Two years into the pandemic, it's clear remote learning isn't going anywhere. Learn how remote access can help ease the burden on teachers.
COVID-19 has forced schools to get comfortable with distance learning, fast. While online classes and options have been around for over 30 years, never before have so many schools needed to support so many students in a virtual learning environment.
When schools went remote in March 2020, it was under the widespread assumption that remote learning would be temporary. In February of 2022, it’s clear that remote learning isn’t going anywhere, whether it’s due to pandemic surges or weather-related incidents. What many schools and families were introduced to as an emergency measure can also be an effective learning tool.
Whether as an emergency measure or a welcome supplement to in-person teaching, remote learning is here to stay. An Education Week report on remote learning shows that as teachers plan specifically for online instruction, they are increasing their efficacy with virtual tools. Considering this, institutions must provide teachers with the best tools to foster an engaging and secure remote or hybrid learning environment.
One such tool is a remote access and support solution designed with teachers in mind.
Remote Access to School Computers for Students and Teachers
Remote access has become the cornerstone of many professional lives during the course of the pandemic, allowing many of us to work from home. But remote access isn’t just for professionals working remotely.
Students use computers in school every day. If they can’t access the apps and programs offered in their school computer labs, students won't have the same learning experience at home. Unless they’re also offered remote access to the school network.
Without remote access, students are at a disadvantage, which further exacerbates the issues teachers are already facing. In addition to concerns over student behavior, cheating and connectivity, teachers also have to remember which tools students do and do not have on their home devices.
Remote access enables teachers to work from home with all the necessary resources at their fingertips. Grades, notes, a download of a student’s project, are all accessible from home—even if they're saved to a school desktop.
Facilitating Student - Teacher Classroom Interaction
As any teacher or parent will tell you, student-teacher interactions are integral to the success of any classroom. In the classroom, teachers can use Splashtop to control the lesson remotely, using a tablet to advance slides or show examples on a large screen while maintaining the freedom to walk through the classroom and speak to students one-on-one.
Splashtop Classroom: Both in the physical classroom and learning from home, Splashtop Classroom offers fantastic options for teachers and students to work together, sharing content directly from the teacher’s device to their students. Students using Splashtop Classroom can even take control of the lesson or share their own notes, keeping everyone engaged.
Mirroring360: Mirroring360 offers screen sharing and mirroring technology to bring cutting-edge experiences to any classroom. While interactive whiteboards can be cost-prohibitive, Mirroring360 provides the same connectivity. Teachers can share their screen to a projector or other available technology. Students can share their work with each other and instructors.
Val Verde Unified School District had experience using SMART Interactive Whiteboards, Interwrite tablets, and even Apple TV for screen sharing, and none where the simple, effective solution the district was seeking. Val Verde’s Assistant Superintendent of Ed Services, Michael R. McCormick, was impressed with the Splashtop tools the district implemented instead. He said,
“Splashtop creates enthusiasm; it gets to the heart of what Common Core is calling for. Technology like this is a force multiplier in education.”
An In-School Experience, Anywhere
By bringing the in-school experience to students wherever they learn through remote access software, schools can ease one of the many burdens on teachers.
Students may not have devices capable of running the powerful software they need for lab projects. On top of that, schools may not have the funds to purchase licenses for students to install the software on their home devices. Splashtop Enterprise for Remote Labs offers a powerful solution to both problems at once.
With Splashtop Enterprise for Remote Labs, students can access the school lab from home. Instructors can schedule specific time slots for students to access lab computers, maximizing their investments in specific software and tools. Institutions can maintain security too, as different permissions can be given to different users based on each classroom’s unique needs. Finally, your school IT team can provide on-demand support to students and teachers whether they’re on campus or at home.
Asheville High School students who were taking computer animation and game classes pre-pandemic, couldn’t exactly take their software home with them when they moved to remote learning. But with Splashtop, students had access to the school lab computers and the problem was solved. Their teacher, Kathryn Bradley, was thrilled with the change.
“Splashtop fills our need perfectly,” said Bradley. “We can do the full curriculum for the animation and game arts programs, using the lessons already developed prior to the pandemic.”
IT Support for Everyone
Finally, and importantly, remote access software that comes with IT support built-in means fewer disruptions to school time based on unavoidable tech issues. Instead of waiting for the school’s IT technician to get to a classroom and diagnose a problem, teachers can call a support hotline, connect to a remote session, and be back up and running in minutes.
What if teachers are working from home, or IT is not on campus? Support is provided remotely and can be done anywhere, so there’s no disruption to the classroom.
Simple and Education-Focused
Teachers are facing adversity on multiple fronts as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Making their lives easier is important, and as simple as investing in the right software. Named one of EdTech’s “Top 10 Student Engagement Platforms” in 2021, Splashtop is a trusted solution for teachers as they navigate the hybrid classroom.
It’s not just tech people that think so, teachers agree. 5th grade teacher Chris Parsons, of Columbia Elementary in the Val Verde district, said,
“Splashtop is a remarkable tool for improving teaching and classroom management … leave the desktop computer behind and mingle with the students while still controlling – and annotating over – the content …. then allow students to mirror their screen to the class.”
