Missed your online class? Wake will now let students get recordings of the lessons.
A month into the online school year, Wake County is making some changes and considering others that the district says will improve the experience for students and teachers.
The Wake County school system will now let students get recordings of live online classes they miss or want to review. School administrators also said last week they’re considering reducing daily instructional time for some students and giving teachers more planning time.
“We have heard quite a bit of feedback and input on what’s working and also — probably more so transparently and quite honestly — on areas where improvements and/or adjustments may be needed,” Drew Cook, Wake’s assistant superintendent for academics, told the school board last week.
The school year started for Wake County’s 160,000 students Aug. 17 with only online classes due to COVID-19. Students are getting five to six hours a day of instruction and/or instructional activities, with at least 2.5 hours of it being live instruction from teachers.
Students can get recordings of online classes
Students who missed the live sessions were out of luck because Wake hadn’t been recording them due to student privacy issues.
But under a policy change approved last week, teachers will record their live lessons and make copies available for their students. This includes the video, audio and text chats.
“We need to make sure students get access to the materials,” school board member Christine Kushner said in an interview. “This is one way if a student missed a lesson or had a technological issue. This is a pandemic time where we’re lacking in stability in our community, so we’re trying to maximize their access to instruction.”
The recording option isn’t up yet because details are being worked out, according to Lisa Luten, a district spokeswoman. One area to resolve is how to allow online participation for students who opt out of being recorded.
The policy still bans students from making their own recordings of the classes.
Teachers, parents raise concerns about online classes
Online classes have created challenges for some students and some teachers. One of the biggest complaints is how much time students are spending in front of a computer each day.
“Parents, students, and staff are tired from staring at a computer screen for 7 and a half hours each day,” teacher Chase Crafton said in public comments submitted to last week’s board meeting. “The amount of screen time has caused migraines, bad eye sight, and other potential health issues.”
Crafton and Monica Wilkerson, another Wake County teacher, both asked for an “asynchronous day” each week. Only pre-recorded lessons would be used those days so teachers could do planning and work with students in small groups.
“Between class time and actual work, we, students and teachers, need an asynchronous day to stay abreast of their responsibilities and manage our screen time,” Wilkerson wrote. “We are drowning, and that is not an exaggeration.”
Jennifer Cherry, the parent of a kindergarten student, said it’s developmentally inappropriate for young children to have 2.5 hours a day of live instruction.
“How is it logical for a kindergarten student and a fifth grade student to have the same live teaching requirement in a day?” Cherry wrote in her comments to the board. “Wake County needs to free the teachers in the younger grades to reduce the live teaching time and instead offer more small group instruction in smaller increments to better meet the developmental needs of students.”
Wake considering changes to online schedule
Cook told the school board that administrators are considering:
▪ Tighter limits on the daily total of live and asynchronous instructional time for students, particularly in early elementary grades
▪ Increased minimum baseline for teacher and professional learning team planning time
▪ Integration of a weekly, district-wide asynchronous learning day.
Wake will survey teachers and parents about potential changes. School leaders realize it’s taking teachers more time to plan lessons for online classes than for in-person instruction, Cook said.
“I’ve witnessed firsthand over the past month the incredible and even at times I would say heroic efforts that our teachers are putting in to effectively engage with our students each and every day,” Cook said. “The time that it requires cannot be discounted and certainly is something we need to consider moving forward.”
This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 5:50 AM.
