Feature image courtesy of North Shore Mums
Education in a digital age is a whole new experience. And thank the gods we are living with such connectivity because lockdown highlighted the need for ‘virtual academies’. This concept isn’t new, and there are schools around the world trialling online learning platforms to compensate for the varied rates of student learning within the classroom. Lockdown has created an unexpected pilot program for online learning at a scale previously not considered.
Developers of quality digital education programs and platforms became superheroes for educators – qualified teachers and parents alike. Students from kindergarten to university were able to continue their studies from home, and educators drew on all available online resources to make it happen.
The experience, as always, was subjective and based on preparedness (or crisis management) of your school or university. Here are five online resources which saved my sanity:
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Our teachers!
During lockdown, their role demands increased exponentially, as Abby Saleh’s lockdown learning blog of support to fellow teachers shows.
School Principal, Ashleigh Martin, shares his experience and the adaptive approaches adopted during lockdown to support teachers and families:
Video courtesy of Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Limited (AITSL)
The Zoom classroom catchups alone were incredible and run with amazing enthusiasm by our teachers. I wanted to know more about the changes in curriculum, specifically what we older generations know as IT. Prepare to be blown away by the Digital Technologies Hub.
This online teaching platform is an import from the USA and had been developed to include an app for Parents and Family. This was the main connector used by our school, and it was here we’d get our lesson plan for the day (aka, the list of activities and videos from his teachers).
This was a wonderful find even before lockdown, with a section specifically for parents. Bluey is a favourite show in our house, and its use here for social and emotional education was perfect.
The lovely thing about this app is learning is secondary to fun. Sneaky geniuses!!
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Social media
Yep. I didn’t see that one coming. And it was amazing, the generous sharing of educational activities and ideas including step-by-step content. But our absolute favourite social media source was YouTube. It became a daily learning adventure as we explored content shared by educators, authors and scientists around the world. My kid became enraptured by Numberblocks and Storytime Online…. and I wasn’t far behind.
If you feel you’ve missed a few great apps, here are some lists to send you on your way:
https://newywithkids.com.au/best-online-kids-resources-australia/
https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2020/03/check-out-these-free-educational-apps-and-sites/
