Due to the coronavirus and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warning Americans of its inevitable spread, many of us are anxious about sending our children to school. Despite children being in a lower risk group, no one wants to take that chance with their babies. Not only is it still cold and flu season, it’s difficult to discern the difference between the flu and COVID-19 without testing. For parents who either have to deal with school closures or are voluntarily withholding their children from attending class, technology has been one way to mitigate the loss of classroom learning time.
“Both of my kids schools have a wonderful site where all schoolwork is uploaded and homework,” Clarissa Laskey told Mom.com. “There is also a portal for kids to communicate with the teachers.”
Why some schools are closing temporarily
How technology can help schools and families during closures
Many schools use technology to ensure continuity of education for their students. Mom of two Tomika Bryant said to Mom.com, “Kids have computers and they will have classes via Google Chat and other methods.”
Roodlyne Lyne told us that her children’s school also uses a Google product: “Our school uses Google Classroom; all assignments and even lectures are loaded in there. The teachers use school email and digital agendas.”
While classes are still on for her kids, she believes they have enough tech in place to keep going remotely.
“We use an online classroom tool called Canvas where the teachers can post lessons and resources and children can submit assignments and have discussions,” explained mom of two Miranda Wicker. “It’s county-wide, and we’ve done extensive research into whether every student in our district has access to the required technology. If they don’t, I believe the county provides it.”
Florida mom of four Whitney Cornelison said Florida Standards Assessments start April 1, 2020. “We’re being encouraged to utilize iReady and the other learning sites in their school dashboard,” she told Mom.com.
For parents who also have their children involved in extracurricular activities, like weekend Chinese schools, Chen told us, “Some will be first experimenting with Google Hangouts Meet.”
Others shared other platforms they’ll be using. “Our weekend Chinese school is using Zoom,” Jia Liu told Mom.com. “The free version is good enough for little kids. They don’t need anything fancy. The challenge is getting them to sit down and focus throughout the course.”
Some education companies are helping out. According to Jeff Harry, “Play-Well will be running lego STEM classes via Facebook Live and YouTube and having kids use the Legos that they have at home.” He elaborated to us, “We are doing this for free for anyone to join in.”
