11/14/2023 0 Comments Online public schooling k 12![]() The district then hired teachers, many internally, specifically to staff the virtual program. “When you teach them the basics, they learn very quickly.” “The students are very tech savvy,” says Samantha Hall, assistant director of district innovation. Much of the district’s online instruction has been delivered via Zoom, and teachers frequently make use of free, game-based learning platforms such as Kahoot. Since then, FSPS educators have delivered 2,500 mobile hotspots to students and their families, turned school parking lots into Wi-Fi access hubs and ensured that all students have their own Chromebooks. “We were definitely building the airplane as we were taking off,” Udouj says.Ī remarkable achievement considering that, when the pandemic first hit last spring, many students lacked internet connectivity, and in trying to fill the gap, the district had to distribute 4,000 paper instruction packets each week. The district paid teachers a $500 stipend to complete a virtual training program standardized on a single learning management system, and it implemented a third-party online curriculum. “We were very quickly training staff and getting our resources together to make sure all of our students had the technology they needed.” “As we got closer, we were surprised to see our estimate keep growing,” says Gary Udouj, director of career education and district innovation for FSPS. When officials at Fort Smith Public Schools in Arkansas began preparing an online-only option for fall 2020, they expected to have about 500 sign-ups from the district’s 14,000 students.
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