Instruction and Practice

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Virtual Teaching and Learning Approaches

Virtual learning utilizes two modalities of online learning – asynchronous and synchronous learning. Asynchronous learning means that the teacher is in control of students’ pacing and completing assignments or activities. The student is able to access the content at any time. Synchronous learning means that the student is live with the teacher at a specific time. Types of synchronous online learning could include video conferencing, teleconferencing, live chatting, and live-streaming.

Attribution: Tanya LeClair. "Virtual Learning: Different Approaches Benefit Different Learners."

Hybrid Instruction for Teachers

The hybrid model meshes the familiarity of established teacher directed instructional models with openness for additional student independence with context specific projects that apply content to the outside world. Students interact with carefully curated assignments to refine content mastery. They then work with their teachers and each other to periodically showcase learning in non-traditional and innovative ways. Educators who choose the hybrid model:

leverage their experience and skill as teachers to create innovative ways to explore prior and possibly uncovered content using multiple formats and/or platforms;
maximize learning gains via a combination of established essential knowledge and innovative challenges aligned to Virginia’s 5 C’s; and
provide ongoing feedback to students.

Instructional Models & Effective Practice

The instructional models are used to support learning and delivery of instruction. The models can be used to help with instructional approach and allows for the integration of the essential knowledge and skill. Consider exploring the following instructional models when planning for virtual, hybrid, or remote learning.

These models include principles of deeper learning which is defined as “[demonstrating] knowledge through six competencies: mastering core academic content, thinking critically and solving complex problems, working collaboratively, communicating effectively, learning how to learn, and developing academic mindsets.”

The following components address aspects of successful student learning: create communities of learning; lead their own learning; connect learning to larger themes, concepts, and across multiple subjects; connect to learning that is culturally relevant to understanding global interdependence and social justice; apply learning to real-world issues and problems; network beyond the school walls; personalize learning; and use technology as a tool to support learning.

Communication

Communicate regularly based on class expectations.
Consider establishing office hours or support time for students to contact their teachers.
Be clear and consistent in online announcements.
Give simple and concise directions.
Explain the details of an assignment providing information on where to locate the assignment and when it is due.
Communicate and involve parents in the online learning process.

Engagement

Provides a creative way for students to master content using a variety of instructional strategies.
Personalize instruction and give students the power to “own” their learning through providing choice.
Be selective and thoughtful with assignments.
Tasks should be manageable based on curriculum.
Differentiate based on student needs; coordinate and collaborate with teachers including EL teachers, special education teachers, gifted resource teachers, and others.

Teachers may also integrate a variety of learning experiences that integrate technology into daily instruction including:

authentic learning experiences;
inquiry-based learning;
online coursework;
online research;
project-based learning;
simulations;
virtual games; and
virtual learning experiences.

Assessment

Provide expectations and guidelines for assessing students.
Describe criteria broadly so that it can be demonstrated in multiple ways.
Give feedback in a timely manner.
Use flexible structures and rubrics that allow for a huge variety of experiences and resources. Place student reflection and self-assessment at the center of feedback.

Consider exploring the following innovative reflection opportunities and assessment formats for students:

activities that require student reflection;
authentic learning experiences;
career exploration;
creativity in learning;
critical thinking exercises;
inquiry-based learning;
outside investigations/explorations;
play-based learning;
project-based learning;
problem-solving activities;
technology-based direct instruction;
voice and choice for students (choice boards);
workplace readiness preparation; and
writing for a variety of purposes.

Importance of Substantive and Timely Student Feedback

Boy Girl_Laptop Feedback is such a common word, and unfortunately, some interpret it as figuring out if we were right or wrong. But good feedback in an instructional setting provides guidance on what’s next. Assessments provide both teachers and students feedback on what students know and with better assessments, how well they know it. So if students are tasked with watching a three minute video clip as the instructional strategy, how do we know what they’ve learned from that interaction? Adding three to five multiple choice questions after the video is watched (or during the video, as is now possible with some management tools), we engage students in thinking about the content and gain insight into their understanding. This example provides immediate feedback, and while perhaps not the highest form of feedback, it is critical in a virtual learning environment to assess student progress.

