headteacher-secondary

teac hwire.net/seco ndary teachwire.net Get up, step back and get moving – NikPeachey explains how schools, teachers and students can still get better at distance learning Stand and deliver 36 I ’ve worked with schools in a number of countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, assisting them with their distance learning provision. Across all the examples I’ve seen, those schools and teachers that have accepted and embraced the technology and this new way of teaching and learning are the ones who have excelled. Schools in Turkey, for example, have long been open to edtech’s potential, with the full backing of their management, and were therefore very well prepared for learning during lockdown. India has also surprised me with how well schools there have adapted to teaching with technology, given the often huge barriers with internet connectivity. The way schools viewed their teaching during this period made a huge difference as to whether they succeeded or failed. There were those seeing it strictly as a temporary measure and waiting to get back to ‘normal’, which often led to delivery of lackluster content – uploading teacher-created classroom materials and worksheets for students to download, fill in and upload again once completed. Then there were the schools that adopted a longer-term view, seeing this as an opportunity to move into the future. They sought to develop content designed to be delivered online, though this often requires training. If, in future, you want to provide online learning that genuinely engages students, gets them working together and isn’t just a repository for your worksheets, then you need to invest in support for your teachers. They need to know how to use the school’s Learning Management System properly and how to get the most out of it. While a number of schools have had an LMS of some kind for a long time, many have been notoriously bad at using them to their full potential, and for what they were built for – online courses and creating interaction. How can teachers improve? When they’re teaching via webcam, one of the most disappointing things I’ve seen is the number of teachers who are just sitting. This is also true of people presenting at online conferences or delivering online training – too often they’ll be sat in a dimly lit room, crouched over their laptop with a pair of poor-quality headphones, giving no thought to the visual impact their personal presentation can have. Teachers are really good at interpersonal skills and building relationships with students in the classroom. Typically, this will be achieved through their physical presence, the way they use their voice and body movements, and the manner in which they address their students. But those skills are frequently not being deployed online. One of my main tips would therefore be to stand up . Get a riser for your laptop so that the screen is parallel to your body – doing this means you won’t appear distorted. Then stand back from the screen, about a metre, even if you need to use a Bluetooth headset or an extension cable for your headphones. When you look at yourself on screen, you want to be able to see from just above the top of your head to just below your elbows. That way, you can start using body language, and particularly your hands. You’ll have room to move in towards the camera to emphasise certain points and step away again. Contrary to what you might think, standing up can also stop you from feeling fatigued. Many people will describe getting tired from sitting in front of their camera, but if you’re standing up you’ll feel much more dynamic, alert and energetic. Throughout lockdown, it was common to hear teachers saying they had students who were refusing to turn their cameras “One of the most disappointing things I’ve seen is the number of teachers who are just sitting”