Know Your Core 4 for Online Learning

Now, more than ever, schools are finally understanding the importance of ensuring the foundations are in place for digital education to be conducted successfully. Schools that had the fundamentals in place in 2020 had a much easier transition to online learning then those who were only beginning to figure it out.

In some cases, every teacher was left to their own devices and there was no consistency across a school. As educators and administrators prepare for a new year, it’s time to become strategic and create a system which educator Jeff Utech has coined as the “Core 4.” This includes the following: 

·     A learning management system (LMS) such as Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Schoology, or Brightspace.

·     A backbone to your LMS such as Google Drive, Dropbox, or One Drive. This is where all the content that ends up in your learning management system resides and is created.

·     A tool for synchronous teaching and learning such as Google Meets, Microsoft Teams Meeting, or Zoom.

·     A tool for asynchronous teaching and learning such as Screencastify, Screencast-O-Matic, or Microsoft Stream.

In a virtual presentation to educators and administrators, Utech suggests schools lay this out with a simple graphic consisting of a circle called “The Core 4.” The outside of the circle outlines the tool and purpose of each as illustrated in the graphic below. 

Having a core 4 enables your teachers, students, and their families to mobilize around one set of tools across the school. It is important to establish such a system. This enables the school community to focus on the teaching and learning rather than having to teach and learn multiple new tools because no strategic system was put in place.