Contingency Plan for Distance Learning (E@D)

Contingency Plan for Distance Learning (E@D)

At a time when the School is having its teaching and non-teaching activities suspended, due to the “new coronavirus - COVID-19” pandemic, and with all EITV teachers in teleworking mode, it is essential to implement an educational policy, while level of pedagogical practice online, cohesive and coherent, in order to standardize procedures.

Taking into account the current context, in the face of face-to-face isolation, collaboration between teachers now makes more sense than ever. It is intended, therefore, to guide and facilitate collaborative work, creating virtual proximity, in order to accompany and support the remaining academic year that appears, eventually online.

In this sense, management and leadership strategies are defined, following the guidelines of the Ministry of Education through the document "ROUTE - 8 Guiding Principles for the Implementation of Distance Learning (E @ D) in Schools". In this context the Escola Internacional de torres Vedras (EITV) presents the guiding principles for distance teaching work, indications on technical and pedagogical support and monitoring and evaluation of the plan.

A) Definition of management and leadership strategies

 In all organizations and particularly in the current situation, the leadership structures, namely the intermediate structures, Cycle Directorates and Class Directors have a primary role in teaching support to teachers and in the definition of strategies that allow regular contact with students , consolidate the lessons learned and develop new lessons.

Thus, it is up to each disciplinary group to define the essential contents to be addressed and, for each teacher, to adapt the strategies to the characteristics of the class.

B) Guiding principles for distance pedagogical work

 1. Resource design

 The. Design a work plan that takes into account whether all students actually have access to digital devices and the internet;

B. Ensure, in all platforms / tools used, the protection of student data;

ç. Realize that the student, in teaching online, has a differentiated teacher support in relation to the one that has a face-to-face system, so the teacher must consider the degree of demand and the type of tasks;

d. Avoid transposing the exercises that students would do in person for teaching online, once feedback and the support provided by the teacher are different, as well as the times of concentration and commitment of students in carrying out the activities. It should be noted that remote tasks and exercises take longer to be completed at home, so exercises should not be requested online in number higher than those required in conventional contexts, in order to avoid overload either in its quantity or in its little variety. This situation only solves the hypothetical problem of the teachers' compliance with the program / curriculum, which does not mean that the student learns.  

Also, do not forget that the autonomy of younger students is reduced. 

In the case of pre-school education, regular communication (by email, telephone contact, chat or video conference) must be maintained with parents, in order to assess the children's well-being and their availability to accompany them. The educator should suggest activities and tasks that promote learning, sharing among peers and creating school routines.

In the case of 1st and 2nd year students, the teacher must take into account that the performance of the requested activities cannot depend on the role and skills of the parents.

and. Predict the promotion of collaborative activities (eg group work) appropriate to the characteristics of the class as these provide contexts of interaction and conviviality, breaking the isolation in which the students find themselves.

For students who, for some reason, are unable to perform group work, alternatives should be presented with regard to this type of work (eg, allowing these students to do the work individually).

Strategies must be inclusive and must promote the participation of all students;

f. Ensure equity and inclusion for all students, with the DT / PTT / Educators in charge articulating with the school Psychologist the most appropriate methodologies to accompany the students who attend the class, under the DL nº 54/2018, of July 6th, in its current wording, and that benefit from support measures for learning and inclusion (with special attention to students who have special measures);

g. Share with other teachers, especially with the Class Director (DT) / Titular Class Teacher (PTT), the proposed tasks, ideally integrating them in a class project, in order to avoid effort and overload in time and tasks, causing the “disconnection” of the DT / PTT plays a central role in terms of articulation between teachers and students, ensuring monitoring of tasks performed by students e contact with parents / guardians;

H. Avoid overload of activities, students' workload must be respected;

 i. In order to facilitate greater coordination with family life, lunchtime will be extended and covers the period between 12:15 pm and 14:XNUMX pm for all pre-school education and education cycles.

