Learn how to use ManageBac for remote learning in your classroom, including Presentation Mode, ManageBac's Zoom integration, live discussions via KeyChat, Flipped-Classroom and more!

Index

• Guide to Remote Learning
• Section 1: Remote Learning
  • Zoom into Synchronous Learning
  • Presentation Mode for Real-time Sharing
  • Insights and Best Practices for Conducting Online Lessons - Planning
  • Insights and Best Practices for Conducting Online Lessons - Delivery
  • Assessment for Learning with AssessPrep
  • Insights and Best Practices for Creating Digital Assessments
  • Zoom Events for Virtual Meetings
  • Keep the Discussions Alive with KeyChat
  • Insights and Best Practices for Using KeyChat with Online Lessons
  • Strategies for Successful Remote Learning
• Section 2: Flipped-Classroom
  • Share in the Stream and Resources
  • Insights and Best Practices for Organising Asynchronous Learning Resources
  • Evaluate
  • Insights and Best Practices for Providing Feedback for Learning
  • Communicate with Families
  • Insights and Best Practices for Communicating with Families
  • Strategies for a Successful Flipped-Classroom
  • Let’s create meaningful learning together, no matter the distance.
• COVID-19: School Jobs-to-be-Done in a Remote Learning Environment
• Share your insights with us and make an impact on schools all over the world!

Guide to Remote Learning

With ManageBac, you can plan and facilitate learning no matter what the physical distance between you and your students is. 

We have organised this guide for delivering meaningful experience to your students in these two learning modes:

• Remote Learning 
• Flipped Classroom

I never teach my pupils. I can only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.

—ALBERT EINSTEIN

Section 1: Remote Learning

In this learning mode, teachers use the Zoom Integration or other online video conferencing technologies to deliver instruction, KeyChat for real-time discussions, and AssessPrep for delivering online assessments.

Zoom into Synchronous Learning

Schedule virtual class time using our built-in Zoom integration; or whatever your choice tool for video conferencing is, you can start the lesson with one-click from your calendar or the Class Stream.

• Create a new online lesson directly from the Stream
• Use the unit planner to identify the goals and key content for the unit
• The unit in which this online lesson is delivered is pre-selected, but you can change it to a different unit
• Specify the start and end time of the lesson
• Use the Lesson Details field to give students a preview of the lesson so they come prepared
• If you select “Zoom”, the Zoom link will be auto-generated

Presentation Mode for Real-time Sharing

Our built-in Presentation Mode allows teachers to present and screenshare learning materials during online lessons, directly from the Class Stream. 

• Edit the lesson In-Line to adjust live, such as changing the session duration, title or lesson link
• Add Resources such as Files, Photos, Website Links and Videos directly into your Stream during the Presentation
• Students can post their private questions as the Teacher is Presenting
• Click here to hide side panels, and maximize space for presenting content.
• Teachers can select the Resource they want to Present, and drag and drop to re-order the Stream at any-time
• Students can comment and use emojis to react to others’ comments. Interaction helps build the online learning community
• On the screen check for understanding gives teachers a real-time summary of students’ response
• Upload Recordings which students can watch live in a picture-in-picture view or store for later

Insights and Best Practices for Conducting Online Lessons - Planning

1. Make learning goals explicit in the unit summary, so students have a clear understanding of their learning goals.
2. Have a clear focus for the online synchronous lessons and make sure it is shared before the meeting. For young students it might be “show and tell?” Story time, counting, etc., while for older students it might be posted discussion questions, math problems, etc.
3. Organise resources into lessons to provide clear structure for materials.
4. Differentiate instruction by creating different lessons for different groups of students.

Insights and Best Practices for Conducting Online Lessons - Delivery

1. Establish online learning norms to support a successful learning environment, including utilising protocols to “share the air” so all students have a voice.
2. As the facilitator of learning, take charge of the mute button.
3. Provide students a chance to respond in a variety of ways, from visual check-ins, KeyChat communication, and direct messaging.
4. Build in time for feedback, whether it is verbally, through chat features, use of emojis, or other ways.
5. Create opportunities for small group learning, allowing teachers to differentiate the content to meet individual needs.
6. Allow for practice and questions to support everyone being able to access new tools and technology with confidence, including time for students to use backgrounds to express feelings and/or block out their home environment.
7. Create mini-lessons that allow for breaks and non-screen time learning. Remember, being online takes a lot of focused concentration. 

