When covidcation and remote instruction forced us to incorporate a litany of remote instruction tools and practices into the craft of teaching it was a necessity.
Now, thanks to vaccinations, we are able to have students back in the classroom. But to walk away from all of the lessons of remote instruction and return squarely to a traditional model of instruction is counter intuitive and prevents the evolution of our teaching.
Even though the majority of my students are back in the Room112, I am still teaching with Webex. Students can join at their desks, with their own devices, bringing my handwritten notes to their desk. More importantly, they can chat with me during the instruction. The majority of students in the classroom are not eager to raise their hand and ask for clarification or assistance, but all of them are comfortable sending me a chat in WebEx to ask for clarification.
The session is recorded, and the recording is posted in our LMS for them to review or watch if the had to miss direct instruction.
“Students never have to miss Computer Science Class” . In Room112, students who miss class-time have lower averages than their peers. Now, they can receive the exact same lecture as their peers, and even join the class live from their remote location if the nature of their absence permits.
In this year of teaching – while students are having to overcome gaps in knowledge from the 18 months of remote instruction we all survived together. My students are performing at higher rates than in the past. The ONLY consistent change, is my use of WebEx in the classroom.
Computational Thinking in Room 112 