The type of feedback we can provide students through email, a video chat, or written out should do more than just tell students if their efforts were right or wrong. Quality feedback is appropriate for task and project-based work that is specifically designed around the 5 C’s. This type of feedback provides an opportunity for students to reflect upon their work and the teacher’s role is to point students where that student can take their work next.

[Sample: Your video presentation on the water cycle was well organized, but I was confused with the animation you created to show precipitation. Were you happy with the way that turned out? What could you change so that others like me aren’t confused the next time they watch your video? If you had more time, what else could you have added to your video to ensure that everyone understood the most important concepts?]

Almarode and Vandas (2019) recommend that feedback—what we might consider quality feedback—answers the following three questions for students and for teachers:

Where am I going?
How am I going?
Where do I go next?

Providing students with meaningful feedback can greatly enhance their learning and achievement. Feedback is most effective when it is shared with students in a timely manner. The teacher may highlight specific information that will help students achieve progress toward goals and outcomes. Using a variety of ways to provide feedback to students provides an opportunity to address students’ unique learning styles. While some technology tools can provide feedback in terms of answer choices that are right or wrong, feedback from teachers reinforces the relationships teachers have with students and can help motivate a student’s next step with their learning.

While individualized feedback between the teacher and student may appear to be a daunting task with virtual instruction, do not forget that with training, students and subject experts (adults) can also provide valuable feedback through video breakouts, through discussion forums, and through cloud-based documents. Working with students to provide feedback with rubrics can be an effective method for ensuring that student feedback is valuable. Graham Nuthall reveals in his book, Hidden Lives of Learners (2007), that the majority of feedback received by students is from their peers and most of that feedback is wrong or inaccurate. So while we can use students as a feedback loop, it is a skill that still requires supervision.

Providing Voice and Choice

Providing opportunities for students to make choices about what and how they learn and to have a co-designer role regarding their learning, helps to establish learner buy-in and motivation. These practices are commonly referred to as promoting student agency. A similar comparison could be made—as an adult-- having the autonomy of how to solve a problem, complete a project, and/or share a solution versus being micromanaged and required to use specific methods determined by a superior. Rebecca Alber provides five ways to think about adding more student voice and choice to students in planning for their learning.

The research by Carol Dweck first outlined in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2007) found that students aligned with a growth mindset—meaning they carried a set of beliefs that they could overcome challenges and saw effort as a path to mastery—made choices to challenge themselves after finding success at an activity that was well-matched to their current understanding. Beyond a choice board or what type of multimedia students might produce to demonstrate understanding, voice and choice—combined with efforts around developing a growth mindset—can set students upon a path toward deeper learning.

Ways to Integrate Voice and Choice

Before designing the next unit or lesson, have students experience something about the unit of study and ask them what they want to know more about. Focus your instructional objectives so that student interest in the content is addressed.
Take a unit of study and re-frame it as a problem. Challenge students to come up with a way to solve the problem using knowledge they already have covered, in addition to new knowledge they will have to acquire. Facilitate this learning by frequent check-ins to ensure your learning objectives are addressed.
Some students have a natural tendency to learn in social groupings while others prefer to work independently. Instead of always assigning an either/or proposition of group work versus independent work, give students choice in how to engage in an upcoming lesson. Work with them to establish goals for their group or independent learning.
How do students know what they want them to know? The ways in which students show us their progress can be personalized to individual students. Beyond personal preferences, first help students understand how they will know they have been successful. This is often referred to as clarity. I will know I understand the cardinal directions when I can direct my character on the map to find home using the directions north, south, east, and west. What if we gave students the autonomy to decide how to show us mastery of the cardinal directions? Small groups could decide how to show their mastery and each group (or individual student) will have co-designed the lesson.