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What is media multitasking?
Media multitasking is not a new concern. "Surfing the web" has become a favorite pastime for adults and children, allowing us to procrastinate work and school assignments, fill hours of our day, or battle bouts of sleeplessness. Yet the constant digital distraction that has us clicking between websites, social media, work and school assignments, and other media has a significant neurological impact on our cognitive control, executive functions, and job or academic performance.

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Helping Our Children Manage Media Multitasking

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What is media multitasking? Media multitasking is not a new concern. "Surfing the web" has become a favorite pastime for adults and children, allowing us to procrastinate work and school assignments, fill hours of our day, or battle bouts of sleeplessness.

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You may think I'm joking, but I swear I'm not.

Based on my peers' behavior, you might guess that I'm in second or fourth grade. But I'm actually about to enter high school in New York City, and, during my three years of middle school, these sorts of disruptions occurred repeatedly in any given 42-minute class period.

Let me explain why.

I have been doing distance learning since March 23 and find that I am learning more, and with greater ease, than when I attended regular classes. I can work at my own pace without being interrupted by disruptive students and teachers who seem unable to manage them.

These first two suggestions began during distance learning and have already been a great success. I hope they continue when we return to school, and that schools use this opportunity to improve the learning experiences of all their students.

Veronique Mintz is an eighth-grade student.

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Opinion | Why I'm Learning More With Distance Learning Than I Do in School

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You may think I'm joking, but I swear I'm not. Based on my peers' behavior, you might guess that I'm in second or fourth grade. But I'm actually about to enter high school in New York City, and, during my three years of middle school, these sorts of disruptions occurred repeatedly in any given 42-minute class period.

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Schools in Thailand are not asked to close (yet). We are monitoring the situation very closely and making great efforts to ensure our school community members are safe and healthy, following all the guidelines. When it's still possible, we want to stay operational as much as possible.

Having said that, we do want to build our capacities and develop preparedness for online learning. Although I am not sure if we can truly feel ready and confident when it happens. In the past, we had sudden school closures because of political unrest, flooding, and air pollution. Based on my observation and experience, students and parents in general hate online learning as many teachers often just create more 'homework' or 'assignments' for students to complete. There were lots of assumption in this situation, such as students can access internet without any issue; caretakers or parents understand the instructions so that they can help; this task will only take students 20 minutes to complete. What if there is a power outage? What if care-takers or parents are negligent or they don't speak English? And the truth is assignments likely take twice as long to complete at home because of different factors.

Our step one is to develop teachers' awareness of the online teaching principles (O.R.E.O) and suggest familiar web-based tools or apps teachers have been used in my school. Teachers are encouraged to explore these tools and find out how to use them through colleagues who had experiences with them.

Our step two is to do more prepping and develop online teaching capabilities. It has been wonderful that there are many educators sharing their experiences and reflections via social media which provided me with many ideas on what online instructors should do and should not do. Of course, just like everything else, we always need to consider our very own school context, environment, polices, and think about how these ideas might impact our school community and the school system. That's why we have decided we will not implement synchronous learning at this stage, although there are many benefits. We consider pastoral care issues, the internet speed, our refugee students' living condition, child protection policy, teacher training, and so on and we, as a school, feel that we are not quite ready for synchronous learning yet. We will only use videoconference to check in and build relationships with students, but not for content delivery.

After reading as much as I can and discussing with my secondary school academic leadership team, we have come up with Online instructors @ KIS: Do this, Not That to provide guidance for our teachers.

One thing that might not be clear in the poster and teachers have questions about is "Be online during office hours to provide support, answer questions, or clarify confusion via a system." What it suggests is to create a system to collect students' questions in advance, such as using Padlet or Google Form, so teachers can have time to consolidate these questions and prepare answers. If you teach 120 students, what you don't want is to have 100 plus emails coming to your inbox!

You can Click the image below to download the PDF file.

Updated on March 16, 2020
I am very aware of the benefits of conducting synchronous learning. I have mentioned previously, our school is not ready yet. That why the title of the infographic is"Online Teaching @ KIS". We will start our online learning model for two weeks today. I am sure after our two-week pilot, we will reflect on what works well and what does not work, including asynchronous learning vs. synchronous learning. In case your school is reading to implement a combination of asynchronous learning and synchronous learning, here is a modified version of the infographic.

You can Click the image below to download the PDF file.

