Some General Q and A Regarding E-Learning Days

E-Learning Days FAQ

This topic elicits a great many questions.  While I know how many of these questions have been answered in nearby states, each district will eventually be deciding how they will approach these topics. Obviously there is a lot more to discuss and we would/will need to work closely with our local union leadership.

For now, the purpose of both the video you just watched and the blog post you are about to read is to generate a common level of understanding of what is happening in regard to virtual snow days and how it fits into the larger picture of online and blended learning in Illinois and the nation.

What exactly does the bill say?

The bill sets up a pilot for a limited number of school districts in Illinois to use no more than five (5) e-learning days that can count as regular attendance days.  The lessons, content, assignments, etc. need to account for the equivalence to a student’s normal five-hour school day and they need to move the course curriculum forward.  Considerations need to be made for student connectivity, students’ IEPs, and more.  The full text can be found at: http://bit.ly/1FjjEIJ

What would the expectations be for a teacher on an e-learning day?

As a district that has been 1:1 for three years now, the ability to offer an e-learning day isn’t a vast evolution from what is happening in our classrooms on a daily basis.  In fact, many teachers are already providing virtual lessons for their students when they are sick or miss school for professional meetings or conferences.  What each individual teacher would do could/should vary greatly.  For example, one teacher might ask their students to read an article, generate a blog post, and comment on the posts of some classmates.  Another teacher might record a YouTube video of the material they were going to present that day.  The possibilities are limitless when you think about what our teachers are doing daily with tools like MoveNote, EdPuzzle, Google Docs, Blogger, and countless others.

What about students who don’t have internet connectivity at home?

I know several superintendents who serve very rural areas in Indiana and Ohio.  In some cases the districts have provided mi-fi devices for families, set up local hotspots, or promoted services like the Comcast $9.99/month opportunities.  Obviously we would need to work on the solution that would make the most sense for Leyden.

Would this save money for Leyden?

We have received a number of questions about what would happen specifically with 10-month employees in the case of an e-learning day.  In no way would participating in this pilot have the intent of saving money.  10-month employees would likely still work an “emergency day” at the end of the year for professional development or the like.  This is about what is right for our students, not about saving money.

What platform would we use to deliver content to students?

The students on our committee have commented that there needs to be a consistent way for them to find/access their lessons or assignments.  Whether that common system would be Gmail, Open Class, or something else, we would need to figure out what would work for our teachers and our students.

What about professional development?

Surely the evolution to running a virtual lesson would be easier for some teachers than for others. We would need to look at some internal professional development to broaden the toolkit that teachers have for blended learning options. I would forsee some sessions before and after school, over the summer, or as lunch and learn topics, for example.

How would we handle student attendance and accountability?

Just like on a normal school day, student attendance and student performance are very different issues. We would need to establish guidelines for how a student could connect with a teacher to be considered "present," but they would need to complete the expectations of the teacher in order to receive credit for any coursework / homework of the day.

What are the next steps - when will we hear more about this?

The Leyden committee will be meeting again next month to continue our conversation about how this could work here and what obstacles we would need to overcome. At the state level, the bill will have to go through all of it's normal channels. This is an informative video that will help clarify that process. The union leadership and I will need to pick up the topic of how to address this in the Professional Issues committee.

In Summary...

We are living in a very exciting time in the world of education.  Blended learning and virtual snow days are part of the future (and the present) of our profession.  As a leader in educational technology, we are uniquely poised to be at the forefront of this opportunity.  Participation in this pilot would allow us to not only impact the way our students view their education, but also to chart the course in how schools make an impact in student learning throughout Illinois.

I recognize that people will have a number of questions about how this would work.  As in all things, we need to think about “What’s Best for the Kids.”  I would welcome your questions, thoughts, excitements, and concerns. In case you didn't know - npolyak@leyden212.org or x3020 :-)

(By the way - I wanted to make this a true "lesson" experience from my perspective as someone who doesn't use all of these tools on a daily basis. So I used Google Docs, Blogger, YouTube, and EdPuzzle (all free tools) from home just to try some of this out myself. In case you want to see the text from my video - click here)