Assessment for Learning with AssessPrep

Keep your finger on the pulse of students’ progress by creating interactive and dynamic assessments using AssessPrep in ManageBac.

15 + Question Types to choose from:

• MCQs | Long Answer | Auto-Correctable Interactives | Hotspot | Match
• Sort | Classify | Graphing | Table / Chart

Or, reuse and adapt questions and assessments from existing item banks.

Insights and Best Practices for Creating Digital Assessments

1. Assessments are an essential part of the learning process and should be intentionally designed during curriculum planning.
2. In AssessPrep, add visual examples to illustrate concepts. Using visuals is especially helpful for English Language Learners and students who might struggle with understanding text-based questions.
3. Invite students to demonstrate their evidence of learning in various ways.
4. Cultivate learner agency by providing opportunities for self-evaluation and learner autonomy.
5. Allow students to evaluate each other’s work to provide opportunities for communication, collaboration, and reflection.

Zoom Events for Virtual Meetings

1. The same Zoom integration that is allowing for Online Lessons to be created and linked to Zoom is now enabled for Calendar > Events.
2. Add a new Event to the Calendar using the Add Event button to see the updated Event interface with Create Zoom Meeting button.
3. Events differentiated for different students will show and allow only linked students to join the Zoom call. 
4. The location field also supports custom meeting room URLs. If a URL is detected in the location field a “Start” or “Join” button will be shown on the Event tile. 

Keep the Discussions Alive with KeyChat

Our built-in Presentation Mode allows teachers to present and screenshare learning materials during online lessons, directly from the Class Stream. 

• Hide and unhide the side panels, including the chat.
• Teachers can mute and delete posts.
• Images and documents can be shared via chat.

Insights and Best Practices for Using KeyChat with Online Lessons

1. Engage the whole class community to create and agree upon online discussion protocols prior to starting KeyChat. Students are more likely to follow expectations that they create for themselves.
2. KeyChat is a great way to engage introverted students, who tend to find online discussions less intimidating than speaking in class, in front of their peers and the teacher.
3. Celebrate and give timely response to students’ comments using the built-in emojis. The positive feedback loop encourages students’ continued engagement.

Strategies for Successful Remote Learning

1. Create an adjusted school schedule that is developmentally appropriate based on student needs. Consider age, course content, exams and screen time. 
2. Use virtual break-out rooms for students to have small-group discussions or work on projects. Check-in with the different break-out rooms to provide support for each group.
3. Set aside time for office hours to connect with students individually and address additional questions or concerns.
4. Schedule time for teachers to collaborate, share lessons learned and update curriculum. 
5. Adjust the curriculum to reflect the key expectations and objectives that will be covered during remote learning.

Section 2: Flipped-Classroom

In this learning mode, students use pre-recorded course materials (asynchronous learning) to learn at their own pace, while teachers facilitate and support each student by conducting 1-1 or small group meetings (synchronous learning).

Share in the Stream and Resources

Use the “Stream and Resource” to organise resources for each class.

• Use the “Planner” to establish learning goals, content, skills and key strategies for the unit
• Create tasks and assignments for students
• All “Lessons” are displayed here, and you can drag-n-drop items from the stream into each Lesson
• Use “Lessons” to organise resources by day, week, or whatever fits your instructional needs
• Drag-n-drop to change the order in which  resources appear in the stream
• Click here to remove items from the stream.  Removed items are hidden from students’ view

Insights and Best Practices for Organising Asynchronous Learning Resources

1. Have clear expectations of the learning, alignment to standards or objectives and step-by-step instructions. Remember, less is more.
2. Create multiple streams for groups of students to support differentiation.
3. Develop lessons that are concise, highly engaging and hook students into learning immediately.
4. Build activities and use resources to incorporate active application of learning.
5. Ensure resources are organised to provide clear structure for learning materials.

Evaluate

Evaluate students’ understanding and mastery using tasks and assessment and provide feedback on learning using our built-in annotation tools. 

