ACADEMICS How Did It Work?
Dean of Academics Dr. Tim Lance
The Transition to Online Learning
I
t is said that difficult times often bring out the best in people. This is definitely true for members of the Storm King School Community. As the novel Coronavirus outbreak began to unfold across the globe earlier this year, our students, parents, faculty, and staff rose to the challenge. With foresight, some quick decision-making, and a tremendous effort, the School mobilized quickly to keep our community safe. The decision to move to online learning was made during the Spring Break holiday. Within a few weeks, our faculty succeeded in transitioning the School’s academic program into a virtual format and began to deliver classes successfully online. Virtual learning at Storm King officially began on Monday, March 23. “At that time, the school administration was already monitoring the progression of the virus very closely,” explained Dean of Academics Dr. Tim Lance. “We had many things to consider, but the health and safety of our close-knit community took priority. After the announcement was made, it took us a little over one week to adapt our academic program for full-time online learning, establish contact with all of our students who were all over the world, and get everyone up to speed in using the new, online tools. Although we continued to perfect the system throughout the semester, we started off strong and our quick turnaround was truly impressive,” he continued.
12 / ONLINE LEARNING
Using a combination of online platforms including Zoom, Google, and the School’s integrated academic platform Blackbaud, teachers held classes at the same times they would conduct them in their classrooms on a normal school day. Students from locations across the world were able to join their classes in real time. For those located in different time zones, recordings of their class sessions were posted for their future use, and students had the opportunity to get help from their teachers during virtual office hours. “The dynamic was very natural and organic,” continued Dr. Lance. “The overwhelming majority of our students were very proactive and participated actively. Along with the academics, having a schedule and being able to connect again with friends helped to relieve some of their anxiety about the future, and provided a sense of normalcy.” After the first week of online classes, the news about positive experiences began to come in. For example, dance instructor Mrs. Jacobson was very happy to report that her first virtual dance classes using the Zoom platform were a great success. All of her students were in attendance and completed their dance routines from six different countries around the world, including Macao, Ukraine, South Korea, Malaysia, Canada, and the United States. “At the start, I was concerned that conducting my class online wouldn’t provide the same experience for my dancers,” explained Mrs. Jacobson. “It was different, but we all adapted quickly and it ended up being a lot of fun. I’m so proud of all my students for “attending” class on time and dancing from home.” Dr. Lance also reported that his initial math classes went exceptionally well with the use of the live shared whiteboard function in Zoom: “Using the live whiteboard, I was able to work through problems and do corrections on the board for the students just as I would in my own classroom,” he commented.
Evaluation and Improvement Once the Virtual School was up and running, the faculty turned their attention toward evaluating what was working and what needed improvement. Dean of Faculty and English Department Chair Jeremy Freeman, who was part of the team who initially worked to move our academics online, now took on the task of gathering feedback and making recommendations on how to further improve the online learning experience for our students. “I wouldn’t say the transition to online learning was seamless, but the first month of online classes certainly felt like a success, and it continued to get better after that,” explained Mr. Freeman. “Consistent student attendance in virtual classrooms and advisories was an initial concern;
