Image: Remote Learning
Welcome to the first blog of our remote learning blog series!
In this blog we are focusing on tackling presentations in a remote environment. This year, learning has been completely transformed. Both teachers and students have shown a huge amount of resilience in adapting to online teaching, and the choice of additional tools needed to level the playing field is huge. Looking towards the fall semester, US schools from K-12 are still considering how teaching and learning will take place in a virtual setting, and for many presentations are still on the curriculum.
So, how do we make sure we can use tech for good and level the playing field while teaching remotely?
Now that educators are getting more familiar with remote teaching, we wanted to share some cool ideas for getting the most out of your online time with students, while making lessons accessible for everyone. At Present Pal, we want to show you how the app can be a fantastic tool for your students while encompassing UDL principles.
UDL is the key to equity in education, both in the classroom and online.
83% of school superintendents said that providing special education services was difficult to provide equitably during remote learning
Adapting to technology has been a huge change for many educators since the beginning of the pandemic. One parent, whose son Joseph has ADHD and Aspergers, reported that he would not be able to complete the work on his own and he would never log back on to the remote service the school used as: “It required executive functioning skills that Joe doesn’t quite have.”
Image: A teenager using a laptop sitting at a desk
Apps can support online learning
This is a situation familiar to many teachers and parents since remote learning became the norm, how do we ensure all students, including those with disabilities, can engage with online learning?
By being more flexible with the delivery of the material this can make life a lot easier for students with learning differences. Technology like Present Pal, gives students the ability to personalise the app and to create your flashcard notes and the ability to practice your presentation helps immensely with this.
A major dilemma for some teachers is how to balance synchronous learning with asynchronous learning.
For students with information processing or reading difficulties, uploading class recordings online gives students the opportunity to revisit and fill in any gaps from previous lessons. Present Pal can help you support this equity too, through features like audio recording and note creation, the app can be used in real time to present as well as a way to personally review rehearsals of presentations. Using the app’s rehearsal audio recording feature, teachers can encourage students to practice presentations online without the anxiety of a face-to-face run through. You can see more of Present Pal’s features here.
There’s a lot to consider when picking the ideal video conferencing tool.
Curbing this new form of online anxiety can be done with the use of Present Pal in Zoom rooms, or smaller Google Meet, where students can present to each other using their accessible notes on Present Pal in small groups to nail their presentations. There’s a lot to consider when picking the ideal video conferencing tool, but for accessibility, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams proves popular due to the ability to turn on captions. For Present Pal too, our PowerPoint add-in can integrate seamlessly for schools that use MS365, making presentations online that bit easier and more accessible.
Image: Question marks above Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet logos
We’d love to hear more about your experience moving to remote learning and teaching. If you want to learn more about how we can support you and your students with presentations then get in touch via email here.