Welcome to seven tips for effective remote learning

with Khan Academy.

My name is Meaghan Pattani

and I head up US Teacher Education here at Khan Academy

and I'm joined today by my colleague Jeremy,

who leads our teacher success team.

So, just a little heads up,

today, we're gonna be covering tips and best practices

for remote teaching and learning.

Again, Jeremy and I are really here

to help support teachers and students

as they navigate this remote learning experience.

Jeremy and I are both former educators,

and we've tried to do our best to put ourselves

in your shoes going through this very chaotic time.

And we're gonna try our best to provide clear

and actionable steps using Khan Academy wherever possible.

Just a heads up, today we will not

be covering account setup or how to get started.

If you wanna learn more about

how to get started with Khan Academy.

I recommend using the link below,

in order to access our quickstart guide.

If you want a full copy of the slides

and all the links attached

in the handouts tab of GoToWebinar,

you'll find a full copy of the slides

from today's presentation.

So, why use Khan Academy for remote learning?

Well, Khan Academy is built

to serve learners anywhere at any time.

You can assign specific skills to practice,

or you can have students practice and get instant feedback,

you're able to keep track of student progress,

even when you're not together,

which right now we know is more important than ever.

Khan Academy is built to serve learners,

anywhere at any time, you don't necessarily need a computer,

everything students can access

on the web can be accessed on a smartphone.

So, if you have students

with limited access they'll still be able

to reach valuable content.

And our content is available

in over 40 languages and all for free.

Khan Academy is a nonprofit, with a goal to support high,

excuse me, high quality education for anyone, anywhere.

So, let's start here,

and while this may feel a little bit obvious,

I think sometimes when teachers

and students, jump into remote learning

those valuable communication skills

that you rely on every day seem to fall apart.

So, think about when you go into your classroom.

When you walk into your classroom in the morning,

you never think, "I'm not gonna talk

"to my students all day,"

of course you're gonna communicate with them.

And for some of your students you

are the most important relationship that they have every day

and so, now more than ever,

your students are in need of consistent communication.

So, if you and your students can connect live,

absolutely do it,

even if it's a learning curve for you and for them

there's some really great tools out there,

like Hangouts Meet, which allows teachers

to give live video lessons and record them for students

to watch later, there are a bunch of other tools

that are now offering their video streaming services

for free, so feel free to take a look

and have you have the opportunity to connect

with your students live,

I absolutely support taking that dive.

Let your students know you're thinking about them.

So, if you can't connect live or even if you have time

beyond that, which I know is a stretch right now,

send them a note via email or an app like ClassDojo.

Find a way to communicate with your students,

let them know that you're missing them.

I think students right now are really hungry

for that opportunity for social connection

and getting a note from you as a teacher, someone who's

so meaningful in their lives, telling them

that you missed them

and how excited you'll be to see them again,

it really has a deeper meaning.

And please, please, please provide feedback.

A lot of students have been given a bunch of work to do

while they're at home.

But if they're just given the work with no feedback,

how do they know that that work has meaning?

How do they know that they're doing things correctly?

So, please, if you've given your students work to do,

while they're remote, make sure

that you're giving them qualitative feedback as well.

Here's a couple of examples we're seeing

from our teacher community.

So, the top we have a teacher who says she

was channeling her inner Sal Khan,

and she used video chat to whiteboard live with students

and down below we have one of our ambassadors

who combines Flipgrid and combines Khan Academy

and creates videos for his students

in order to know that he's thinking about them

and they and he can message each other back.

Then, let's talk about communication between students

and between you and their families.

So, while that communication between you and your students

is so essential, students are also missing each other.

And so, using something like Google Docs or Slides,

allowing students to collaborate

or communicate in real time around shared problems

and ideas is a great opportunity.

