Image: Remote Learning
This week, we’re here to support all parents with the transition to online/hybrid learning.
The uncharted territory of learning completely online can leave a lot of parents in the dark. Teachers are busy preparing for a fall semester that, in some cases, might be completely online and school districts are understandably preoccupied with the rapidly changing situation. For you as parents, there’s a lot to contend with, so our aim is to help you navigate the new school year with some helpful tips and resources to help your children get the most out of online learning.
There are, of course, benefits and drawbacks to learning remotely.
For example, children with anxiety may feel more comfortable learning in their home environment. However, interacting online can cause other anxieties to come to the surface too, particularly when presenting or reading social cues. We know that face-to-face learning is really important for developing recognition of social cues as well as engaging students in physical tasks.
With completely online curricula, some parents are still considering how to teach their children, particularly children with special needs. Even tutors who are well versed in teaching online have said helping students with additional needs online ‘is not easy, we’re seeing a big learning curve.’ There’s lots of uncertainty surrounding what’s happening with IEPs this year, whether there’s any legislation regarding their implementation, and what parents can do to help their child.
Image: Scales and IEP logo on laptop screen
Read on to find out what’s going on with IEPs, and how you can advocate for your child.
4.6% of all American children K-12 have IEPs, one of the big questions that has stemmed from the pandemic is how students’ accommodations will be provided remotely. The answer is, it varies from state to state, and even district to district.
It can be really difficult to know where to look for help or support on this, luckily there are loads of online groups such as the IEP/504 Parent Resource Platform which can help guide you in the right direction. It’s a space for parents to share as much or as little of their experience as they’d like. It also includes bespoke resources, such as data sheets, to track your child’s progress in online learning. To explore this space and access your own data sheet, join here.
Tips from the experts
Image: Selene Almazan quote
Selene Almazan from the Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) said: ‘We are encouraging families to document where their child is as far as skill level, either through video or through data sheets, that kind of stuff so that when the pandemic closures are over they can see whether or not there's been any regression in skills for students.’
However, this still leaves a lot of the onus on families to figure out their child’s accommodations; something that would usually be handled by support tutors, Speech Language Pathologists or other special educators in a face to face learning environment.
Experts are advising that parents should pursue their child’s IEP arrangements as they normally would. This can put extra pressure on parents. However, in terms of the legality of this, Denise Marshall, also from COPAA, advises: “I think that’s where people get lost, they think that COVID changes things and under the law, it does not”.
If your child has an IEP, how can you help them progress their skills?
Many schools are setting remote tasks that’ll have to be handled slightly differently in an online setting. Like we mentioned earlier, online learning can bring up a whole host of other anxieties, and perhaps your child might be expected to submit quizzes assigned by the teacher or send in videos of themselves practicing their spelling or a speech.
If you’re at a loss for how to help your child with this, at Present Pal we’ve created a presentation support software that acts as a reasonable accommodation for students with IEPs. It can be used remotely, from any location, and we want to level the playing field for this new way of learning. If your child has an IEP for dyslexia or other specific learning differences, features of the app such as line-by-line magnification can help them master the art of breaking down information during these practice tasks before having to do the real thing! Take a look at our video below to find out more.
Have you thought about accommodations for presentations?
As you can see, with Present Pal as an accommodation on your child’s IEP, they can craft presentation notes in the form of interactive flashcards, creating bullet points using key trigger words instead of writing out lengthy scripts on paper! By adding a ‘safety net’ prompt to the bullet point your child can access images and additional text which helps them to elaborate on their point if they need to.
If presentations are on your child’s syllabus, Present Pal can help provide a solution at home.
We care about helping students deliver their best when presenting, and more importantly, feel confident about doing so. Students can also use Present Pal to present in smaller zoom rooms or Google Meets with their peers, giving them that personal connection that’s really important for mental health. A key part of successful remote learning is social contact and confidence too!
Image: GIF, using Present Pal remotely
We hope the rest of the semester goes smoothly and that this post has sparked some inspiration for learning online. Continuing to support each other during this time is essential; the world of IEPs/504s is complicated anyway, on top of experts’ advice, joining some of the Facebook and parent advocacy groups provides a fantastic source of informal support. Equity and wellbeing are really important to us, so if you want to find out how your child can get Present Pal, then feel free to drop us a line on info@presentpal.co.uk or contact us via our Facebook page.