 In this context, all classes from the 5th to the 12th year, scheduled to be held between 12:20 pm and 13:05 pm, will be held from 16:30 pm to 17:15 pm.

 j. All teaching activities will start at 9 am and will end, depending on the classes and days at 16:30 pm or 17:15 pm.

k. As a guideline measure, the following distribution of teaching hours is recommended:

 eights:

Synchronous online education - Through the web conference, the teacher will teach the class and the students, via WEB, will see and hear their lecture and see their presentations. Being able to conduct global questions and discussions. This model is the one that most resembles classroom teaching.

Students and teacher are at the same time in the same virtual environment, being able to interact and allowing students to neatly ask questions.

Asynchronous online teaching - The teacher does not need all students to be online at the same time. It allows students to develop their learning according to the time allocated and work, while removing doubts and providing specific support to some students.

In this concept, the teacher can record classes or present films or other “media” and does not need to be online simultaneously with students.

Time remainder for the weekly teaching load must be filled in by students with activities assigned by teachers and by teachers correcting their students' work.

Also take into account the following aspects when designing the schedule of students working at a distance:

•  All teachers must deliver the tasks to the students in the right measure of their ability to perform, indicating a delivery time, in order to allow flexibility in the management of time and technological equipment within each family nucleus;
• Each teacher must be present at the beginning of the respective class time, for the synchronous session, by videoconference, with the following duration: 20 min. – 1st Cycle / 30 min. – 2nd and 3rd Cycles (times recommended by UNESCO). In the subjects of Portuguese and Mathematics (1st, 2nd and 3rd Cycles), individual or group assignments should follow, as appropriate.
• It will be up to the teacher of the discipline to adjust the work to be carried out, to the time foreseen for the respective class, avoiding assigning extra work.
• If the teacher is unable to hold a session for duly justified reasons (eg failure of technological equipment, difficulty in using software, etc ...), he must immediately communicate with the Information and Communication Department and inform the respective Cycle Direction other faults or impediments.
• The teacher should manage with each class the schedule for each session. This indication must be clearly registered on the Google Classroom platform.

2. Resource design

1.  To privilege, whenever possible, and depending on the characteristics of the class, activities that favor the development of transversal and interdisciplinary skills, in an integrated and articulated way;
2. To privilege the technological means already used previously and with which the students may already be familiarized;
3. Create short and dynamic tasks (with videos, presentations ...) and, whenever the discipline allows, with more activities of design and construction of content by the students, always with feedback from the teacher (it is imperative this feedback in an environment online).                                                                                                                                                                  Any work requested must then be returned with a correction proposal.
4. Take the student to manipulate several multimedia resources (texts, videos, podcast, infographics ...), in order to diversify interactions. With regard to the diversification of resources and tasks, they should privilege active models, which assume the viewing of short videos on a topic to be understood (Khan Academy, RTP Ensina, Leya and Porto Editora platforms…) followed by a set of activities aimed at measuring and / or reflecting on what was viewed or understood (Quiz, Google Forms, Discussion forums ...);
5. Avoid using multiple applications (apps) and platforms (never more than 1 platform per class, unless this proves impossible, due to insufficiency or instability due to excessive use, thus avoiding the creation of accounts and logins unnecessary that make the learning process confusing and incoherent;
6. Eavoid using very long videos (eg, videos longer than 10 minutes), as well as the exclusive use of informational texts that are too long;
7. Use, in all the resources used, a clear and objective language, in order to be understood by all students.

3. Student Orientation

1.  Identify, in all tasks, the learning objectives, also using clear, succinct and easy to read / understand instructions;
2. Indicate the estimated time for the task and the deadline for completion;
3. Limit synchronous sessions to the essential (eg, consolidation of learning; clarification of new content; clarification of doubts;) and with duration, for each intervention, not exceeding the time indicated in the table.

