Guidance and Planning

Virtual learning is an instructional approach that leverages digital technology to enhance students' learning experiences and improve educational outcomes. Although it utilizes advanced technology, virtual learning remains heavily dependent on teacher facilitation to ensure students can apply their knowledge in meaningful ways. Educators use learning management systems (LMS) alongside various digital tools and practices. These include instructional content, rich-media resources, interactive elements (such as discussion boards, messaging, and video communication), data and assessment systems, and feedback mechanisms. This combination provides timely and rich data to guide personalized learning tailored to individual student needs. Virtual, hybrid, and remote learning models may employ a mix of these strategies to maximize the overall student experience.

Considerations for Unscheduled Remote Learning Days

For purposes of this guidance, an unscheduled remote learning day is defined as an instructional day that was originally scheduled to be in-person but, due to inclement weather or other emergency situations, a conversion into a remote learning day becomes necessary. Other emergency situations refer to those circumstances presenting a threat to the health or safety of students including, but not limited to, natural and man-made disasters, energy shortages, or power failures.

Each year, school divisions are expected to meet the length of school term (also known as the 180-day or 990-hour requirement), core instruction minimums, and requirements for food service, among other standards. Code of Virginia § 22.1-98 establishes this requirement including the use of unscheduled remote learning days, make-up hours, or waivers granted by the Board of Education. School divisions are expected to meet state and federal requirements to serve students with disabilities in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia. Additional guidance may be found in the Final Guidance for Unscheduled Remote Learning Days document.

Divisions interested in exercising the ability to declare an unscheduled remote learning day due to severe weather conditions or other emergency situations must have a plan to ensure that:

• power and other required utilities necessary for the provision of instruction and services are still available for students and staff throughout the division;
• students receiving supports under an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or 504 Plan will be able to access services, as applicable and appropriate;
• the division will provide student support services (e.g. counseling, consultation, assessment, skill instruction) to students, as appropriate;
• the division maintains school meal services for students:
  • Divisions will need to consider their current service delivery model used for remote learners.
  • When severe weather conditions or other emergency situations are anticipated, divisions should activate local plans to provide meals in advance of or during the severe weather conditions or other emergency situations.
  • When a state of emergency occurs, localities should refer to their local emergency response system through the Virginia Emergency Support Team to assist in determining the necessary provision of resources including meals through the Commonwealth of Virginia Disaster Feeding Support Plan.
• all teachers and staff have been provided expectations for provision of instruction and services to all students;
• student services personnel been provided expectations for provision of services to all students;
• all students have computing devices, Internet connection, and/or other supplemental supplies necessary for successful engagement in instruction; and
• any student that may be unable to access remote instruction and/or assignments will be provided sufficient opportunity to complete instruction and/or assignments without penalty.

Prior to declaring an unscheduled remote learning day due to severe weather conditions or other emergency situations (health, safety, infrastructure issues), school divisions should ensure that the questions below have been addressed.

• Do the specific conditions at hand affect the division’s ability to create or replicate an appropriate learning environment in a virtual or remote setting?
• Are school staff able to successfully engage in virtual teaching under the specific conditions? (consider utility and internet access, road conditions, childcare availability, etc.)

Ensuring that a division has addressed each question above through written policy or standard operating procedures is essential to provide required remote instruction and services in an equitable manner that is comparable to a regular learning day. If school divisions are able to provide instruction and services to each student on these days, instruction can be counted towards “completion” for the length of school term and core instruction hour requirements for this school year.

Modalities for Virtual & Hybrid Teaching Planning

Images used with permission from the Christensen Institute. Staker, H., & Horn, M. B. (2012). Classifying K-12 blended learning. Christensen Institute.

Fully Virtual

A student who is considered fully virtual means that all classes are completed online from home or another location, and the student is not required to attend any classes in a physical school building.

Station/Lab Rotations (Blended learning)

Students rotate through a teacher-led station, collaborative work, and independent online instruction within a class period. The online station may be in a computer lab or in a classroom utilizing one-to-one devices, or a bank of devices, where students complete assignments or instructional explorations at their own pace.

Flex Model (Blended learning)

A ‘Flex’ model uses a LMS to deliver instructional content and activities. Student learning can be completed at their own pace and choice in online activities allows for differentiation. Student learning is supported by face-to-face instruction that is varied based on data. Teachers use flexible grouping to provide differentiated activities.

Flipped Classroom (Blended learning)

In ‘Flipped’ classrooms, students use online instructional resources that have been assigned through a LMS. Teachers support online learning with face-to-face instruction. The face-to-face time is structured to include activities, practice with feedback, and collaborative tasks/projects.

Following are a few resources to assist co-teaching teams in thinking about ways to implement strategies for effective virtual co-teaching. By no means will they encompass all the creative approaches co-teaching teams are utilizing. Some resources to consider include:

Virtual Education

Virtual education includes two approaches: synchronous and asynchronous modalities.

In a synchronous approach, which more closely models direct instruction in the classroom, students experience learning activities at the same time. Examples of virtual synchronous learning might include a video conference for a morning meeting, a live science demonstration that all students watch together, or the use of tools where content is presented by a teacher and students can interact during a lesson. The synchronous approach for a student puts the student into direct contact with a teacher and usually other peers. This approach is preferred for working with students who need the support of conversation, direct feedback, and in situations where students can work cooperatively and collaboratively.

The asynchronous modality affords students time to work on their learning on their own schedule. The teacher has designed a sequence of activities for students to work independently, and therefore this work may not be completed in tandem with other students. Asynchronous learning is often completed outside of regular class time. Examples of asynchronous assignments might include reading, watching videos, taking assessments, completing projects, completing homework, or answering questions. Students may need extra support in how to structure their time to complete work within the parameters set by the teacher. Students may also be given options to make choices about how they prioritize their time, which can provide practice in time management. Considerations for instructors include the student’s age, maturity, and evidence of prior success in working on asynchronous assignments, as well as the types of support available at home.

