How to Access & Share Digital Resources in Education

 A virtual learning environment provides a means for students to access curriculum mapped content and other learning material, but for it to be effective it must be relevant and up to date. It must also be accessible to all students if it is to work for everyone.

In recent months, many schools and colleges have had to teach remotely because of closures and this has shown up certain issues with regards to distance learning materials and teaching methods.

In this article, we look at how all educational facilities can access digital resources and share them effectively with their students, keeping them engaged as well as educated.

 

What are digital resources?

Digital resources in education are made up of video, audio, text and images. The material is often interactive, allowing students to take part in tests that can then be assessed by the teacher, marked and commented upon.

Podcasts are also used by teachers to interact with students, allowing them to ask questions and responses to be given in much the same way as it would in a physical educational environment.

 

How has COVID affected this?

In response to COVID-19, UNESCO produced a list of digital resourses in education to help parents and teachers continue the teaching process during lockdowns and school closures. These are designed to connect teachers with students to create virtual classroom communities and provide personal learning pathways.

One important aspect of the lockdowns that cannot be ignored is the psychosocial well-being of the individual, whether that be a teacher, parent or student. Pressures of trying to carry on as normal as possible whilst coping with the isolation and lack of social interaction can lead to mental health issues.

The Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) produced guidelines for mental health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, and it is worth reading this if there are any such issues in your social or learning group.

 

What digital resources are available?

Here are just a few of the digital resources available to teachers to help them manage classrooms and engage students in a virtual learning environment:

•          Moodle – the world’s most widely used open learning platform – provides a secure integrated learning environment on which to build lessons.
•          EkStep – an open learning platform focusing on literacy and numeracy.
•          Google Classroom – a suite of cloud-based tools used to create classes and set assignments. It integrates the “G Suite for Education” service with Google Apps such as Docs, Calendar and Gmail to bring together video chat, email and other collaborative documentation.
•          Skooler – a learning platform built around Microsoft 365. Like Google Classroom, it utilises apps that are already installed or can very easily be installed on any laptop or tablet.

There are also systems built for use on basic mobile phones, such as KaiOS,  which transforms ordinary phones into smartphones, so anybody can access apps that were once only available on the latest models. This recognises the fact that not everybody can afford a smartphone and emphasises the point that education is for everyone.

In the field of further education, Jisc has produced a digital learning resources toolkit to offer support and guidance to teachers so that they can use resources effectively to enhance learning.

 

What about teaching materials?

A lot of these platforms are to help teachers and educators set up virtual classrooms and develop lessons. The next stage is to find the material that is relevant to the needs of the students. This is where massive open online course (MOOC) platforms come into play. Here are just a few you can access for higher education and vocational skills:

•          EdX – for computer and data science, business studies, humanities, engineering, and languages. All courses are developed by leading educational institutions.
•          FutureLearn – where educators from top universities combine to provide online courses to help build professional skills.
•          UoE Curriculum Toolkit – developed by the University of Edinburgh this toolkit provides ten curriculum design elements to support student development with a view to improving employability.

At the younger end of the spectrum,  Amazing Educational Resources is a community of educators sharing resources and support, with a library of over 1700 resources offering free access to the best educational material to parents, teachers and students.

Also, University College London has compiled a list of resources for teachers and students covering all aspects of online distance learning from managing the transition to home-schooling to digital resources on a huge variety of topics.

Summary

The 2020 coronavirus pandemic thrust schools, multi-accademy trusts and universities into the world of remote working and what has become evident is that, whilst there is plenty of material out there, there was a lack of understanding about how to go about teaching children and young adults in a virtual learning environment.

Preparing students for home learning is vitally important. The home is not a natural environment for schooling and for many it is not a good place to learn either. Understanding the problems each individual will face is a good starting point.

From the point of view of the educational establishment, there must be a strategy for accessing digital curriculum mapped material, so that all teachers and educators are aware of how to set up classes and deliver lessons that will engage the student, not just teach.