Fairmont Schools Director DJ Clovis shares the standard operating procedures he developed to help over 100 teachers in his school network use Swivl every day for hybrid learning.

After investing in new hardware, district technology departments and administrators want to ensure that teachers make the most of their tech by fully utilizing it to enhance student learning.

During hybrid and remote learning, this challenge is magnified by the additional stressors, responsibilities, and tasks placed upon teachers.

Getting 100+ teachers moving in one direction

This was the situation experienced by Fairmont Music and Dance Academy Director DJ Clovis, who was tasked with helping over 100 teachers develop a smooth process for using Swivl every day as part of Fairmont’s hybrid learning set-up.

From a leadership perspective, DJ needed to get buy-in from all of the teachers in his school network in order to provide an equitable experience to all Fairmont students, whether they were learning in-class or at-home.

A Swivl-focused plan creates an equitable hybrid learning environment

Using a solution based on Swivl robots and markers, DJ observed that the teachers who had the most success were the ones who committed to using Swivl every day as a way to “get their teacher legs back.”

“Obviously, it’s more layers of technology, but at the end of the day, giving all of your students the ability to feel like they’re part of the class is the number one thing,” DJ said.

When Fairmont opened its door to students for the fall of 2020, they had outfitted 122 classrooms across their network of schools with Swivls to empower teachers to engage students for in-person and at-home learning.

How DJ helped all Fairmont teachers use Swivl everyday

First, DJ conducted training sessions to help teachers get comfortable with Swivl, create a routine for its use, and answer questions teachers had about its implementation. To streamline daily teaching with Swivl, DJ and teachers created standard operating procedures (SOPs) for how to set-up the Swivl and other tech in the beginning of the day, how to ensure everything ran smoothly during the day, and how to end the day effectively.

The procedures are broken down into three phases, listed below: Daily Set Up, During the Day Procedures and End of Day Procedures.

By using a Swivl as the center-piece of their hybrid classroom set-up, Fairmont Schools gives their students an experience that better mimics a traditional classroom, and connects them to their teacher and classmates.

In the summer of 2020, Fairmont School leaders realized they would need to teach students in-person and at-home for the upcoming school year. This meant they needed to develop a technology plan that would facilitate a quality, equitable learning experience for all students.

After exploring options for engaging students at home and in-person simultaneously, they realized most options would limit teacher mobility. 

When teaching in person, Fairmont teachers need the freedom to move away from the computer and move freely around the room. This was the best way to address students in the classroom and those attending live on Zoom.

Logistically, it was difficult to determine how teachers could give all students access to the multiple sources of video and audio that make up a hybrid classroom. They had several challenges, including:

• Teachers needed to project digital content to students in class and at home
• Students in class needed to see and hear students at home, and vice versa
• Teachers needed to flexibly move throughout the room while conducting class

A typical set-up using a webcam, laptop, or iPad would not meet their needs. Fairmont needed a more robust solution.

We strive to pave the future of hybrid learning, one Swivl feature at a time. We understand the necessity of having lots of options within one unified system which is why we have worked tirelessly over Summer 2020 to bring more live streaming options to Swivl than ever before.

When our users told us they needed to be able to see and hear remote students in their classrooms but also still wanted to deliver an authentic Swivl live stream experience to them, we developed integrated audio for PCs and smartboards. We did not stop there. 

Then when users shared that they loved integrated audio but really needed a wireless solution,  we took our expertise in developing wireless microphones to create Link. Link connects directly to your PC or laptop and wirelessly communicates with the Swivl robot to transfer audio and video to your device.

We also recognize that recording for asynchronous learning is still important to provide equity and access to all students so we beefed up some core Swivl recording capabilities, too such as Web Recording. 

To kickoff the school year, we are currently building three core features to make live streaming and recording with Swivl more seamless, interactive, and engaging for everyone: Zoom + Swivl Recording Integration, Marker Muting, and Rubrics with Scoring for Collaboration and Coaching.

Covid-19’s impact on K12 schools is well known but now we direct our attention to this year’s student teachers, both those still entrenched in their programs and those now ready to enter the classroom in Fall (read our K12 companion blog here). Challenges are ahead for preparing this valuable workforce as well as for the teacher preparation programs that groom them. With reasonable accommodations and easing of certification requirements from states, a savvy repurposing of existing resources, and some grit and determination, there is no reason student teachers shouldn’t prosper - whether they’re starting their profession at a new school in the Fall or beginning their clinical semester.

