There is still much to be debate about the end of snow days. While some are angry about the idea, others see snow days as a tradition worth maintaining. We will be looking at the impact of snow days on lower-income families, as well as the cost to switch from remote learning to snow days.
New York City's Plan to End Snow Days
New York City Department of Education has changed its policy to prohibit students from staying home during snow days. Instead, they will offer online learning and virtual classes. The change will take effect in the 2021-22 school year. It is not without challenges. Severe weather can cause damage to the city's electricity grid. Also, schools could lose Internet access.
This was criticized by the entire country as an extreme measure. In the past, snow days meant late sleeps and playing in the snow. This year, though, the snowdays will become rare. NYC School Chancellor David C. Banks explained that this new policy will ensure that students are still able to learn even in the snow.
Alternatives to remote learning
Remote learning has become a popular trend in schools. The New York Department of Education issued this year a note on remote learning. Although many school districts have already moved to online instruction, some aren't certain how remote learning will be implemented on snow days.
Some school districts have dropped traditional snow days completely, while others have switched to flexible instruction days. The School District of Philadelphia, for example, didn't hold traditional snow days for the 2019-20 school year, noting that the inclement weather shouldn't be a reason to cancel classes. Neshaminy superintendent Mark Reilly stated that snow days are an important rite for children, but he did not support permanent switching to remote learning.
Impact on lower-income families
Many families with lower incomes have struggled to pay their basic needs due to the recent Northeast snowstorm that closed schools. In addition to the cost of supplies and fuel, three to four days off from school can throw a wrench in budgets already stretched thin. A family's inability to attend school could mean they miss three or four meals each day, increasing their risk of food insecurity. This is especially true for low-income families that often rely on food assistance, free or reduced price lunches, to make ends meet.
Researchers from the National Bureau of Economic Research discovered that many children skip school in bad weather, and thus miss out on lessons. Even though students who return to school after a snow day are absent from the same lesson, teachers make up for the missed material by pushing their lesson plans back.
Cost of remote learning during a snowday
Schools must think about switching to remote learning when it is snowing. This option should be offered by schools in Connecticut for a number of reasons. Snowstorms can cause power outages and make it impossible to access the internet. This can impact learning at school. Remote learning can prove to be a viable solution in such situations. Some districts, including the Old Saybrook School District, are considering switching to this learning format. Remote learning is a way for schools to offer students flexibility and can save parents time and money.
Although switching to remote learning can be costly, schools can avoid the extra costs of closing their doors due to the fact that it's an effective way to save money. In the past, schools have often cancelled classes on snow days so they could meet their 180-day mandate. Remote learning will enable schools to meet their 180-day mandate. Some people do not like this.
FAQ
How much multimedia should an eLearning course contain?
It all depends on your goals. If you're looking for quick information delivery, then less is likely to be the best. If you're looking to deliver training that helps people do something, however, more might be better.
The most important thing is to know what your goals are for your eLearning courses. It is also important to know what learners want from your course. This will allow you to make sure you have enough content for your learners to reach their goals.
Let's take, for instance:
It's best to give people lots of examples to learn about Microsoft Word. If you are trying to teach people Excel, however, they will need to see many different types.
It is also important to decide whether you plan to use images or video to illustrate concepts.
Video is great to show people how it works, but not so much for explaining complex topics. It can also be very costly to produce. Although images are much cheaper to produce than video, they lack the same emotion and impact.
The bottom line is that you must think about your goals before you design an eLearning course.
What is the equipment needed for eLearning?
Start an online course by making sure you have everything setup correctly. Adobe Captivate, as well as a microphone and webcam, will likely be what you need.
You should also ensure you have all the necessary software installed on your computer. This includes Microsoft Office Word Excel PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat Reader Flash Player Java Runtime Environment QuickTime 7 or Shockwave Flash 10.0.
A screen capture program like Camtasia Studio by TechSmith may be something you might want to try. This allows you to capture what's happening on your computer screen as you work.
Last but not least, you may want to download a WebEx or GoToMeeting web conferencing software. These programs let you connect with others who are viewing the same presentation simultaneously. They also let you share your desktop with others.
