Now that more than 4,500 public school students in Ohio County are learning at home as opposed to being in class at least four days per week, teachers are recording lessons and are available to answer questions at the same time.
Dr. Kim Miller, superintendent of Ohio County Schools, learned late Saturday evening the district’s students would stay at home all week and learn on the technology provided them by the state. Ohio County was designated as an “Orange” county, one of nine in the Mountain State. According to the WVDE guidelines:
“Remote learning required. Extracurricular activities are limited to conditioning only and sport-specific practicing is not permitted. Marching band is limited to outdoors only. Staff may report to their schools, as determined by the county. Essential support services, including special education and meals, will continue.”
Marshall County also is listed as “Orange,” and the coaches, players, parents, and fans of John Marshall, Wheeling Park, and Central Catholic can only hope the two counties are downgraded to “Yellow” or “Green” so they can compete in the first round of the high school football playoffs this Sunday.
No matter the outcome, though, Ohio County’s superintendent insisted classes will continue.
“I watched a couple of classes on Monday, and I can assure you that the kids are learning even though they are stuck at home because of this virus,” Miller said. “I think the platforms that our students and teachers are using right now are fantastic, but now that we are in the total remote mode we, have implemented synchronous instruction along with the recorded lessons that our teachers are doing.
“By doing that, we are simply trying to provide better and better instruction,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that it can’t be accomplished overnight, but we will get there because we have done a significant amount of development and training.”
All About Technology
Each Ohio County Schools student was given a tablet on which they can upload the instruction videos and sign on to online platforms to communicate with their instructors when necessary. All parents and their children have had the option for remote-only education since Sept. 8, and about 30 percent of the student population has chosen the option.
For families without access to broadband in Ohio County, the school district has established hotspots at all school buildings and at 13 community locations. Food distribution took place yesterday and will again this Thursday at all school locations between 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
“And I think the platform is great because it allows our teachers to teach the lesson on the video and then post it,” Miller explained. “The nice part about implementing the synchronous instruction is that while all the kids are at home, they can ask what questions they might have. Getting those questions answered is a really important part of teaching.
“Not only does it allow for the interaction and engagement between the teachers and their students, but our teachers from the very beginning have had office hours so their students can take advantage of their availability,” she continued. “We knew we would need to add other opportunities for that engagement if we were in a remote-only situation, and here we are.”
One positive for the students attending Ohio County Schools is that a normal school day now is condensed into a few hours instead of seven or eight.
“Our students are not sitting in front of their computers or tablets for seven hours a day because that would be impossible to ask,” Miller said. “The class periods are condensed, and our teachers work every day on the videos for the lessons, but it would not be realistic to believe a student could sit there for the same length of time they are in school for in-person learning.
“It is a short work of school for us because of Veterans Day, and we’re lucky to have good weather this week so when our students are finished on their computers or tablets, they can get outside and enjoy it right now,” she said. “We won’t know about next week until the Department of Education puts out the school map on Saturday hopefully at 5 p.m., and I’m hopeful we can get our kids back into their schools.”