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Schools in Thailand are not asked to close (yet). We are monitoring the situation very closely and making great efforts to ensure our school community members are safe and healthy, following all the guidelines. When it's still possible, we want to stay operational as much as possible.

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Learning at a distance is generally less effective than face-to-face interaction, but these tips ... [+]
Getty

To be successful, remote instruction requires a lot of the same things any instruction does: clarity, review, checking for understanding, prompt feedback. But distance adds additional challenges, and these tips can help.

The sudden transition to at-home schooling has found schools and districts at different levels of preparedness. Some are simply sending home paper packets, while others are ensuring students have devices, WiFi, and coherent online curricula. A few high-achieving charter networks, like Uncommon Schools and Success Academy, are not only setting up plans for their own students but giving the public free access. Some high-quality curriculum providers are also providing free online materials.

But even in the best of circumstances, remote instruction can intensify challenges inherent in face-to-face settings. Research has shown that online learning doesn't generally work as well as traditional instruction-and that students who are already struggling are likely to be harmed the most. Still, in recent weeks some experts and practicing teachers have offered pointers that can help remote instruction be as effective as possible.

1. Get students into the habit of participating. The initial challenge is just motivating students to show up or complete assignments. According to the New York Times, some teachers are reporting that fewer than half of their students are regularly participating in remote learning. In Los Angeles, a third of high school students aren't logging in. The problem is particularly pronounced among students from the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum, in part because they often lack reliable access to the internet.

Harry Fletcher-Wood, an educator based in the U.K.-where schools have also switched to remote learning- recommends a few steps that can help motivate recalcitrant students. First, he says, make goals and expectations crystal clear. Teachers should specify when students should show up and exactly what tasks they need to complete. Playing on kids' FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) can help. Emphasize how many other students are showing up, or-if that figure is dismal-at least highlight a positive trend ("More students than ever completed the assignment"). It also helps to ensure that students have a clear plan for when and where they'll engage in schoolwork. Ideally, participating in remote learning will become a habit-although that may take time; on average, Fletcher-Wood says, it takes 66 days for a habit to form.

2. Focus on content, not comprehension skills. Once students show up, the next question is what to teach. At the elementary level, some districts are having teachers stick to reading and math, making social studies and science optional-the same approach many schools take in face-to-face settings. If possible, teachers should resist that pressure. Hours spent practicing reading comprehension "skills and strategies," disconnected from content, are largely wasted. Focusing on topics in social studies and science-and spending at least a couple of weeks on a topic-is much more likely to build the knowledge and vocabulary that are vital to comprehension.

Rather than having students practice "finding the main idea" on disconnected passages, it's best if teachers ask questions that get kids to think deeply about nocturnal animals or the solar system-or whatever substantive content is included in the curriculum. And before leaping to questions that require analysis, teachers need to check that students have a literal understanding of the subject matter by asking, for example, "What is a nocturnal animal? ... How are they different from other kinds of animals?"

One possible way to get students interested, and build their knowledge, is to teach about the current pandemic. "They've never been more engaged than when we analyzed the flattening-the-curve graph," a 4 th-grade teacher, Callie Lowenstein, wrote on Twitter-and offered links to materials. But teachers may want to evaluate their students' levels of anxiety before delving into this pandemic or others. A high school history teacher who thought about doing a unit on the bubonic plague told the Times he reconsidered after learning that the mother of one of his students had developed COVID-19 symptoms.

3. Keep it simple. Simple, clear directions and expectations are always important, but never more so than in a situation where teachers can't easily gauge when students are confused. Some considerations are logistical: try not to use too many different apps or platforms or Google docs-or different classroom routines. On the substantive front, it's important to be cautious about introducing new material. Distance learning generally works best for review. Teachers need to concentrate on reinforcing what students have already learned, lest they forget it.

4. Connect new content to old and provide examples. Of course, given that this situation is likely to go on for a while, teachers will inevitably need to bring in new material. As with classroom teaching, it's best to connect new information to what students have already learned-or, if they've forgotten the context that will help them understand and remember the new material, let them know where they can find it. As education expert Paul Kirschner has said, "The most important factor in learning new things is what one already knows."

When introducing a new concept or skill, teachers should provide students with examples. They might show kids a math problem that is already worked out or a video in which they demonstrate how to solve it, explaining what they're doing and why.

