District 281 E-Learning Prevents Need for Makeup Days
The winter of 2019 has been one to remember, with Mother Nature packing a one-two punch of subzero temperatures and recordbreaking snowfall, shutting down schools in the process.
But in Robbinsdale Area Schools, they didn’t quite let students off the hook when the bitter cold set in.
“The cold days, the polar vortex days, those were the days that the district set up as e-Learning days,” said Karrin Kearns, a teacher at Robbinsdale Middle School.
Every student at Robbinsdale Middle School has a district-issued computer they can take home.
When the polar vortex kept students away from class, their teachers made sure those days didn’t go to waste, thanks to the new e-Learning program.
“We made it clear to the students that this was still a learning day, and that it was required to get the work done,” Kearns said.
First Year of E-Learning Program
And all that work could be done by going online and completing lessons developed by the teachers. This is the first year Robbinsdale Area Schools have tried e-Learning. Teachers say the early results have been positive.
“It’s a great way to continue learning without interruption, and also to help students develop self-efficacy and autonomy and workplace readiness skills that we really see today,” said Missy Davey, a French and ESL teacher at Robbinsdale Middle School.
Meanwhile, from a district standpoint, it means they don’t need to add any polar vortex makeup days.
“It’s been a rollercoaster, but it’s been a fun rollercoaster to be on,” Kearns said.
One challenge the district faced with e-Learning days is that not all students have internet access at home. In those cases, students were encouraged to access free Wi-Fi at public libraries.
