the essential components of online teaching and learning identified in research studies are likely to stay relevant for face-to-face K-12 education.
The components of online teaching and learning will be relevant for all grade as the world is becoming more and more technological.
a healthy relationship and smooth communication between teachers and parents should be well-established for successful elementary students’ online learning (Avery et al., 2021; Curtis & Werth, 2015; Velasquez et al., 2013).
It is very important for teachers and parents to establish healthy relationships especially in elementary school. Both the teach and the parents are part of a team to introduce the students to the best educational opportunities possible.
parental involvement is one of the key recommendations to support student learning in leveraging digital tools and resources.
Parental involvement is very important because parents help to reinforce learned material at home. Parents can help if they are not informed and included in the digital learning process.
when teaching online, teachers need to be mindful of ensuring the use of technology tools and resources based on the content, the context, and the needs of young students
Teachers should do their research on age appropriate learning online before they present resources to students.
We identified two unique aspects that elementary teachers might need to take into consideration in their online instruction: developmentally appropriate use of technology and parental involvement.
Elementary teachers definitely need to be mindful of developmentally appropriate use of technology and parental involvement. Teacher should research age appropriate activities and they should communicate kid friendly learning sites so parents can see what their children are doing online.
Teachers may need to consider the appropriate amount of ownership they release to students at the elementary level when providing learner-centered online learning with flexibility and choices for students.
Teachers should always need to consider timing and ownership when allowing students to work online. Teacher may need to block non-education cites to prevent students from venturing of task and away from the targeted online learning opportunity.
Preparing organized online instruction may not be easy for elementary teachers in traditional school contexts.
This may not be an easy task but ,it certainly is doable. This may take some additional time planning but it can be done. The online instruction must be quick and to the point in order to keep the attention of elementary students.
Enabling ways of communicating with parents could help establish the teacher-parent trust and relationship, further supporting students’ online learning.
It is a great idea to establish trust with parents. Parents are entrusting their most prized possessions to teachers. Teachers should always be respectful of the parents and communicate with them as often as possible concerning the learning and growth of their students both in class and online.
To build that trusting environment, you must build a relationship with the families and students.
It is very important to keep the lines of communication open and this helps to create a trusting environment for both parents and students. Let both students and parents know that they are valued.
Most of the lower elementary teachers described parents as co-teachers.
Parents are co-teacher as they reinforce what is learned in school with their child when they are at home.
The lower elementary teachers described the importance of creating opportunities for students to interact with each other by sharing their work online.
It is always a good idea for students to share but teachers must be sure that students are sharing to help one another improve and not to criticize or make their peers feel inferior. Kids love to share and this is a great way to get them using technology.
All teachers expressed that students’ interaction and collaboration were key in online learning.
I totally agree that the students must be open minded and willing to participate in online learning in order for the concept to work. This requires interaction and collaboration on behalf of the students.
Since students at the elementary level are not as independent as students at the secondary or post-secondary level of learning, the teachers described a need for teacher facilitation to make online learning more effective and interactive for elementary students.
Elementary students often time require additional instructions and they feel more secure when there is a physical presence of a teacher to answer questions and explain things that are not understood.
Interaction is fundamental for both traditional, face-to-face classrooms and online learning
Interaction is always important when teaching children. Some children may not understand the instruction and may require additional interactions with a physical person. In most cases traditional face-to-face interactions help children feel more comfortable asking questions.
Successful online learning is not guaranteed for all K-12 students
We must keep in mind that not all children will be successful with on-line learning and some may shy away from technology use. Some children are just more hands on learners.
Teachers continue to struggle to teach in fully online or blended courses, especially at the elementary level (Project Tomorrow, 2020a).
I believe teachers struggle to teach online because they are so used to direct teacher instruction models. Teachers are often time uncomfortable with what they don't understand.
There are multiple rationales for K-12 online learning, including flexibility and accessibility of learning (Digital Learning Collaborative [DLC], 2020).
This is great for beginning teachers to help explore alternative methods to help the student learn.
When parents play the role of a co-teacher, they need to understand the intended learning objectives or goals for each lesson.
It is very important for parents to communicate with teachers and vice versa so they can actively reinforce learning objectives and goals at home that are learned at school.