Preparing Students for Success in Virtual Learning

As is true for all classrooms, virtual or in-person, student success begins with setting expectations and ensuring that students understand the expectations and are provided the tools needed for success. In virtual learning settings, it is important that teachers provide students with:

• expectations for success;
• training on meeting expectations;
• information regarding appropriate behaviors in virtual settings;
• information and training to promote digital citizenship and academic integrity;
• information on setting up the student home-learning environment;
• opportunities for students to share information regarding challenges (home environment, connectivity issues, limitations due to device sharing, etc.);
• training on navigating the learning management system (LMS), video conferencing applications, and other instructional tools; and
• information on effective communication with the teacher to include designated times when teachers are available for help or office hours.

In addition, school divisions and teachers also should provide information to parents, guardians, and other caregivers on how to access class content, how to navigate courses, and how to best support their children for academic success. Frequent communication of information is especially encouraged for younger learners whose families and caregivers play a greater role in facilitating learning.

Successful virtual learning programs serve diverse student needs and offer a wide range of opportunities to learn, and just as importantly, support and empower teachers to take full advantage of all that digital curriculum has to offer. The result is a virtual learning environment that engages students, gives them ownership over their learning, and continues to motivate them as they master content and experience success.

Administrators

• Administrators need to set clear expectations of teachers. Learning expectations need to account for student needs, and administrators should understand the impacts of inclement weather or catastrophic events that could lead to school closures.
• Administrators should emphasize that situations may shift frequently, so expectations and priorities need to be fluid. As changes need to be made, consistent and clear expectations need to be communicated in a timely fashion. It is also important to simplify and streamline the learning tasks teachers expect of students.
• Administrators should encourage teachers to set realistic learning goals. Continuity for learning does not translate into teaching as if this is business as usual. This is an opportunity to promote and engage in quality instruction and feedback aligned to the essential concepts for the grade level or content area.
• Administrators should ensure that teaching promotes success for students and provides assistance to families during the learning process. This can be accomplished in the following ways:

Consider the following priorities to support continuity for learning: Provide a continuum of learning opportunities to engage a range of parent desires during an extended closure. Some parents will desire a large amount of work while others may not have the capacity (time, resources, energy, technical skills, etc.) to place the same emphasis on work completion.

• Offer students the ability to research or complete tasks in multiple ways, including ways that do not require access to technology.
• Design learning experiences emphasizing inquiry, relevance, and skill development.
• Make learning meaningful and provide productive and motivational feedback.
• Create a learning environment that engages all family members in conversations and/or problem- solving.
• Give students the flexibility in choosing ways that they might demonstrate mastery of the essential knowledge by allowing for student voice and choice.
• Include non-technology-based options such as performance-based assessments, student-choice reading, etc.
• Utilize resources with which teachers and students are familiar.
• Ensure students have access to independent work which they have the ability to complete with minimal to no parental support.
• Focus on relationship building and attending to students’ social and emotional learning needs.
• Ensure plans address the specific needs of diverse populations including Early Learners, English Learners, students experiencing homelessness, economically disadvantaged students, and students with disabilities.
• Encourage gifted students to go deeper in learning and provide opportunities to extend their learning.
• Provide effective communication regarding the learning management system and/or communication tools to be used across the school or division.

Administrators should follow the school division’s communication plan which should provide an overall vision for when and how information will be shared with staff, students, and families. A s some families have multiple students in different schools and each student could have multiple teachers, it is important for communication to be as streamlined as possible.

Administrators need to provide clear, concise, timely, and consistent communication to teachers and families. It is important to separate information into manageable chunks and then spiral back over multiple messages to help reduce the stress and feelings of being overwhelmed by information overload. Consideration should be given to sharing messages in multiple languages to ensure families have access to important information, as is federally mandated.

Communications between teacher and home need to occur on a routine basis. Teachers should let families know how often to expect communication and what medium will be used. All communication should clearly identify the school and teacher names, as many families may have multiple students within the division.

Items that need to be communicated to teachers and families:

• where to find current information on the school’s or division’s website.
• where and how to access division-supported resources, including school meals, computer support, internet access, etc.; and
• impact on key events (i.e., athletics, prom, graduation, etc.).

Forms of communication may include some of the following, but should be modes used routinely with staff and families:

• communication apps;
• emails;
• flyers at meal distribution sites;
• mail;
• live videos;
• local news stations;
• office hours for administrators and teachers; and
• parent-teacher communication log.

Teachers

Teacher feedback to students is powerful. The focus should be on the continuity for learning, the equitable growth of all students, and engaging students through feedback. Evidence of learning should be aligned to each student’s learning needs, access to materials and equipment, and interests and could include the following:

• artwork;
• choice boards;
• informational brochures;
• journal entries;
• musical interpretations;
• photos of product/project;
• poetry;
• portfolios;
• projects;
• self-assessments (rubric);
• writing samples; and
• videos.

Teachers may want to work through virtual grade level or content-area professional learning communities (PLCs) to determine what essential knowledge and skills need to be addressed during an extended school closure. Teachers may then want to consider assigning work to students that integrates cross-curricular teaching of the essential knowledge with Virginia’s Standards of Learning. This could provide the opportunity for teachers to promote personalized and deeper learning experiences to demonstrate workplace readiness by creatively solving complex problems, thinking critically, collaborating, communicating and demonstrating responsible citizenship.

Keep in mind that many families have limited data or Internet bandwidth and/or one device which must be shared between multiple people. Some families may not have access to any form of technology. Learning times will vary from student to student based on their learning rate and supports available.