COVID-19 Support
At the beginning of 2020, the world hit pause and fast forward all at once. During this challenging time, we have maintained close contact with our schools and students, leveraging our expertise in online education to support schools as they have flipped their brick-and-mortar schools into virtual learning environments.
As we continue to work with schools to plan for the future, we reflect on our learnings so far and bring together a range of support resources and provocations about education during and beyond the pandemic.
Our learning community has never been stronger: students see teachers as learners and parents are empowered to support student learning.
- Read the ISC Report on the impact of COVID-19 on Education Technology in International Schools.
- UNICEF has released this guide for coping with parenting challenges and supporting learning at home during COVID-19.
- This online course for parents from the IRIS Center offers strategies for supporting learning during school closures.
- This blog by the World Bank offers three key principles for supporting teachers during the pandemic.
- As part of an 8-part series sharing his school’s learnings from the early coronavirus shutdown in Hong Kong, Mark Steed, Principal and CEO at Kellett School, discusses strategies for effective communication during the pandemic.
- Although this TedX Talk pre-dates coronavirus, Kayla Delzer’s reimagination of the classroom resonates with our current times where teachers are learners of technology and students can be empowered to lead.
Our learning environment can be reimagined: the traditional school curriculum can be expanded through online learning opportunities, giving students more choice and opportunity to follow their passions.
- Here at Pamoja, we support schools to personalise learning for their students by expanding their curriculum, offering a wider range of subject choices for students in the IB Diploma Programme.
- Blip or flip? In this blog, Damian Bacchoo & Jon Halligan ask whether your school is embracing the opportunity to set in motion a paradigm shift in education
- The World Economic Forum identifies 4 ways COVID-19 could change how we educate future generations.
- In this blog, Patrick Cook-Deegan of Project Wayfinder asks if the lockdown will push schools in a positive direction?
- In this ManageBac blog post, we consider the terminology around remote learning and how the language of education is shifting in response to the pandemic.
- In his article for the World Economic Forum, Conrad Hughes of the International School of Geneva asks if COVID-19 will spell the end of exams?
If you are at the beginning of your school’s journey into remote learning, here are some key resources that will help you get started.
- Zoom provides this comprehensive guide to its video conferencing abilities to support teachers in getting the most out of their online lessons.
- A guide to getting started with remote learning: Tips and resources in response to the top eight questions you should consider before facilitating online learning.
- This blog post provides educators with a blueprint for successful remote learning, with some useful links at the bottom.
- In this article, Pamoja Teacher Haoken Huoermaiti offers tips and tricks for an online classroom.
- This FariaPD Guide offers tips for facilitating synchronous and asynchronous professional development.
- The International Baccalaureate provides IB teachers with a remote learning toolkit to support teaching and learning during school closures.
- A collection of remote learning resources has been collected here.
- A set of webinars from the ManageBac Teachers Helping Teachers series with one webinar focused on remote learning in the early years.
- Data security and student safety online is paramount: here is a checklist to guide your IT department.
- Adapt this checklist to guide your students to set up a home environment to support online learning.
Having a clearly articulated curriculum helps teachers, students and parents collaborate productively when learning moves between the classroom and homes.
- The International Baccalaureate offers this guide to online learning, teaching and education continuity planning for schools as well as a remote learning toolkit for teachers.
- The AtlasNext blog on Curriculum is Critical: Transitioning Back to In-Person Learning highlights the need for documenting the learning as a way of identifying learning gaps and making a plan for responding to them.
- Summer curriculum work is happening: AtlasNext shares several key things to think about as schools look to adapt and adjust the curriculum.
- This article offers guidance from the Scottish government to support teachers in preparing their curriculum offer for and during the recovery phase after COVID-19 school closures.
- UK government offers guidance and case studies on identifying and addressing gaps in student learning due to school closures.
- This McKinsey & Company report highlights achievement gaps in the US and how they are being exacerbated by the COVID-19 shutdowns.
Students can be more independent than ever before: students are self-managing their learning, developing organizational skills and resilience.
- In this PDF guide, UNESCO and the Smart Learning Institute, Beijing uses learning stories from around the world to promote active learning at home during school closures.
- In this blog, IB graduate Safa Shahkhalili discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity for young people to learn beyond the school curriculum.
- This post by the Global Online Academy provides tips for students on successful online learning.
- In this Pamoja blog, a Pamoja Online Courses student talks about her online experience with Pamoja through the pandemic.
Teachers are inspired and required to engage with technology like never before, and use tech innovation to transform student learning.
- Read Transcend’s guide on High-Quality Remote Instruction.
- FariaPD, our Professional Development team, offers this guide for facilitating synchronous and asynchronous professional development, with accompanying webinar.
- The OECD provides a curated list of online resources and professional development to support the continuation of teaching and learning during the pandemic.
- As part of the FariaPD Teachers Helping Teachers series, Marie Mugabe offers tips for teachers on leading remote learning.
- A guide from the Education Development Center which focuses on technology use with early learners
- This blog post highlights how technology has amplified many great practices of teachers in supporting personalised learning and providing personalised feedback for example, while it has also amplified the less than desirable outcomes of instructive practices.
Social emotional learning has taken on a new importance in the post-COVID world as students and teachers navigate this challenging learning experience and seek new ways of connecting and belonging.
- Read Transcend’s guide on Supporting Social Emotional Well-being Remotely.
- The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) has released a comprehensive guide to supporting the social and emotional learning of students during school reopenings.
- Integrate the Social Justice Standards from Teaching Tolerance within your curriculum to support student understanding of identity, diversity, justice and action.
- The Resilient Educator provides a toolkit of actionable strategies and advice for teachers, parents and students.
- In this blog, Casey Pettit of Project Wayfinder discusses how we can stay connected in our classrooms during school closures.
- James MacDonald, incoming Director of the International School of Brussels, offers six theories to help frame our thinking during lockdown.
We have developed more creative and flexible ways to interact and communicate.
- Communication comes from the questions asked, Michael Lannini and Paul Smith share 5 questions to support communication with the community.
- Higher Education Marketing takes a look at what platforms schools should be communicating with their community.
- The Donovan Group has curated templates for communications that schools can use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Finalsite has collected example communications schools have shared with their broader community.
- The Council of International Schools highlights the child protection implications of video conferencing and virtual classrooms, and provides guidance for updating your school’s safeguarding policy.
- This article from The Hill discusses how COVID-19 is changing the way we communicate while this BBC Worklife article encourages us to be mindful of people who are uncomfortable on the phone or on video.
If you are at the beginning of your school’s journey into remote learning, here are some key resources that will help you get started.
- Zoom provides this comprehensive guide to its video conferencing abilities to support teachers in getting the most out of their online lessons.
- A guide to getting started with remote learning: Tips and resources in response to the top eight questions you should consider before facilitating online learning.
- This blog post provides educators with a blueprint for successful remote learning, with some useful links at the bottom.
- In this article, Pamoja Teacher Haoken Huoermaiti offers tips and tricks for an online classroom.
- This FariaPD Guide offers tips for facilitating synchronous and asynchronous professional development.
- The International Baccalaureate provides IB teachers with a remote learning toolkit to support teaching and learning during school closures.
- A collection of remote learning resources has been collected here.
- A set of webinars from the ManageBac Teachers Helping Teachers series with one webinar focused on remote learning in the early years.
- Data security and student safety online is paramount: here is a checklist to guide your IT department.
- Adapt this checklist to guide your students to set up a home environment to support online learning.
“In times of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves beautifully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.”
Eric Hoffer – Reflections on the Human Condition