We see a lot of teachers, maybe taking a sample problem,

so they'll look at Khan Academy and they see a problem

that a lot of students have answered incorrectly

and they'll throw it on a Google slide and then each student

can add a subsequent slide showing their work

on how they would solve the problem,

and students can leave comments saying,

"Oh that's what I missed," or "Great job,"

so that way your students are still able to collaborate

in a way similar to what they would do in class.

Also don't forget about parents and families.

Right?

Many of you I'm sure are now becoming both a full time,

stay at home parent and a full time work

from home teacher and so, think about some

of those other families who are in your shoes.

We're all working remotely on this journey together,

and if possible try and reach out to one family per week

just to share something their student might be doing well

or something, you know, know about their students

that's really exciting.

And don't hesitate to let parents

and guardians know how much you appreciate them

for supporting their child

through this process of remote learning.

This is a really hard jump for parents

and to get a little high five

from the teacher saying, "You know what,

"you're really doing a great job putting that effort in,"

that can make a huge, huge difference.

And don't forget each other, right?

I'm so excited to see so many people on here today

because we really are stronger together

and don't forget to reach out to your other teachers.

Teachers you work with daily

that you're used to communicating with,

members of maybe your peer learning community,

and just your teacher friends, they're going

through this transition as well,

so don't hesitate to share best practices,

or just check in on each other

and if you're looking for a way

to communicate with them, use some of the same tools

you're already using with your students.

Number two, choose the best tools, and stay with them.

Just the tools that are best for you and your students.

There's a lot of noise right now around digital tools,

and there's all sorts of things you can use

for remote learning.

But you know your classroom boss.

So, start with things that you've already been using.

If you've been using Khan Academy all year.

Great.

Please keep using us.

If you are looking for new tools,

take what fits you and your students.

I don't know your classroom better than you do,

and neither does anyone else.

And so, find what fits your students use that.

And make sure you're not switching it every day, every week

because students, we want them

to focus on what they're learning, we want them

to learn new skills in math or English language arts

or foreign languages.

We don't want them worried about stress over new tools.

So, if you find what's right stick with it.

Number three, keep a schedule.

And we know this is much easier said than done.

But sticking to consistent times for working and connecting

with students is really important.

And as we're trying to keep schedules for students,

we also wanna try and keep schedules for ourselves.

It helps give a rhythm to the day and to our organization.

So, find times for you to lesson plan,

connect with students, find times for you to take a break.

And if you're looking for examples

because this is a really big adventure for a lot of us,

we've got you covered.

Sal Khan has put together key schedules

for all different age groups.

So, you'll see on your screen right now, an example

for our elementary school students, an example

for our middle school students and example

for our high school students.

What should you be thinking about?

What might your students need?

And you'll see this is not just sit

in front of their computer for eight hours,

things like getting outside and playing,

finding time to read and reflect,

all of those things are there for them.

And definitely teachers are great at adapting resources.

So, if this is a great base for you,

take it and make it your own.

Number four, support independent learning.

And I know a lot of us are always trying

to find ways for our students to gain independence

and really take ownership and agency of their learning.

And so, with remote opportunities we

can encourage our students to really take hold of that

and to master new skills.

So, using Khan Academy's mastery system, students can set,

students can use mastery goals to work below, on,

or above grade levels, and students

can move at their own pace.

They're always welcome to go back and review content

or move ahead.

They can even work on subjects

outside what they would normally do inside your classroom.

Some teachers might encourage students

to move a course below or course ahead

in the same content area, or I even know one math teacher

who wants students to master their grade level in math,

encourage them to find something that they're passionate

about and really dive into master skills in that area.

So, encourage your students to take a little ownership

of their learning now and move ahead, or review concepts

that make them feel really competent in their learning.

and if you're looking for more guidance

on how to tactically do this,

the link at the bottom of this slide will take you

to a how-to article

on setting up course mastery goals for your students.

And this here is just a quick animation, so for those of you

that are familiar with the Khan Academy platform,

if you go to your teacher dashboard

and into your class, course mastery on the left hand side,

as you see the image doing, click placement and create goal.

Again, I highly recommend,