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The resiliency of our nation's teachers is to be admired. Practically overnight, teachers had to shift to an online teaching format due to COVID-19 related school closures. With no playbook on how to handle such a substantial transformative challenge, this sudden shift left many educators at a loss. Nearly 1 in 5 teachers are over 55 [1], and the lack of technological fluency and IT skills required to teach remotely present hurdles for which most educators were not prepared. Though slightly more comfortable with the use of technology, young teachers are also struggling with teaching online. This struggle across the board becomes apparent when teachers are surveyed about their experience teaching this year. "56 percent of teachers said that they had covered only half, or less than half, of the curriculum content that they would have gotten to by this time last year", and, "only about 1 in 5 teachers said that they were on the same schedule as years past" [2]. This is going to have lasting consequences on the students of the 'Corona Generation.' "UNESCO figures show two-thirds of an academic year lost on average worldwide due to Covid-19 school closures" [3].
Teachers are doing their best to educate their students and adapt to the continually fluctuating and unprecedented situation. Across the country, teachers received varying degrees of support and training to navigate the new education landscape, most of which seems less than necessary, if any, was received at all. The variation and lack of training and resources – resulted in skills gaps relating to teaching online effectively. "In New York City, the nation's largest school district, teachers were given three days of training, after schools were closed, which included peer-to-peer sessions in which teachers shared with each other how to use Google Classroom and other platforms" [4]. Teachers voiced a need for "more general instructional support—in adapting curriculum, in motivating students, in accelerating them academically, and in assessing their learning" [5]. Teachers everywhere are learning as they go and rely heavily on the patience of students and parents as they learn to navigate online instruction.
How Can Schools Launch Teacher Upskilling Courses Easily and Quickly, Requiring No Additional IT Infrastructure?
There is a dire need for teacher upskilling if there is any hope of recovering from the damaging effects of education loss and educator's teaching insecurities that accompanied school closures and the swift shift to online learning due to COVID-19 guidelines. Teachers need to upskill, but districts find challenges in providing adequate training to their teachers. Districts do not have readily available comprehensive custom training or adequate IT support to create the needed online learning platform.
The answer to launching teacher upskilling courses easily and quickly with no additional IT support required is a smart partnership. Securing an online learning platform that provides custom-curated content specific to your school and teachers' needs is the path to success. A smart partnership is one that provides expertly curated, up to date and turn-key upskilling courses meeting and exceeding industry best practices to support your teacher training goals.
Teachers need training in skills including:
This list is long and not even nearing exhaustive. There is a lot that teachers need to upskill in to be able to teach online properly. Both soft skills, like effective communication, and hard skills, like navigating resources like YouTube, are essential in the pursuit of better education. Making the time educators spend teaching efficient, effective, and valuable are the goals of any upskilling platform [6].
Amesite Offers a Single, Easy to Use, Scalable Solution
Launch a system that upskills your teachers and comprehensively prepares them for online instruction easily and quickly sets them up for success. Proper training will result in improved learning outcomes for students who desperately need competent instructors to help them along the journey of learning recovery.
Amesite is a high-tech AI-powered online learning platform and the key to upskilling your teachers to be completely comfortable teaching online. We specialized in scalable, custom branded online learning environments and provide expertly curated, up to date and turn-key upskilling courses that meet and exceed industry best practices to support your teacher upskilling goals. We have subject matter experts who design innovative and custom content for courses that provide excellent value to your teachers. A host of self-paced, highly engaging, and intuitive courses can be launched to your district or school in just days.
Amesite provides solutions to your problems in a single, easy-to-use platform for compliance and training. With Amesite, you can:
Amesite creates outstanding learning experiences delivered on its advanced platform, best in class for ease-of-use, incorporating an intuitive and clean design. Even the most technologically challenged users will find it simple to use and navigate while learning. Using AI and advanced analytics to provide fresh content creates an important context for learning. Coupled with outstanding services, these experiences will deepen teachers' interest in subjects important to their school's goals and spur creative ways to execute new practices. Amesite's unprecedented retention rate is 98% overall sectors.
Amesite can upskill your teachers help them adapt to the new way of performing the most important job on the planet: educating the younger generation. Request a Demo!
Resources:
[1] National Center for Education Statistics. April 2020. Characteristics of Public and Private Elementary and Secondary School Teachers in the United States: Results From the 2017–18 National Teacher and Principal Survey https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2020/2020142.pdf Accessed Feb 12, 2021.
[2] Ed Week. Nov. 16, 2020. Survey: Teachers and Students Are Struggling With Online Learning. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/survey-teachers-and-students-are-struggling-with-online-learning/2020/11 Accessed Feb 12, 2021.
[3] UNESCO. Jan. 1, 2021. UNESCO figures show two thirds of an academic year lost on average worldwide due to Covid-19 school closures. https://en.unesco.org/news/unesco-figures-show-two-thirds-academic-year-lost-average-worldwide-due-covid-19-school Accessed Feb 12, 2021.
[4] Hechinger Report. April 17, 2020. Teachers need lots of training to do online learning well. Coronavirus closures gave many just days. https://hechingerreport.org/teachers-need-lots-of-training-to-do-online-learning-well-coronavirus-closures-gave-many-just-days/ Accessed Feb 12, 2021.
[2] Ed Week. Nov. 16, 2020. Survey: Teachers and Students Are Struggling With Online Learning. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/survey-teachers-and-students-are-struggling-with-online-learning/2020/11 Accessed Feb 12, 2021.
[6] Creately. Feb. 9, 2021. Essential Remote Teaching Tools for Conducting Effective Online Lessons. https://creately.com/blog/education/online-teaching-tools/ Accessed Feb 12, 2021.