In the typical school-year, teachers and students would prepare for the year by purchasing expo markers, new backpacks, and 3-ring binders. However, 2020 is anything but the typical year, especially when it comes to school.

The majority of schools in the state are holding instruction either partially or completely online this fall. Teachers and students have had to learn to use different types of technology and software in order to hold classes online. Here are 5 different ways schools are using technology for distance-learning. 

Zoom 

Zoom is a video chat software that can connect teachers and students via webcam. Teachers can host virtual meetings in place for in-person classes and still be able to see their students’s faces. Zoom is a great place for lectures, small group discussions, one-on-one meetings, and more. We talked with Jackson Eiden who is a junior at Northwestern-St. Paul about what he thinks of his online Zoom classes. “It’s nice to still have that face-to-face interaction. It’s real time, you can ask questions, so that’s probably the best part of it,” said Eiden. This is a great way to interact with students in a way that almost feels like we’re back in the classroom. 

Recorded Lectures

Teachers can teach classes either synchronously, which means the class meets at set time, or asynchronously, which means students can do their work on their own time. Schools like Roseville are utilizing both methods as mentioned in this interview with school board member Curtis Johnson. For many asynchronous classrooms, teachers will pre-record their lectures using their webcam and then post them online for students to view on their own time. 

Virtual Town Halls

Because of all the schooling changes in 2020, people had questions, specifically the parents of the students. In normal years, schools would have held beginning-on-the-year orientations for parents to get their questions answered. However, in-person gatherings were not an option this year. Instead of on-site orientations, schools can host virtual town halls where school administrators can answer any questions and provide clarifications. 

The St. Anthony-New Brighton School District Virtual Town Hall was a huge success for both school administrators and parents. CTV helped the school district live stream their Zoom call on our website and Facebook, so parents and students could tune in to get information on the upcoming school year. This way, the school administrators were still able to answer parents’s questions while at a safe distance. 

Google Classroom

Google Classroom is another great tool for teachers to use to communicate with students. On here, teachers can post homework and any additional instructions. Students can then turn in their homework here, all from their computer at home. 

Take-Home Laptops 

To effectively do distance learning, students need a working computer at home that can connect to wifi. Since many students do not have access to their own computers, schools lent out take-home laptops for students to use. At Saint Anthony Village High School, upperclassmen like junior Caitlin Marsh were given chromebooks for online schooling. “If I don’t have the software on my personal computer or if you don’t have a webcam, you can get that with the chromebook. It’s just used for school work, so you can’t really get distracted by anything,” said Marsh. 

Whether your school is using one, two, or all of these tools, all of these types of technology have made school possible this fall. Although it’s not the classic desks in-a-row and black chalkboard school year, students are still getting the education they need with the help of technology.