4. Communication and Interaction Management

1.  Manage the expectations of interaction on extra-learning doubts, defining the response time for students and parents.                                                                                      This interaction must occur during the teacher's teleworking schedule, and a schedule should be established for clarifying doubts, which must be respected;
2. In case of absence of interaction with the students, the teacher must register the respective absence and report this situation to the DT / PTT.
3. All interactions must be recorded in summary, on the same day.

5. Feedback and Evaluation

1.  Do not forget that the activities should include the function of assessing the teaching and learning dynamics, which can be carried out, for example, with the production of a multimedia work, digital narratives, infographics, mental schemes, interactive murals, online questionnaires ...;
2. Provide frequent formative feedback to students, since they have to know that the teacher accompanies their work;
3. Keep parents / EE informed about the students' path, avoiding information overload, (teachers can transmit information to EE through email, or through the learning platform they have been using);

C) Technical and pedagogical support to teachers

As so far, teachers can always use the support of the elements responsible for the Department of Information and Communication to help them overcome specific difficulties in accessing the Meet and Google Classroom platforms or others that we may eventually have to adopt.

Regarding pedagogical support; the collaborative work of teachers and the role of Pedagogical and class directions assume a primary role in defining essential strategies and content that meet the competencies referred to No. Student Profile on Leaving Mandatory Schooling.

 EITV will use the platform for video conferencing Meet and eventually in the future, if necessary, Skype, Zoom or Webex. All have advantages and disadvantages, and are the preference of one or the other, however the option was aimed at being able to communicate as many students and teachers as possible and to enable both to be able to adapt quickly to problems that will surely come up again, when many schools start using the same platform, forcing us to move forward or backwards in our choices, depending on the one that at each moment may be better meeting our needs to connect with students.

Each one has their preferences, it is true, but it is necessary to correspond and standardize for all students of each class, cycle and school, so it is neither useful nor pedagogically desirable for each teacher to use the one they prefer or let themselves be dragged into an experimentalism that would only disturb the system.

On the other hand, it is necessary to be aware that there are several variables (equipment, quality and speed of transmission, definition of image quality, etc.) that can influence the poor quality of transmission to one or the other student. This is a problem that one can and should try to solve, insofar as it may be on the side of the transmission, however there are others that are on the side of the receiver. For them, there will have to be understanding, from side to side and then seek to provide alternative support to students.

There is no need to fear any changes, because on the internet you can easily find tutorials in Portuguese for their use, in order to train and support students and teachers on learning platforms, such as those existing for those currently adopted by EITV, the Meet e Google Classroom and attached applications, we provide here some tutorials, merely indicative.

• ME - We are ON with schools  https://apoioescolas.dge.mec.pt/ - Gsuit (Meet)

• Google Classroom platform:

•  Zoom Platform - https://tecnico.ulisboa.pt/pt/aulas-por-videoconferencia/
• Webex Platform - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k356Ndtst5Y

D) Monitoring and evaluation of the plan.

 The monitoring and evaluation of the plan will take into account the following aspects:

1. Completion, by all teachers, of the respective Summaries in the PAEE, with each Class Director responsible for monitoring the completion;
2. The synchronization of students with the Class Director; which should take place once a week, at one of the times to assess difficulties and non-compliances. The Class Director and the EE can report, in the hierarchy, whenever justified, possible non-conformities, problems or difficulties.
3. Communication to the Information and Communication Department of any difficulty in using the platforms used by teachers;
4. Biweekly indication, to the DT, of students who did not perform the tasks;
5. Biweekly indication, by the DT, to the Cycle Directions, of the students and EE who are still unreachable;
6. Communication / Hearing every two weeks from the School Psychologist, in order to assess the difficulties detected in supporting students;
7. Completion of DGEST questionnaires.

Note: Regarding students who are detected with problems with connectivity, infrastructure or others, they must be signaled to the respective Cycle Directions for compliance procedure.

Eitv, February 01, 2021

The Board of Directors

Quote:

“In the face of a problem, the desirable attitude is for each one to ask themselves questions, in order to identify what they can do to help solve this problem and act accordingly.”

Eitv Educational Project