How do I pick the best eLearning platform for me?
There are thousands of eLearning platforms available today. Some are completely free, others more expensive.
There are some things you should ask yourself before making a choice between these options.
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Do I want to create my own learning materials? If so, then there are plenty of free tools available that allow you to create your own eLearning courses. These include Adobe Captivate, Articulate Storyline, Lectora, iSpring Suite, and Camtasia.
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Do you offer ready-made courses in eLearning? Several companies sell pre-packaged courses. They cost from $20 to $100 for each course. The most popular ones include Mindjet, Edusoft, and Thinkful.
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Do I want a combination of both? Many people find that they get better results if they combine their own materials with the ones provided by companies.
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Which option would be best for you? It all depends on what your situation is. You might want to create your own materials if you're new to eLearning. After you gain experience, you may be able to purchase pre-designed courses.
What does eLearning mean?
E-learning can be time-consuming and requires effort. E-learning requires an understanding of the learning process. The learning experience should focus on what learners are looking to accomplish.
It must be relevant and interesting. Visual aids like images, animations, videos, and interactive elements should be included in learning materials.
E-learning needs to be entertaining and fun. It should place a strong emphasis on motivation for learners. It should provide feedback and encouragement to learners who are hard at work towards achieving their goals.
What are the potential benefits of elearning for students as well as teachers?
E-learning can lead to better learning outcomes for both students as well as teachers. It also allows learners to access information at any time and from anywhere. E-learning allows educators to interact with students through technology in new ways.
E-learning gives teachers the ability to provide personalized instruction and support students' progress. This encourages students to be more engaged and motivated. Teachers can also use e-learning for communication, collaboration, as well as critical thinking skills. It can be used to improve teaching practices by providing opportunities for self reflection and reflection on the experiences of others.
E-learning makes it possible to cut down on training costs. If a teacher wants his/her students to learn about a new topic they will need to purchase books and other materials. You don't have to purchase the exact same materials online, however.
What should an eLearning program look like?
Your eLearning course design should encourage learners to interact with the material.
This means that both the design and content must be simple to use.
This also means that content must be engaging and interesting.
To ensure that your eLearning course meets these requirements, you need to focus on three things:
Content
First, decide what content you want in your eLearning course. In addition to the content itself, you also need to decide how long each section of the course should be. For example, if your goal is to teach someone how writing letters, then you should decide how much time to devote to each topic.
Navigation
The second important decision you need to make is how you want your learners to navigate around your course. Do you want your learners to navigate through the course one page at a time? Or do you want them able to jump to particular parts of the course immediately?
Design
You must decide how you want the course to look. This includes deciding how long each screen will take to load and how big the font size should be. You also need to decide whether you want to have graphics included (such as pictures).
After you've made these important decisions, it is time to test your plan to make sure it works.
Statistics
- According to ATD's 2021 State of the Industry report, technology-based learning methods, including e-learning, accounted for 80 percent of learning hours used in 2020. (td.org)
- The UK sample was relatively balanced in terms of gender (56% male) compared to the Gambian group (77% male). (sciencedirect.com)
- India's PC market clocks 9.2% growth to 3.4 million units in the September quarter (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
- Interestingly, students' participation in online training grew by 142% in the past year alone, indicating how quality education and up-to-date teaching pedagogy are preferred by learners and working professionals to upskill across India. (economictimes.indiatimes.com)
External Links
How To
Which technology should I use for my job?
There are many options for you, depending on what device your learner is using.
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Computer-based courses can be delivered via a computer.
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It is possible to offer eLearning courses using mobile devices like smartphones or tablets.
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It is possible to use both mobile devices and computers to deliver courses.
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Some organizations offer eLearning courses that are available on DVD discs and can be viewed by any computer.
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It is a popular choice to create web pages so that users can access the material online.
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You can also use hybrid solutions, where one part of the course can be delivered via a website and another through a CD/DVD.
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Lastly, some companies offer free eLearning over the telephone. These can be recorded by the learner and played back later.