Snow Days and Technology

In response to the question: "how could schools be using technology in more meaningful ways to avoid snow days? What kind of skills or training might teachers need? What about the digital divide?" I believe the following:

1) Schools could have a blog or website set up for students to post comments to in reponse to prompts or questions. Individual classes could have their own blogs or websites set up for their students to log in and post comments on either assignments, reading prompts, or responses to other students' posts.

2) Using a blog for individual classes could help teachers keep student's minds on the material being taught and maintain focus for when they return back to the classroom. Teachers could customize the content of their blogs to include relevant discussions, such as incorporating statistics on school closures into a math class or a creative writing response to the weather for an english class.

3) Some schools have programs that allow for individual students to check out a laptop to use for the school year. Use of these laptops require consent forms on part of the student and parents as well as a cash deposit in some cases (as is the case in my sister's middle school). Such programs would address the digital divide and allow students to access content either online from home or in the event that the internet is not available online, word processing documents downloaded prior to the snow days  could provide students with access to the material and provide digitail responses to be reviewed upon returning to the classroom.

4) The digital divide is an especially hard chasm to cross especially in small communities where per capita income is low. However, schools can be creative in addressing this issue by offering laptop programs, or collaborations with local public libraries to encourage student use of online resources.

5) Finally, teacher training is a definite consideration when using technology to avoid missing out on content during snow days. Digital software usage and introductions to blogs and other online resources would need to be incorporated in to annual teacher training programs. Teachers would need familiarity with facilitating online discussions, preparing digital lessons, and encouraging proper online etiquette. Teachers would also need to be adept at introducing parents to the online world, especially when the parents have no computer experience. Handouts and explanations would need to be tailored to the needs of the students and their families.