5. Dole out new information in brief doses. It's always best to limit the amount of new information students are getting within any one session. That's even more true in a remote situation. According to some research, student engagement drops significantly when videos last longer than nine to twelve minutes. Rather than a 45- or 60-minute online class, provide segments of no more than 15 or 20 minutes, especially if the subject matter is new or students are younger. Breaking up the information and delivering it in shorter sessions-and returning to the same points later on-takes advantage of what psychologists call the " spacing effect " or distributed practice, which boosts learning.

6. Make online learning as interactive as possible. Students need opportunities not just to listen or read but to actively process the information being presented. Some platforms allow teachers to give brief quizzes and get immediate results. Even if teachers don't have that option, having students quiz themselves periodically or answer questions about when, what, where, or why something happened is a form of retrieval practice, which helps students absorb and remember the material. One high school English teacher, Jasmine Lane, makes recordings of herself reading a class text aloud and periodically asks students to pause the video to respond to a question she's posed. Ideally, teachers will not only ask questions but hear or see answers-and if they're wrong, either provide students with the right answer or guide them to figure it out.

7. Balance synchronous and asynchronous learning. Remote learning can be done either synchronously, with everyone online at the same time, or asynchronously, with students accessing the same lesson at different times. Synchronous lessons are harder to engineer and don't allow as much time for practice, but it's important to include at least some time when an entire class is online together. Not only does that allow for prompt teacher feedback, it enables teachers and students to maintain connections and feel part of a group-which is more important now than ever. And with younger students, asking parents to supervise asynchronous learning can be a disaster.

Even if it's impossible to implement all of these tips, bearing them in mind can help. And as we learn more about how remote learning works, we can try to do it better-because even after the current crisis is over, we may need to do it again.

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7 Tips To Help Make Remote Learning More Effective

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To be successful, remote instruction requires a lot of the same things any instruction does: clarity, review, checking for understanding, prompt feedback. But distance adds additional challenges, and these tips can help. The sudden transition to at-home schooling has found schools and districts at different levels of preparedness.

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Since the possibility of school closures first arose, we have been providing advice to schools about how they might continue to educate children and young people using remote tools.

Many of the teachers we have spoken to make the assumption that remote teaching would be conducted over video and the usual classroom experience would be replicated using webcams and real-time conferencing tools.

Picture this; a teacher and 30 children, each in their own home, using different types of devices ranging from smartphones to X Boxes, with internet connections ranging from 3G to fibre (or no device or connection at all), trying to take part in a meaningful learning experience. It's not impossible, but it is a great challenge and requires a lot of management. To give one example, unless everyone is muted, the background noise from so many participants can hugely detract from the experience.

Working in this way is an example of what is known as synchronous learning. The lesson takes place in real-time, as it would in a classroom, but in this case over the internet. We would suggest that for whole-class remote teaching, it may not be the most practical or effective approach, although it may work for smaller groups.

Importantly, some of the tools commonly used for video conferencing, for example Google Hangouts Meet, work on an 'all participants equal' basis, which means pupils/students could 'push' each other out of the meeting, and continue to use it even if the teacher leaves the virtual room. [ Update: Google have rushed out an update which gives teachers more control when using Meet. Find out more, here: https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2020/03/hangouts-meet-edu-updates.html?sfns=mo ]

Webinar tools such as LiveStorm provide a greater degree of control, with clear leader and participant roles, but these limit verbal discussion and feedback. Either way, synchronous learning is probably more suitable for older learners.

The alternative to synchronous learning, and perhaps better for the majority of digital teaching during temporary schools closure, is the asynchronous approach. Here, learners access teaching materials at their own pace. Teachers can provide materials, videos, links, sound recordings, screencasts and more, via a platform that is accessible online. These platforms are generally device agnostic and will be less dependent on the quality of broadband/wi-fi in the home.

Tools that support this approach include Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams and Edmodo. Primary schools might use Purple Mash and the 'to dos' that teachers can set for pupils, using the platform. These have a built-in recorder for audio instructions, and a deadline function.

Purple Mash supports 'To Dos' with built-in voice recorder

Of course, teachers could develop a hybrid approach where the learning is not completely asynchronous, but neither is it entirely synchronous. Across a school day, they might post a video or sound recording of themselves explaining something, and a task to follow, which is to be returned by a specific time. This might be an hour later or a week later, depending on the situation, but there is still some control over the pace and timing. Most asynchronous platforms support deadlines and even scheduled posts, where an activity is posted automatically at a given date/time.

