When聽Central Florida聽K-12 schools聽announced they would transition聽to聽remote聽instruction due to the coronavirus pandemic, 麻豆原创聽Center for Distributed聽Learning聽executive director聽Kelvin Thompson 鈥�99MA 鈥�05EdD聽suspected teachers were going to need a little extra help.
Thompson started to compile a list of resources 鈥� from videos with tips on putting classes online to podcasts on 鈥渕aking remote teaching happen鈥� 鈥� and started typing a message of support to his teaching brethren.
He called it a聽聽and initially sent it to Orange, Seminole, Lake, Sumter, Osceola, Volusia and Marion county school systems.
鈥淚 just wanted to offer something to say, 鈥榃e鈥檙e in this with you.鈥欌�� 鈥� Kelvin Thompson, 麻豆原创 Center for Distributed Learning executive director
鈥淚 just wanted to offer something to say,聽鈥榃e鈥檙e in this with you,鈥欌�澛爏ays Thompson.
麻豆原创 has offered online and blended education for more than two decades. Although the university experienced challenges just like every other educational institution in the country in moving every class online after spring break, 麻豆原创 is a leader in the field and had a jump-start on the transition process.
More聽than 85 percent of 麻豆原创 students take at least one online or blended course every year.
Diane聽Kornegay, superintendent of Lake County Schools, says she was grateful to the university for聽sharing聽its聽resources and expertise.
鈥淩eceiving the care package is yet another way that 麻豆原创 supports its local school districts and we are thankful for the partnership,鈥� she wrote in an email.
After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced April 18 distance learning will continue for the remainder of the school year, Thompson says his biggest piece of advice for both teachers and students is to just do the best they can to follow procedures.
鈥淭he biggest key right now is to offer something of value while not overwhelming students.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to get through this together. Just take it a day at a time,鈥� he says. 鈥淯niversity of North Carolina Professor Brandon Bayne came up with some principles as he adjusted his syllabus for remote instruction. The gist of it is: 鈥楴obody signed up for this. We鈥檙e going to prioritize supporting each other as humans. Some of the academics is going to suffer, but we鈥檙e going to foster intellectual nourishment, social connection and personal accommodation. We鈥檙e going to be flexible and adjust.鈥� And I think that鈥檚 spot on. The biggest key right now is to offer something of value while not overwhelming students.鈥�
