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School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

bostonherald.com

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Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#91

Post by mrlala »

andrepd wrote: post #78
testfoobar wrote: post #70

Serious question: will schools and universities reopen in the fall? A large university with dormitories is kind of like a cruise ship on land: everyone eats, sleeps, plays and works together. Elementary and High schools are somewhat better in that kids go their own homes at night. But they still eat, play and study together. Hallways of high schools between classes see lots of cross-campus shoulder-to-shoulder traffi…

That depends entirely on how long it takes for the pandemic to cease. If, like some studies show, the virus gets stopped by the warmer weather, it could be in May that we return to normalcy.

I guess we fucked ourselves moving to green energy. Time to turn on the coal burners and get to warming this planet up.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#92

Post by barry-cotter »

andrepd wrote: post #78
testfoobar wrote: post #70

Serious question: will schools and universities reopen in the fall? A large university with dormitories is kind of like a cruise ship on land: everyone eats, sleeps, plays and works together. Elementary and High schools are somewhat better in that kids go their own homes at night. But they still eat, play and study together. Hallways of high schools between classes see lots of cross-campus shoulder-to-shoulder traffi…

That depends entirely on how long it takes for the pandemic to cease. If, like some studies show, the virus gets stopped by the warmer weather, it could be in May that we return to normalcy.

It’s less warmer weather than higher humidity. Not going to help most of Europe or North America and winter will come round again, likely before a vaccine or a cure. Everyone should be wearing masks to inhibit spread.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#93

Post by hoot »

gnicholas wrote: post #38
hoot wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you guys hiring? My wife is looking for work. (masters in ed psych with a lot of experience designing lms and facilitating training)

We could, if the right candidate came along. We are actually just about to announce that our tech has been adopted by a major LMS, so the timing could be interesting. user name at gee mail for more info!

victor.r.rogers at gee mail

Thanks

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#94

Post by edmundsauto »

skapadia wrote: post #89
tootie wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a feeling governments are going to relax restrictions given the enormous economic costs we're absorbing right now. It may be medically advisable to keep this up for like 18 months, but there's a cost to plunging the world into a global depression that could outweigh the cost of treating a rampant virus. At some point we're going to have to declare the curve to be sufficiently flattened and ride it out until a…

The cost to plunging the world into a global depression is far worse than this virus will ever be.

Could you share the analysis that led you to this conclusion?

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#95

Post by beefalo »

donw wrote: post #60
irrational wrote: post #8

In my school district they still haven't figured out how to proceed. The problem is there are a lot of low income families that they know don't have internet access or a computer. They can give those kids a chromebook, but that isn't very helpful with no internet access. Legally (and morally) they can't move ahead with online school if a big chunk of the students are left out. On the other hand, I was talking yesterd…

I’m going to expose my ignorance here, but in 2020, how many low-income families are there without internet? Also, would it the solve not just be to provide loaner 4G access points to those families? The US is one of the top per-student global spenders on K-12 education, so the money is there.

I think this has likely become worse in recent history. I expect all of these households have "internet" access through a smartphone, but won't have a home connection to use with school issued chromebooks.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#96

Post by Noos »

Digory wrote: post #26
irrational wrote: post #8

In my school district they still haven't figured out how to proceed. The problem is there are a lot of low income families that they know don't have internet access or a computer. They can give those kids a chromebook, but that isn't very helpful with no internet access. Legally (and morally) they can't move ahead with online school if a big chunk of the students are left out. On the other hand, I was talking yesterd…

I suspect that if we're in this boat by fall, school district dollars will be spent paying for wireless hotspots or in-home connections. Until then, we'll see band-aids. I've seen one school district parking busses with wi-fi repeaters near apartment complexes, or near student houses.

if we are in this by fall, it will be moot because people will run out of money to pay for their internet. Not many people can stay out of work for 4+ months.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#97

Post by dmurray »

testfoobar wrote: post #70

Serious question: will schools and universities reopen in the fall? A large university with dormitories is kind of like a cruise ship on land: everyone eats, sleeps, plays and works together. Elementary and High schools are somewhat better in that kids go their own homes at night. But they still eat, play and study together. Hallways of high schools between classes see lots of cross-campus shoulder-to-shoulder traffi…

> Elementary and High schools are somewhat better in that kids go their own homes at night.

Isn't it the other way round? For containing the spread of the virus, it's better to have the students mixing the same closed group 24 hours a day, than to spend 12 hours back with their families or other communities.

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#98

Post by suchire »

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #62
donw wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m going to expose my ignorance here, but in 2020, how many low-income families are there without internet? Also, would it the solve not just be to provide loaner 4G access points to those families? The US is one of the top per-student global spenders on K-12 education, so the money is there.

In California, at least, students are eligible for subsidized ($20/month) LTE hotspots. Apparently it is provided by Sprint as part of an agreement they made when they leased spectrum that had previously been set aside for educational use. These could and should been made free for low-income families. https://foundationccc.org/What-We-Do/Student-Success/Califor...

These are likely insufficient for video-based schoolwork or materials. That would max out any quota set for these hotspots

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#99

Post by suchire »

gambiting wrote: post #47
kogus wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think electricity and water are provided for free to even the lowest income families.

You guys don't have social housing? A council owned house usually has water and electricity provided for free, or very heavily subsidized.

We do, but generally access is scarce and so many are homeless

Re: School districts take unplanned plunge into online learning

#100

Post by markdown »

alexpotato wrote: post #11

As a child, I remember watching a special on TV about how children across the globe go to school. What struck me than (and has re-surfaced now) was when they showed how children in the remote parts of the Australian outback "attended school". Basically, they did everything via radio . E.g. the teacher would say "Here is a problem. Bobby, what is the answer? Great! Now Mary, what is the answer to the homework problem…

My mother went to school this way in Fiji. They'd be assigned school work (the teacher would talk to each student individually over the radio). Parents would mail in their work and the teacher would mark it and announce the results over the radio, walking each child through their mistakes. The entire country could listen in as you had your maths corrected lol.

By the time I was in primary school, there were 1hr afternoon broadcasts for our age group once a week, but it was no longer about individual learning... there were just too many kids by then. It was still great fun as everyone in our class would gather around the teachers battered old radio and listen to great stories from history, and other such things.

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