Alternatively, they might base their teaching on the asynchronous approach but incorporate elements of video-conference based synchronous discussion, perhaps in smaller groups where it might be more effective.

Google Classroom supports scheduled posts and due dates

No digital approach will account for the fact that some learners may have no access to a device/internet connection. Clearly at this challenging time there is a risk that the disadvantaged are further disadvantaged and meeting the needs of all learners must be at the forefront of our minds. In a future post we will discuss resources for supporting learning without technology; recommending a blend of each.

Further blogs to read
Is there free alternative that can support your longer-term strategy before you invest in remote teaching tools? Teaching and learning with technology - synchronous vs asynchronous Remote learning: maintaining connections post school closure Covid19; how are schools planning to communicate with students and staff during school closures? Good morning class! Easy ways to use video and sound to greet your students How to run a weekly assembly via live video - step by step guide How to change which websites are accessible to learners in school for schools using HfL Broadband (HICS) The world from your home - virtual trips and visits for children and families to enjoy Chasing the rainbow - the joy of colourful science experiments Supporting positive learning behaviours at home School governance and the impact of Covid-19 Bridging the digital divide- how to help disadvantaged students stay connected

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Teaching and learning with technology - synchronous vs asynchronous

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Since the possibility of school closures first arose, we have been providing advice to schools about how they might continue to educate children and young people using remote tools. Many of the teachers we have spoken to make the assumption that remote teaching would be conducted over video and the usual classroom experience would be replicated using webcams and real-time conferencing tools.

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With schools shut down across America, K-12 teachers faced with a question many likely thought they'd never have to ask: When and how often during the school day do my students need to see me?

Distance education can be broken down into two broad approaches: synchronous and asynchronous. The former consists of the teacher offering a lesson to the class of students at the same time; the latter provides the student with tools to complete the work on their own time, and direct involvement from the teacher can happen anytime.

(For more details, check out this guide from Wisconsin educators, such as Diane Doersch, the technical project director for Digital Promise and a former chief technology officer in public schools. And read this guide from Educause about research on the two different approaches.)

The bottom line: Neither approach is sufficient all on its own, but there are situations and subjects that do tend to favor one of the two strategies. Experts say the best recipe for success is to mix the two-but in what proportions? And for which students?

Education Week put this dilemma in front of longtime practitioners and observers of online learning. Here's what they advised.
Don't waste students' time.
Asynchronous communications, like emails and text messages, can be useful for teachers setting deadlines, offering instructions or even launching a discussion question. Synchronous communication works better for brainstorming or more spontaneous conversations, said Susan Patrick, president and CEO of the Aurora Institute, formerly the International Association for K-12 Online Learning.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense to do a 15-minute lecture live," Patrick said. "Make a slide-deck, do a voiceover-have that delivery of content be done asynchronously so that you're actually using your time together in a videoconference to interact and share ideas and build off each other's ideas."

The added benefit of delivering a lecture in this way is that students can watch it at their own pace, rewinding if necessary if they feel like they missed an important point, or watching the lecture multiple times to make sure they understand the content of the presentation.
Don't go overboard with synchronous teaching.
It won't be possible for most K-12 schools to replicate the traditional classroom experience under the current chaos, but they can take lessons from it. Too much synchronous teaching-a lengthy Zoom meeting teachers expect students to attend in full, for instance-could be "overstimulating" for students and maddening for teachers alike.

Teachers also need to keep in mind the unusual logistics of the COVID-19 outbreak: Expecting students to be glued to their computers all day is especially unrealistic in households with more children than devices. So relying too much on this approach could contribute to equity gaps, with students who have easy access to technology getting an edge over those who don't.
Asynchronous learning offers pacing flexibility.
Fully asynchronous education can give students "ownership of their own learning" that isn't possible in a more traditional classroom environment, said Megan O'Reilly Palevich, head of Laurel Springs School, a private, nationwide, fully online K-12 institution based in California and Pennsylvania.

Jennifer Kolar Burden, curriculum director for the Illinois Virtual School, believes "almost every single piece of content can be delivered asynchronously," but it's ideal for the content to be presented in multiple ways: an interactive game, a practice quiz, a supplementary video. A wide range of optional activities will help cover students with diverse learning needs.

"You're going to have a lot of students who typically may not pay attention very well in class, and now they're supposed to pay attention to a recorded video?" Burden said. Some might, but others won't, she said.

