Make Remote Learning Accessible by Focusing on Equity & SEL – #ISTEsla20 Wk 2 Day 2

The following post has been completed as part of my personal reflection as I work through the ISTE Summer Learning Academy #ISTEsla20 Any images, tables, or direct quotes (as indicated with the appropriate formatting) are provided from the specific course or webinar and can be credited to: ISTE Summer Learning Academy. (2020). https://summerlearningacademy.iste.org/

Jorge Valenzuela, ISTE, summer learning academy

Week 2 – Day 2 is set to be a heavy topic. Covid-19 has brought up many facets of equity concerns and one that I work with a lot is student access to devices/internet infrastructure; I am interested to see Jorge’s thoughts on this component. I am also interested to see how it compliments the #ISTEsla20 Microcourse #1 on ensuring equity. It is facilitated by Jorge Valenzuela and is described as follows:

“For remote teaching to be engaging for all learners, educators must consider the academic, career and social-emotional learning (SEL) of their students. This requires savvy lessons that focus on equity, incorporate sound teaching strategies, include edtech with breakout room capabilities and interactive slides, and are social enough for the most digitally connected students. Join education coach Jorge Valenzuela for a session that will provide pro tips, resources and actionable steps to help you level up both your virtual and face-to-face lessons by focusing on equity and SEL in tandem with academics.“

Main Takeaways

Edtech tools
- Nearpod: student lessons (live & self-paced), add activity features, lesson library
  - Features replicated on many learning management systems, collaborative documents, etc
- Zoom: breakout rooms
  - Features replicated in MS Teams and Ring Central
Instructional Design Topics
- Equity
  - Every Student Succees Act (formally No Child Left Behind): ESSA
  - Work on reducing systemic barriers rather than providing options to work around them; but this is not always available for individual educators
- SEL
  - SEL is for both teaching staff and students
  - Consider the CASEL: Core SEL Competencues
    - Self-management
    - Social Awareness
    - Relationship Skills
    - Self-awareness
    - Responsible Decision-making
  - Have students check in with their emotions, label them, and implement a SEL strategy
  - 3 Ways Teachers Can Integrate SEL into Online Learning

Instructional Design Topics Cont.
- Academics
  - High Quality PBL
    - intellectual challenge and accomplishment
    - authenticity
    - public product
    - collaboration
    - project management
    - reflection

Questions

What lessons do you hope we can all take away from this moment in history (dealing with inequalities)?
Does your school/divisional plan take into account SEL for both students and staff?

General PD Thoughts

As a Coordinator of ICT for the division I appreciated that Jorge specifically reminded participants of where highlighted features are across different platforms (ex: breakout rooms in Teams as well as Zoom) and encourage participants to double-check the guidelines of their individual divisions.
Narrating his process, like specifically mentioning “I am going to check in on the chat box while you read this”, allowed me as a participant to feel that my participation was being acknowledged and that my voice was heard.
I’m disappointed tha Jorge did not have specific strategies for those students without access to technology.
Thank you to Jorge for sharing!

Read all of the #ISTEsla20 posts: