Remote Learning:
New Ways to Learn and Connect   May 28, 2020

By Director Laura Rice

When efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 closed school buildings across the Commonwealth, Dearborn STEP assessment staff had to pivot – almost immediately – to a remote platform to continue to provide high-quality assessment for students. Here, Director Laura Rice shares her perspective on new ways of connecting.

While I’m glad that we are able to use remote learning to continue to support our students, I miss working with students and staff in person. I have always enjoyed going into classrooms, saying hello to everyone, speaking with parents, and meeting with students for break and conversation.

I genuinely enjoy the moments that students share insightful or fun comments and all the interpersonal pieces that make your day and help you learn something new daily. I even miss handling crisis situations in collaboration with my team.

My staff members get to use Zoom and speak with students regularly. I don’t have as much opportunity to do that so that is hard. I love being around everyone and feel that you lose the fluidity of interacting.

New Ways to Reach Students

A positive aspect of remote learning is that we have students that struggle to attend school in the more traditional sense. This period of remote learning is helping us think of how we can use Zoom as a vehicle to reach out to those students that find being in school a challenge. Team collaboration also benefits, as do meetings with families, because connecting online can be so much easier than trying to get everyone in the same room. This is a definite plus for our students and their families.