This format can also be helpful for students who tend to take longer to complete exams, says Molly Yowell, an online educator and former digital learning specialist at the Indiana Department of Education. She has a 6th grader at home during the outbreak. "I think he's really enjoyed being able to take his time at home and not feel rushed by his peers as they all sit and wait for him to finish a passage or a math quiz," she said.

Give parents clear direction.

When making the case for asynchronous learning, O'Reilly often tells parents that, instead of spending roughly seven hours in a school building each day, students at her school can be learning 24/7. A student could choose to do all their English work on Sunday and all their math on Monday, for instance.

Parents will likely need to be more involved with students in lower grades. Asynchronous exercises for those students could be practicing their handwriting, letters, and numbers: "You don't want a kindergartener to be in front of a computer all day."
Synchronous learning can be a little more informal.
Teachers can conduct virtual "office hours" by inviting students to join them at any point during a couple-hour window, or they can arrange for a lunch period that students can join at their leisure, O'Reilly Palevich said.

Teachers can conduct virtual "office hours" by inviting students to join them at any point during a couple-hour window, or they can arrange for a lunch period that students can join at their leisure.

Real-time video or text chatting can also be useful for keeping tabs on individual students--"checking in on them, how are they, do they need help with something?" she said.

Synchronous experiences, even for less than half an hour, also allow students to check in on their fellow classmates and get assurance that their teacher is doing okay, Burden said. Particularly for younger students, it can be useful to maintain the rhythm of a traditional school day with an introductory chat, mimicking the transition from getting off the bus.
Some subjects work better in one mode than the other.
O'Reilly Palevich thinks English is the easiest subject to teach online because so much of it involves students thinking and writing on their own. Math is tougher, and might require the most synchronous periods for students to ask questions and see problems worked out at the pace that works best for them. It also gives students opportunities to ask questions in the moment, if they are confused by a teacher's explanation of a concept, saving them the frustration of having to wait hours or longer for a teacher to clarify a concept.

Complex subjects that tend to prompt immediate questions or dynamic discussion among students-like AP math or computer science, or world-language courses-also lend themselves to synchronous instruction, Burden said.
Asynchronous doesn't mean absent.
Online videos can help supplement a teacher's synchronous lesson and vary what students are experiencing throughout the day. Science lessons benefit from those video supplements to reinforce demonstrations of lab exercises.

Students might be hesitant to "bother" a teacher with an email or a call if they have a question, unless the teacher proactively offers opportunities for students to get in touch. Younger students might also never have considered that their teachers exist when they're not physically present with them in a classroom.

Yowell suggests teachers plan to meet one on one with students by phone or video chat "a handful of times a month."

Those communications are more effective if they're more personal than rote, O'Reilly Palevich says. Teachers can create a goofy video or use Bitmojis to keep the mood light.
Tailor instruction to your students' needs.
Some students are more prepared to handle asynchronous instruction than others. Montana Digital Academy, the state's K-12 online learning unit, provides an online readiness assessment that anyone can use, with several scenarios that help determine whether a student is likely to thrive asynchronously or needs more support.

Effective synchronous teaching can be powerful, approximating the experience of being in a classroom without the physical environment, said Bob Currie, executive director of Montana Digital Academy. But it's not foolproof. Some of Currie's colleagues who have taught via videoconference have "found it difficult sometimes to really keep people engaged. They may be listening but they may be kinda checked out."
Teachers: Don't get frustrated.
It will be tempting to get frustrated if students aren't paying attention during a live meeting-but Currie recommends patience, particularly during a time of heightened stress and anxiety.

Teaching asynchronously can be an adjustment for classroom teachers who are used to getting the instant feedback of students either appearing engaged in an assignment, or getting bored and misbehaving.

Online teachers serve more of a facilitator role, Burden says. Teachers accustomed to in-person instruction will get more comfortable with this role over time, whether they're teaching synchronously or asynchronously.

"You're not leading through the learning process, you're guiding them, you're pointing them in the right direction, you're letting them explore on their own," she said.
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Virtual Education Dilemma: Scheduled Classroom Instruction vs. Anytime Learning

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With schools shut down across America, K-12 teachers faced with a question many likely thought they'd never have to ask: When and how often during the school day do my students need to see me? Distance education can be broken down into two broad approaches: synchronous and asynchronous.