Thoughts, Suggested Steps and Resources for Continuity of Education

1. Districts should fully implement adopted Learning Management Systems, such as Canvas, Google Classroom, Blackboard, Schoology, or others. All teachers, at all grade levels, should be required to fully engage as these systems may provide a FERPA compliant method for delivering instructional material in remote learning situations.
   
   
2. Districts should ensure that all teachers can securely access the Student Information System remotely.
   
   
3. All learning systems utilized by districts should be fully implemented with logins for all students tested.
   
   INFOhio offers thousands of standard-aligned lessons and materials for all districts. OME-RESA will be providing information on how to leverage all the INFOhio content, which is FREE to all districts. INFOhio content is all electronic, easy to use remotely, and covers almost all Ohio standards, benchmarks and indicators articulated in the state standards and model curriculum.
   
   
4. Remote video teleconferencing systems, such as ZOOM, Cisco WebEx, etc. may be powerful tools for continuing instruction remotely. All districts should select, train on, implement and practice a remote teleconference system, prior to any real need. Several vendors are now offering free trial periods, as districts prepare for potential disruptions to normal schedules. Beginning the week of March 16, training will be made available for all districts on ZOOM videoconference software, which enables leaders, teachers and students to engage in high quality videoconferencing sessions. It is encouraging to note that there are schools around the world right now that are maintaining their typical class schedules with all teachers and students participating remotely. A full ZOOM license for each teacher is available for $5.00, valid for the remainder of the school year (students are FREE), or you may use the basic ZOOM licensing free of charge. ZOOM requires no special technology; any teacher with a laptop/Chromebook and students with smartphones, Chromebooks or any other cellular or web-enabled device may fully participate. Students with traditional phones may participate over audio.
   
   
5. Not every student will have access to a device or to broadband connectivity. Districts should survey students and families to identify those for whom additional support will be needed and then work to find resources to support those students and families.
   
   Please view the "Home Connectivity for Staff and Students" section of this website for available resources geared to low-income or other families. You may wish to share these with your parents or other stakeholders, should your district be impacted by the current health threat.
   
   Certainly, there are many things which are uncertain at this time, such as the future of state and/or AP testing in a remote environment, as well as a plethora of other issues beyond continuing learning which you will be addressing, if or when, this unprecedented effort in remote learning unfolds. Please know that your OME-RESA team stands ready to support your staff and students in any way possible.