It’s no secret that the number of random holidays celebrated these days are…perhaps, excessive? Love bacon? There’s a holiday for that. Left-handed? We celebrate that. There are even Hug a Dentist Day and If Pets Had Thumbs Day. Seriously, check them out.
But while we do love bacon, our favorite holiday isn’t centered around food. Actually, our favorite holiday is Digital Learning Day. It’s something that’s close to our hearts, as we are determined to re-invent the learning experience.
Digital learning goes beyond the credit recovery courses where the student sits in front of a computer after school, does some work to obtain credit for a previously failed course.
To us, it means fostering student success and unlocking the magic of learning.
Clichés, maybe. But they are possible, and here’s what we’ve done to make these dreams reality.
How to Unlock the Magic of Digital Learning
It starts with the curriculum. Teachers can certainly facilitate some engagement. But the coursework students work on individually has to fuel a desire to learn.
For so many of the online curriculum providers who hold criticism for lack of rigor or quality, that would mean starting from scratch. This is exactly what we did decades ago.
It’s not enough to quickly edit existing curriculum to fit a standard. That’s why the Backward Design method works so well (Learn more here).
The same goes for interactive and multimedia. It’s not enough just to include some videos and call it good.
If it’s going to be an immersive experience for students, every piece of multimedia, every interactive has a goal within their development and learning objectives.
The result is something like this:
The Technology You Use Matters for a Positive Digital Learning Experience
Frustrating the student or teacher with a lousy interface ultimately means losing motivation to try.
We’ve invested a lot in user experience and our user interface, and we’ve seen the difference it makes in the schools who utilize our curriculum.
This video will explain it a little more:
Teacher-Facilitated Digital Learning is the Best Path
We’ve seen it throughout the country. Certain virtual courses have tried to take the place of teachers.
Southern states are seeing the backlash of this decision as they tried to fill teacher shortages with a curriculum that is not up to caliber. According to the news report, the result has been frustrated students who gave up.
Teacher support will always be crucial to a student’s academic growth, and it’s no exception in digital learning.
We’ve worked in a platform that allows teachers to message students directly. They can gather data, find who is falling behind and reach out to them. The courses are customized to each school need so that the teachers are the ones facilitating learning. In most of our client schools, that includes online synchronous sessions taught in the form of a flipped classroom. Students start with the homework, and that gives the instructors real-time data so that they can focus on the areas students are struggling.
Our curriculum and courseware do not replace a teacher. Rather, it supports them as they connect with students individually.
