Despite the COVID-19 Closures, Learning can still Happen at Home

All last week, I saw this coming like a tidal wave.  I knew it was a matter of time before we would be mandated to close our schools.  I'd been seeing all week long in the EdTech world on Twitter, in Facebook groups, and through my network of fellow EdTech professionals, people coming together to help each other prepare for what was about to come.  I came to two major realizations during this time period.

1) We (as in the majority of public educators) are completely underprepared to facilitate distance learning in "normal" circumstances, much less in the middle of the chaos of a global pandemic.  So, upon return, there is much work to be done on that front!

2) Although the facilitation of distance/remote learning is likely not to happen in many school districts during the mandated school closures, LEARNING can still happen at home despite most parents not being prepared to become homeschool teachers overnight.

I've seen lots of posts containing ideas of what families can do on their time off together to foster relationships with each other and combat boredom during quarantine (ie. playing board games, doing yard work, exercising, etc.). Sticking to schedules and limiting screen time is a must in times like these.

However, in this technological age, there are a multitude of digital platforms that students can utilize at home without a whole lot of "instruction" or "guidance" from an adult.  That doesn't give grown-ups a "free-pass" to neglect to monitor children on their devices; obviously, kids should still be monitored while online.

My EdTech team partner, Terri Patterson @pdtechgal and I, worked hard last week to curate some of these types of easy-to-use digital programs and resources to share with parents and students in our district.  I modified our original lists to exclude programs that are district/site-specific and curated a new one that literally any student from any district could use and learn something from if they have a device and Internet access.  There are three lists linked below categorized by elementary, middle, & high school.  Browse, explore, & share!

Click here

Click here

Click here

This is not a comprehensive list, but it's a good place to start to keep learning from home.

Also, check this awesome list of Virtual Field trips curated by Mrs. Fahrney.