• Choose from a variety of grading methods.  Base grades and feedback on specific assessment criterion as needed
• Built-in annotation allows for a convenient way to leave qualitative feedback on the work that students submit

Insights and Best Practices for Providing Feedback for Learning

1. Feedback should give students the following information: 
   • Where am I now?
   • Where am I going?
   • How do I get there? 
2. Shift focus away from the grades to learning targets by providing timely, detailed feedback on students’ work on a regular basis, including students’ work in progress. The built-in annotation tool allows for direct evidence-based feedback.  
3. All the work that students submit automatically go to their portfolio. Guide them to use the portfolio to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses. It’s a great opportunity to help them develop a growth mindset.
4. Use student reactions and responses to feedback as data to guide instruction.

Communicate with Families

Have meaningful communication with students and parents to keep everyone abreast of students’ learning goals, learning activities and students’ growth. Help parents become active collaborators in making learning happen.

• The Parent Dashboard is the one-stop portal where parents can view their children’s learning progress
• For families with multiple students enrolled, parents can view records for each student
• Attendance records are visualized, including attendance taken during online lessons
• All key contacts at the school are displayed, with their position and email address
• Assignment status for each course the student is taking,  as well as service-learning summaries, are accessible

Insights and Best Practices for Communicating with Families

1. Provide families a one stop location to get key information for the whole school as well as individual classes and subjects.
2. Prioritise and simplify all messages to families.
3. Synchronise and schedule communication across the school so families receive one cohesive message.
4. Use direct messages to address student-specific questions and challenges, when face-to-face meetings are not possible.
5. Gather feedback from students and families about how learning is going and make adjustments when able.

Strategies for a Successful Flipped-Classroom

1. Approach the design of your flipped instruction the same way your approach your in-class instruction - start from the student learning goals, rather than the learning activities. 
2. Use an asynchronous approach as an opportunity to provide content to the larger class and structure synchronous time for students to collaborate, share and ask questions.
3. Collaborate with other content teachers to create and gather shared asynchronous materials.
4. Strike a balance between self-created resources and curated resources from other educators and experts.
5. Provide consistent and timely feedback to students through synchronous learning opportunities.
6. Synchronous learning can be individual, small group, or whole class.
7. As the teacher, be visible - make a video, use your voice -  it is important to create connection.

Let’s create meaningful learning together, no matter the distance.

Testimonial

"Managebac is a Foundation for Success in Secondary (during COVID-19)"

Bogaerts International School

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COVID-19: School Jobs-to-be-Done in a Remote Learning Environment

Learn more about how Faria's suite of solutions can assist your school with the following challenges:

	What Problem is Your School Facing?	How We Can Help	Products & Integrations
Assessment & Reporting	It's challenging to provide ongoing feedback to students.	Maintain ongoing feedback without any interruptions through a student’s Dropbox submission, gradebook comments, and direct annotations on student work.
	It's become hard to maintain the integrity of summative assessments.	Deliver Low-to-Medium Stakes exams online while being confident in the security and accuracy of the results.
	Your school is facing challenges in printing and delivering term report cards.	Make it easy for teachers to enter marks and comments, school leadership to review scores, and generate and deliver reports online immediately to parents.
School Life &  Extracurricular Activities	It's been difficult to offer a well-balanced approach to education without extracurricular activities.	Offer a range of remote activities to provide extra-curricular balance.
	Your school is having a challenge managing cash transactions while schools are closed for small items such as music tuition, kit, & future trips.	Enable cashless payments from parents for all micropayments to reduce contact post COVID-19, which is part of a wider system that can link payments to events, trips and other items.
School-to-Home Communication	It's become increasingly difficult to engage parents in students’ remote learning.	Improve parent engagement with relevant messaging via SchoolsBuddy, and send information and resources to select groups or the wider school.
	It's difficult to keep the school community informed of all the latest advice and guidance in a way that is clear and relevant, without over-communicating.	Monitor student progress through remote sessions for individual students or study groups organised.
Pastoral & Student Health	It's a challenge for advisors and counselors to monitor the health and wellbeing of students in a remote learning environment.	Allow individual teachers to log incidents in real time and allow counselors/advisors to track issues across all classes in order to intervene where necessary to avoid larger problems. Even in remote learning, student safety and well-being needs to be one of the top priorities for a school.
		Support students’ wellbeing by offering 1:1 sessions.

Share your insights with us and make an impact on schools all over the world!

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I am not a teacher, but an awakener.

—ROBERT FROST

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