Since the spread of COVID-19, education has been changing rapidly. The restrictions of lockdown have urged schools to rethink their delivery channels, which has subsequently triggered a renewed sense of urgency for technological advancement within education.

At Nova Pioneer, we take pride in being a forward-thinking school network focused on teaching 21st century skills in an affordable way. This requires us to constantly think of better ways we can teach and deliver content to students that remains true to our strong instructional leadership culture.

 

Student-facing Google Classrooms

So in order to meet the need to now teach remotely, teachers across Nova Pioneer began creating their own Google Classrooms. Google Classrooms helps students and teachers organize assignments, boost collaboration, and foster better communication. This has enabled us to shift from physical classrooms to a digital classroom environment.

 

Class Assignments

Our grade 4 to 7 students have been completing their assignments completely digitally and submitting them back to teachers. What is amazing about this is that students are learning to use digital tools like Google Docs, Sheets and Slides, which are building essential collaboration and digital literacy skills for the future ways of working. What sets innovators apart from others is that they use technology as tools for active creation and collaboration, rather than only for passive consumption of content.

 

 

Weekly Live Check-Ins

Every week teachers are connecting with their students via Zoom or Google Meet making sure that teachers remain connected and in relationship with their students as they move through the curriculum at home.

 

Weekly Lesson Videos

“Technology alone does not transform education. It’s the school culture and the pedagogy that is transformative. The technology is merely an enabler for change”

One of the distinctive features of Nova Pioneer is our strong instructional leadership culture. Coupled with education technology tools from the G-Suite for Education, Nova Pioneer has been set up to deliver engaging learning experiences for all Novaneers remotely and at scale.

In partnership with our learning design team, teachers and instructional leaders, we are building out a library of rigorous enquiry-based lesson storyboards, which are helping guide our Novaneers through the Cambridge and CBC curriculum at home. We have been thrilled to see the engaging learning moments that have been happening across Novaneer homes!

Students enjoy receiving pre-recorded lesson videos every week per subject from a team of passionate teachers at each campus, which are delivered via their Google Classrooms.

 

Student Engagement & Personalization

As students watch the lesson videos, they are able to respond with emojis and leave comments to questions posed in the lesson video. This helps make our lessons active learning experiences. Another thing that has been spreading like wildfire is teachers creating their own personal avatars using the Bitmoji app and using them in lesson videos. Create your own by downloading the app: https://www.bitmoji.com/

 

Teacher-facing Google Classrooms

At Nova Pioneer, we have been getting classy with Google Classrooms for a couple years already. We have been using Google Classrooms to deliver lesson plans and materials to teachers across the continent.

We also use Google Classrooms to provide self-paced, video-based training for upskilling our teachers with EdTech tools.

 

 

Parent EdTech Support Sites

We understand that the shift to a completely digital environment can be challenging for our students and parents alike. So to help make this transition easier, we have built an EdTech Support Site with the necessary videos and instructions to help make the transition to Google Classrooms. You can visit this website by following this link: bit.ly/phase2parents

 

New to remote teaching? So are we! It’s back to school tomorrow and our Nova Pioneer Paulshof School Leader, Claudia Pienaar, created this tool kit for her team on how they can be a successful remote-learning teacher. We hope you enjoy.

 

1. Dress for Success

Remember that even though you are teaching remotely it is important that you look professional and presentable at all times. Think of what you would wear in the classroom – this is how you should come across on the video to your students. You definitely can enjoy the fact that your students can’t see what you were in from the waist down so feel free to stay in your comfortable track pants and slippers if you like, just ensure that everything that your students look professional and well-presented! 

 

2. Light It Up

Lighting makes a big difference to your video! Natural light is best, especially when done in the morning or after midday. The harshness of the midday sun casts harsh shadows on your face, so isn’t always the most complimentary or flattering. Should you be shooting your video inside and using artificial light, ensure that you have enough light and are not sitting in silhouette. 

 

 

3. Setting the stage

It is very important to make sure that you have a quiet space to record. Naturally some background sounds are unavoidable, like the gentle sound of children playing in the background or the lovely sound of a hadeda going over your house! Do try make sure that any background noises are minimal and unavoidable. Your background itself should be clean and neat. Avoid a messy or distracting area to record. 

 

4. Short Bursts

Try work in short bursts, keep instruction to 5 – 7 minutes before using an engagement strategy. Do a Turn and Talk, give a task or activity, even ask children to respond to you like Dora the Explorer! It is easier to find ways to keep the students engaged by breaking your instruction into smaller parts. 

 

 

5. Loud & Clear

Research shows that the clarity of speech and audio in a video makes the greatest impact on the audience. Use a mic that will project you well.  This may mean that you need to put in your headphones so that you can use the mic attached. Be sure that you articulate clearly and speak slowly. Do not rush or mumble, it is very important that your lesson is able to get through to the students and we are clear we are consistent.

 

6. Keep it sweet & simple

Remember that the focus of these videos is on teaching. It is not about entertaining the students, so there is no need for any frills or fuss. You do not need to put on a show. Keep your focus on teaching and learning.

A good idea is at the beginning of the video, to provide the children and list of any materials that they will need for the lesson. Allow them to pause the video and go and collect the items. This way the student has everything with them for the lesson. Smile, and be your natural self. Your students have been missing you, so let them see YOU!

 

 

 

7. Peer Review

Before posting your masterpiece, ask a peer or mentor to review it for you. Ask them to look out for any mistakes that we would all like to avoid having these immortalized in video for all mankind by going viral.