively for their students.

For the community of more than 300 museum educators at the Smithsonian, the sudden urgency to scrap our traditional modus operandi unleashed new levels of innovation. We reimagined how to share a vast library of artifacts, artworks, specimens, and content expertise with our audiences to best meet their teaching and learning needs.

As teachers and students return to schools and museums searching for a “new normal,” below are some practices from the past two years I know we’ll keep.

Connecting with students–wherever they are

At the start of the pandemic, our team faced the challenge of helping students learn from home with the support of their teachers and caregivers. As classroom teachers switched from, “How do I engage students in the classroom?” to “How do I teach from home?” our team shifted from “How do we engage people in the museum?” to “How do we meet people where they are?”

Getting there meant making deliberate shifts in how we fulfill our mission and serve our learners. We took our role in a community ecosystem of learning to heart and launched online programs to provide ongoing pedagogical and technical support for the effective use of the Learning Lab – a free portal providing digital access to vast collections of education resources, and developed new templates and tools for teachers to support a range of approaches to learning. We partnered with national and local organizations to provide education resources that supported their evolving needs.

As the return to both classrooms and in-person museum visits is upon us, we will continue to be responsive to the needs of schools and students across the country, no matter where the learning happens.

Better curation

The ways in which we present information as educators shifted during the pandemic, too. Teachers rushed to find high-quality digital content in a vast sea of resources. They turned to podcasts, videos, interactive games, and other media. By experimenting with new types of content, educators changed their own processes of curation.

The traditional sequence of teaching using lectures, discussion, projects, and testing was upended during the pandemic as teachers adapted to digital classrooms and students took on more responsibility for their learning.

Now that students are back in school, many teachers are finding that continuing to use a blend of digital and face-to-face classroom learning methods can be effective in boosting student engagement and fostering constructive discussions.

The flipped classroom is one pedagogy that has been especially fruitful by reversing the traditional lecture and homework components of a class. In many traditional classrooms, the majority of class time is spent in a lecture-and-listen format. The flipped classroom replaces this static model by engaging students in active, dynamic learning. 

In a flipped classroom, teachers use digital technology instead of lectures to provide most of the learning “inputs” and spend their time fostering social participation and imparting wisdom. These inputs might be a video lecture or other mixed media content, reading, or listening to audio. Inputs can include music, paintings, maps, illustrations, podcasts, and video clips from television shows or movies. There is no limit to what might be included. The main point is that the live lecture is dispensed with.

In-class time is then dedicated to engaging with the learning in a variety of activities, such as discussions, debates, activities focused on projects or problems, or laboratory exercises.

There has been a steady decline in language learning in schools. According to the Pew Research Center, only one in five K-12 students in the United States now learns another language, and just 10 states and the District of Columbia make world language learning a requirement for graduating from high school.

New Jersey has the most students studying a world language (51 percent), followed by the District of Columbia (47 percent) and Wisconsin (36 percent). However, the vast majority of states have fewer than 25 percent of students learning another language — and just 9 percent of students in Arizona, Arkansas, and New Mexico. Compare that to Europe, where 92 percent of students learn a foreign language, Pew observes.

The decline in language learning carries over into college: According to the Modern Language Association, university and college enrollment in language courses dropped by nearly 10 percent from 2013 to 2016. During that same period, higher education institutions cut 651 foreign language programs nationwide.

This decline could have devastating effects on students’ ability to empathize with the challenges faced by global communities. The lack of accessibility to world language courses can also mar students’ future career prospects.

Benefits of learning another language

When students study a second language, they’re not only learning how to speak and write; they’re also exploring the many facets of a different culture. Students must immerse themselves in the values of a certain region to learn about the language, customs and traditions, foods, and pastimes. That is the curriculum of a world language course.