by COVID-19 vaccines show promise to move us out of the pandemic state, but it appears that remote and hybrid learning may still be a part of K-12 learning as schools slowly return to in-person learning.
Through the CARES Act and the COVID-19 Relief Package, Congress is working to address the unprecedented needs of K-12 education. Most recently, the Biden American Rescue Plan has been effected to further help State (SEAs) and Local Education Agencies (LEAs) fill the gap, keep students and teachers safe, provide quality remote and hybrid learning, and safely begin to open schools again.
STAYING CONNECTED WITH STUDENTS
It is so important to keep students connected and engaged in remote and blended learning. As outlined by the United States Office of Educational Technology, CARES Act Funding may be used to support this effort. “There is much flexibility in how CARES Act funding can be spent, including to support technological capacity and access – including hardware and software, connectivity, and instructional expertise – to support remote learning.” Technologies that facilitate educational interaction between students and their classroom instructors are eligible for funding.
TECHNOLOGY FOR LANGUAGE TEACHING FOCUSED ON COMMUNICATION
Language teaching has evolved to where real-world communication is the focus with much less attention to the language parts. The Cult of Pedagogy podcast describes it this way: “Textbooks are being replaced with more authentic resources, culture is integrated in a more organic way across all activities, and there’s a much bigger emphasis on helping kids learn to actually communicate in the whole language, rather than just master parts of it.”
So how do you sustain the three modes of communication – interpersonal, presentational, and interpretive in any learning setting? Technology can assist with this. A teaching platform like LIVE Language Lab On-Demand is enabling language teachers to focus on L2 communication in synchronous classes from anywhere. The ability to pair or group students, have them work on speaking, monitor progress, and provide real-time feedback is a game changer. Students are now engaged and using the language every day. The learning model becomes transparent – whether it be in-person, remote, or blended.
YOUR SCHOOL DISTRICT MAY HAVE FUNDING AVAILABLE
The CARES Act, ESSER, and American Rescue Plan funds have been allocated to each state with disbursements to each local education agency or district. In fact, much of the initial funding has not yet been used and may be available for a technology platform to engage your world language students, keep you connected, and provide the communicative activities that are vital for student success.
If you need to see more about LIVE Language Lab On-Demand for your World Languages Program, we can fill you in on the details and let you try the teaching tools that have been designed for real-world language learning. Understanding the capabilities of this browser-based teaching platform and how it can benefit your students, can be extremely helpful in communicating your needs to your Department Chair, Principal, Instructional Technology Specialist, or others managing the allocation of federal funding for your school or district. We can help. All you have to do is ask.
Contact a SANS technology specialist at: moreinfo@sansinc.com or 877-285-7729
Additional information about how federal funds may be used to support world languages programs with technology please review our ESSER K-12 Funding Guide.
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