It may be difficult to believe, but Digital Learning Day (DLD) is today, February 25th! It seems like yesterday that we were in the gym welcoming our exhibitors, staff, and friends from the community for last year’s event. And then came COVID-19!
This year at the Elizabeth Lee Black School, we are using DLD as a way to celebrate the success of our educators, therapists and paraprofessionals who created and implemented research-based instructional practices that used technology and technology tools in a virtual learning environment.
I think back to when we purchased our first Apple 11E…could that have been over 30 years ago? Fortunately we had a handful of staff, led by Chris Curcio, who wanted to learn everything and anything about Apple. Who would have guessed that today we would not only have mastered computers, but be using iPads, smartboards, TAPits, and webcams, just to name a few!
When faced with the pandemic and the closing of our school, we fortunately had the hardware, but needed to consider how to utilize this in the virtual learning environment. Could we offer synchronous leaning and asynchronous learning? What training would our staff need? What platforms should we consider – GoToMeeting, Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom? These are some of the questions and challenges we faced and overcame going into the 20-21 school year.
We have come so far! And I am pleased to say that we have been very successful. We’ve developed a brief video to highlight some of our accomplishments that you can view here: https://www.facebook.com/BarberNationalInstitute/videos/332274548209090
Enjoy!
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