The shift to full remote learning continues to generate modifications and adjustments for my action research project. This past week was focused on revising the ‘Procedures’ section of my paper to reflect the new reality that is teaching during a pandemic. Both the time frames and the administration of the learning activities have been changed. Additionally, my district has switched to a new lesson plan format for this school year.
As explained in my blog post Pacing & Planning My Project, the scope of time is no longer measured by class periods but by weeks. Under this model, teachers are guided to create weekly lessons that take students approximately 2.5 hours per week to complete. This is outlined in our district plan. Successful remote learning includes creating a clear path for students to follow. Providing a weekly plan is ideal. This year, my district adopted the OREO Online Learning Wayfinding lesson plan format. OREO, Objectives, Responsibility, Expectation, and Organization, refers to a holistic way of thinking about learning for a given period of time. The ‘Responsibilities’ section requires the listing of time lengths for completing each learning activity. (see Ed Tech Leadership) The OREO plan’s section titled ‘Organization’ allows for mapping out the lesson. (see picture)
Originally both activities were to take a combined total of four class periods of 43 minutes each. The participants would spend two class periods completing a lesson on the topic of the Three Branches of Government as outlined in the US Constitution. Then both populations would spend two class periods completing the unit project based on the twenty-seven amendments to the US Constitution. Given that each activity was planned for 86 minutes of in-class time, I factored into the lesson plan 1.5 hours of each week’s lessons for these learning activities. Each week’s remaining hour featured vocabulary and current events assignments.
Adjusting the administration of the activities included posting assignments on Google Classroom. During remote learning, using a Learning Management System like Google Classroom is extremely important. The wayfinding aspect of OREO is to reduce the cognitive load on your students, similar to road signs used to navigate while driving. (Hudson) Wayfinding organizes lessons in a meaningful way, and during remote learning, that organization needs to be as easy to follow as possible. Before students can “Go”, there needs to be an organized structure for online lessons. (ReadTheory.org) Another adjustment involved the actual materials provided for the learning activities. Students do not have textbooks at home and a digital copy is not available. I had to scan the chapters of the book into PDF format to post in Google Classroom. Lastly, the paper options will need to be photographed by students to submit through Google Classroom.
The organization of online lessons is an ongoing learning process for both myself, the teacher, and my students. I am especially glad for the course Distance Enabled Pedagogies with Prof. Laurie Brady. Additionally, my own experience with synchronous and asynchronous learning via York College prepared me for this unexpected experience. Next post, I will get into more detail about administering the learning activities.
Sources:
Deaver, Dean (n.d.). Online Lesson Plan For Teachers: How To Plan an Online Lesson. ReadTheory. Retrieved from https://readtheory.org/online-lesson-plan-for-teachers-old/
Hudson, Eric (20 March 2020.). Six Key Design Elements of Successful Online Learning. GOA. Retrieved from https://globalonlineacademy.org/insights/articles/six-key-design-elements-of- successful-online-learning-1
Steelton-Highspire School District. (21 Sept. 2020.). SHSD Remote Learning Plan. Shsd.k12.pa.us. Retrieved from https://www.shsd.k12.pa.us/cms/lib/PA09000078/Centricity/ModuleInstance/4404/SHSD%20Remote%20Learning%20Plan%20Final.pdf
Yang, Allison (15 March 2020.). OREO Online Learning Wayfinding. αℓιѕση уαηg. Retrieved from http://alisonyang.weebly.com/1/post/2020/03/oreo-online-learning-wayfinding.html