By LAURA HAMMACK, guest columnist
My sister and her family live in the beautiful state of Montana. I find myself dreaming about living out there one day, but am quickly reminded of why Indiana is more preferable when she texts me photos of her backyard sitting under a foot of snow and the calendar reads Oct. 2!
Nonetheless, we Hoosiers are quite used to highs in the 90s and the 30s in the same week, so it felt appropriate that I update our readers on the strategy for school year 2019-2020 in regards to plans for inclement weather — specifically, our strategy for eLearning.
The Indiana Department of Education defines “eLearning Days” as follows: “ELearning Days provide school districts with an option for continuing an instructional day away from traditional time limits and brick-and-mortar setting. This innovative program has evolved into an engaging instructional model used in many Indiana schools to keep the sequence of learning going despite weather and other challenges. More importantly, eLearning Days provide teachers and students opportunities to engage with digital resources, to collaborate virtually, and to develop digital skills that are used and valued beyond K-12.”
Brown County Schools piloted the use of eLearning Days during school year 2018-2019 by deploying an eLearning Day on the third day of closure after snow makeup days were used for the first two days. We evaluated the effectiveness of this deployment by issuing a survey to parents/guardians and faculty/staff. Key findings from the survey:
91 percent of faculty/staff and 88 percent of parents/guardians found the use of eLearning Days effective.
93 percent of faculty/staff and 88 percent of parents/guardians indicated they wanted to continue the use of eLearning Days for school year 2019-2020.
While the preponderance of respondents indicated that they wanted Brown County Schools to transition to every day of inclement weather as an eLearning Day for school year 2019-2020, we also had a number of respondents indicate that eLearning Days are difficult to manage because of internet connectivity issues in the home.
And, while we are thrilled that the expansion of broadband is taking place across our county and we are encouraged that scholarship assistance is being developed for families in need, the district felt it was important to balance the eLearning program plan for this school year until more families indicate that they have internet access at home.
This past June, our board of school trustees approved the 2019-2020 eLearning Day plan. Brown County Schools will use an eLearning Day for every school closure that takes place due to inclement weather unless there are consecutive days of school closure. If there is a need for consecutive closure(s) after the first eLearning Day, those days will be made up as a snow makeup day.
Example:
School is closed on Monday due to inclement weather: eLearning Day
School is in session on Tuesday: normal school day
School is in session on Wednesday: normal school day
School is closed on Thursday due to inclement weather: eLearning Day
School is closed on Friday due to inclement weather: snow makeup day
In order to address the concerns for families who do not have internet connectivity at home, students will have one full week from the eLearning Day to get assignments submitted. Students are encouraged to complete assignments offline and then submit them once they are under the wireless capacity of their school. Our website has an eLearning page with specific information on how to log in to do this.
While I remain ever hopeful that we won’t need to deploy any eLearning Days for inclement weather this year, we stand ready with an effective plan. I’m mildly concerned that the Farmer’s Almanac 2019-2020 Winter Outlook map has the words, “Frozen, Snowy” literally covering the state of Indiana.
With that, I’m headed outside for a walk on this gorgeous fall day.
Laura Hammack is superintendent of Brown County schools. She can be reached at 812-988-6601 or [email protected].
