Assistant Principal / Leader of Pedagogy

Online Learning - Skills for the future

Perhaps it’s not a surprise to everyone that my article in this issue of the newsletter is about online learning.  Here we are, reaching the end of a second week of lockdown with teachers and students learning remotely.  I accept that this is a challenge for some people, but I also know that there are some positives to this experience.  Some students flourish in this style of learning while others struggle.  Also, students can learn how to succeed in remote/online learning.  This is a real skill for the future.  I’ll also mention our Yr 12 Trials and the importance of staying connected.

No matter what is in store for our young people in the next few years, one thing is for sure.  They will be learning online.  University, TAFE and on the job training will be increasingly delivered via online learning.  It’s important to get our students ready for this.  Is there something you’ve always wanted training or even a qualification in? Why don’t you try Googling it?  You can find an online training course in everything.  A couple of years ago I became a qualified owner-occupier builder by studying online.  Right now, I know just about all TAFE and Uni training hasn’t stopped due to the lockdown in our state.  It’s all online.  Regardless of the lockdown, our Yr 10 students can choose from a variety of online “virtual” TAFE courses as they confirm their Yr 11 subjects for 2022.  These contribute to the HSC and ATAR.   See https://www.tafensw.edu.au/launchpad for more information on these.   “Thanks to advancements in technology, students now have the opportunity to receive hands-on learning at their own pace and from the comfort of their homes. This new medium of education provides a platform for students to freely interact with classmates while improving virtual communication abilities and increasing knowledge retention.” (p. 1, McKee, 2019).  

Ms Menz in a zoom with her Year 7 Science class participating in the daily challenge

I’d like to mention some of the successes that Leaders of Learning mentioned to begin our meeting this past Monday.  They were asked to share any highlights from the first week of remote learning.  Here are some examples:

• “In a zoom, I had a great conversation with student x.  Normally he won’t say anything to me.”
• “I love it that students can work at their own pace.  Some students get it done quickly, while others can stop the video regularly and take it slower.”
• “People are really grateful for our organisation and hard work.”
• “My whole year 7 class joined our Zoom today. 100% attendance and participation”
• “I’m loving the engagement I’ve see during Zooms”

In his last article for the CSO Armidale E-Bulletin, our Director Chris Smyth mentioned an article that addressed the following question: What are the 25 Best Practices for Remote Teaching and Learning?  It’s worth reading and the link is here.  Author, Henry Hauntston, explains some of the best ways teachers can use remote learning.  Some of these are the need to choose the technology carefully, be equitable (not everybody has the same access to technology or the internet), use online tools that the students are familiar with and continue to make the learning intention and success criteria clear.  At O’Connor, I’ll mention two of these.  We have Learning Packs available for any student who has unreliable internet access.  Thanks for our amazing Admin Staff, and Mell Bell and Katie Biddle, who have been organising these.  The learning continues no matter what your resources at home are.  These can be organised to be picked up by phoning or emailing the College Office.  Also, when organising the Year 12 Trials Online, we have been mindful to use tools the students are already familiar with.  Google Classroom, Zoom and Google Docs are our tools of choice for these exams.

I need to make special mention of our Year 12 students this week.  We were thrown into the deep end with the sudden lockdown.  Suddenly, our Trial HSC Exams were online instead of face-to-face.  It has taken some quick learning on the part of the teachers to get the exams happening in that online forum.  But it’s the resourcefulness of the Year 12 students that has impressed me the most.  We have had three days of exams already now and the students have taken them in their stride.  Well done, Year 12!  Bring on next week and the rest of the Online Trial Exams! 

Staying connected and part of a community is a vital aspect of learning during a lockdown.  That is why we have three pastoral academic care morning Zooms each week (one whole school, one for the whole year and one for individual PAC class).  Here is the Zoom schedule for next week.  It’s really important that students connect to any Zooms each day so they still feel a part of the school community.  To keep it simple, every class in the school has a Zoom period 2 each day.  At O’Connor, we have made a commitment to keeping the length and number of Zooms to a minimum.  Being online all day is exhausting and hopefully our students have found the mix of blended learning suitable.  Some zooms and plenty of individual work is the secret to success; mixed with exercise and hands on work of some kind.  Helping out at home is certainly part of this.  Parents, have you seen this in your children?  I hope so.

Stay Connected.  This is what our staff meetings, some classes and parent information meetings look like.

There is no doubt that these rapidly changing times are challenging for many families.  There is a silver lining to this cloud.  We are all learning skills as we continue our classes and our work.  These skills will help us in the future.  It’s important that we push our students to stay connected to this adapted school life, while congratulating them for their flexibility, independence and resilience.  Well done, our O’Connor Community.  We’ve got this!

Mr Stephen Chapman

Assistant Principal - Leader of Pedagogy

schapman@arm.catholic.edu.au

Never stop learning; for when we stop learning, we stop growing  - Jack Lewman