Research School Network: Establishing Effective Distance Learning

Establishing effective distance learning is a challenge that has been faced by schools all over the UK since the COVID 19 lockdown began. At Billesley we were fortunate in that we had been using Google Classroom in aspects of our teaching for several years; as a result of this, children and staff had some familiarity with how the system operated. This gave us a strong starting point as we were able to think beyond the immediate technical issues and concentrate on how best to engage our children in their education when they were not physically in school.

When thinking about the impact we wanted our Year 6 classroom to have, we considered the things we felt were most important: communication with our children, a continuation of our relationships with them, an emphasis that their education is still important and maintaining their enthusiasm for learning. With the cancellation of SATs, we felt that there was a danger of the children ​‘opting out’ as the focus and aim was gone. I will admit to feeling that a little myself! Therefore when designing our lessons, we have consulted our children about what they enjoy and what helps them with their learning: for example, we asked the children to vote for the book that we are looking at in our reading lessons.

There are of course challenges. Digital poverty is a school-wide issue and we are very aware that, where there is a device, children may be sharing it with several other siblings. We have found it incredibly important to maintain a positive tone in all of our communications – we never ask why they haven’t done yesterday’s work but rather tell them how glad we are they have done today’s. This means that some children will submit several days of work on one day and are not concerned about sanctions if something is handed in late. It also means that the volume of work has had to be appropriate. In our classroom, we ensure that there is a variety of work every day: compulsory subjects such as maths, writing or SPaG and additional content that the children can opt into if they want to. This may be art tutorials, a P4C debate or some PE activities but the children really enjoy them and the levels of engagement are high.

There have also been access issues from devices and the children and their parents have not always got the skills to attach photos or edit slides. To combat this, we have produced ​‘how to’ videos and are available to give technical support as part of our presence in Google Classroom.

Another limitation, which I am sure will resonate with everyone in this situation, is a lack of direct interaction with the children. It is hard to teach via slides or explain a task to children with a wide range of abilities effectively if you cannot see their reactions or target questions. At Billesley, we have been trialling using videos to model and set out tasks for the children. Using ScreenCastify, we explain instructions, talk about expectations, produce models and – most importantly – let the children hear that we are still there. Still teaching them and still caring about them and their learning. Our Year 6 children have responded really positively to this change and not only does it help their understanding, but they have been asking for clarification and help more when they are doing their tasks. It should be noted however that this is an imperfect solution as a significant minority of children struggle to access video content. We have started to include summary slides so that there is input and instruction even where internet speeds are low or devices cannot cope with displaying video.

Alongside the challenges come benefits. Children across the school have increased their technical knowledge – those queries come in less and less now as children learn to troubleshoot themselves. This can only be a positive thing for their futures as technology has an ever more vital role to play in our lives and careers. It has also shown how adaptable our children are. We have expected them to learn in an entirely different way and the majority have taken on this challenge without complaining and are doing well with it. It is not a perfect situation but they are making the best of it – which is such an important life skill!

In addition to this, I know that I have spent the last few weeks learning and improving how I am approaching distance learning with my class. My lessons are so much more effective now and the communication I have with the children has increased and increased.

Examples of work…