The first fact of the matter is that universities must reopen in the Fall. The stakes are just too high - the university system will crumble without tuition and students (and our economy) cannot afford to take a gap year as they prepare to enter the workforce. University campuses may look like what my local Trader Joe’s grocery store looks like today: limited to 30 shoppers at a time, mandatory face coverings, and sanitizing materials after each use; or what California’s beaches looked like this past weekend (like a good old fashioned college romp - shame on us). Whatever the case may be, when universities reopen, K12 may still be shut down leaving student teachers wondering if they’ll be left in a lurch to complete their clinical experiences. 

Some states - Kansas, Michigan, Texas, to name a few - are already easing their requirements for student teachers to complete clinical hours prior to certification. For recent graduates, some states are also issuing probationary licenses that allow students to start teaching and schedule their certification exam during their first year of teaching. But we’re also already hearing that some universities are worried there won’t be enough placements for student teachers in the Fall, especially if their partner districts remain completely remote.

We don’t want to lend credence to the assertion that there will be fewer or no placements because perhaps the strongest argument to be made for student teaching to continue their clinical experiences in the Fall is the most obvious one (spoiler alert): there’s a teacher shortage. If there’s anything schools need right now, it’s more hands on deck, not fewer. Also consider that teachers nearing retirement toward the end of this year who have never had to adjust their practice to the extreme shift by going completely virtual might decide to retire a little earlier given the circumstances, thus exacerbating this already critical issue. 

Student teachers (who grew up with iPhones in their hands) have for the most part been able to seamlessly adjust to online learning. Either they have experienced it themselves as recipients through their university or their natural inclination toward technology positions them to be tech-forward allies when it comes time to building virtual activities and lesson plans with their mentor/host teachers. 

Another positive externality for student teachers is the exposure to completely virtual professional development and collaboration with their peers. Professional development is more important now than ever before, but not every school district delivers it equitably and frequently enough. The PD of the future is going to be completely virtual, and we’re on board with this idea because we already have seen how K12 coaches and teachers harness the power and authenticity of video coaching to grow and develop as educators and leaders.

Still, we won’t 100% guarantee that student teachers will have a ‘normal’ clinical experience in the Fall. Whether students will be able to join a virtual learning environment with a host teacher or you’re faced with supplying them with alternatives, here are some ideas for encouraging high engagement and the use of video for self- and professor-provisioned evaluation.

This list is not exhaustive and over the next few months, we’re certain new challenges will arise; with that being said, as universities have been forced to adapt quickly and transformatively, we are equally as confident that more creative solutions will be brought to the table to enhance distance-delivered higher education. As we gather more research, we’ll update this blog and share more advice on our Twitter as well. Hopefully, these extraordinary circumstances will actually force the higher education system to make substantial changes toward their online learning programs and pave a more clear path toward equitable, and accessible education. 

Swivl Support Resources:

Live Streaming

Screencasting

Embedding to your Canvas, Blackboard, or your Preferred LMS

Recording Videos with Slides

Adding Slides to Existing Swivl Videos

As of the time of this writing, Covid-19 has closed many school systems down for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year and state and local leaders are deciding how best to prepare for an increasingly uncertain return to the classroom in Fall 2020. In a sense, this recent shift in thinking, leadership, and innovation sparked by the pandemic may end up aiding schools in their efforts to equalize and digitize en masse to meet the modern and diverse needs of learners. 

One of the first things schools should be preparing to do - no matter where Covid-19 leaves schools - is equipping students with devices and internet access so learners' basic access to digital curriculum are met. It will be difficult but necessary to do this and it must be done: just like a chicken for every pot, we need a device for every student and internet access points for as many families as possible. 

Beyond equipping students with devices, we also need to prepare for what’s to come, what kind of support systems students and teachers will need, how coaching will become pivotal, and what kind of flexibility and cooperation we will continue to ask of families. Here are two scenarios that we can easily see playing out in the Fall:

• Partially homebound: Teachers will be allowed to return to their classrooms to drive instruction from their own familiar classroom spaces and record themselves, while students will continue to stream their classes from home or watch on-demand. For this to be feasible, students will need 1:1 devices and consistent, reliable internet access. Teachers will need to further their alliance with parents to promote student attendance, participation, and maintain routines. 
• Hybrid: Some students and teachers, either due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, will continue to work from home, but a majority of those who are healthy will return to school. In this hybrid scenario, it is very likely that a modified school schedule will take effect. This will be necessary if social distancing mandates that class sizes are kept small. A modification of block scheduling will take effect where only a certain number of students are allowed to enter the building on certain days/times each week. Extra time would also have to be built into the school day for temperature checks, physical movement from classroom to classroom, spacing out lunch periods and recesses, and operating the school transportation system at a safe capacity to prevent overcrowding. 

Regardless of which scenario unfolds, schools will still be reeling from disruptions that occurred during 2020 Spring terms, and many students will need much more support than last year. Teachers will be expected to provide additional opportunities to broaden student learning outside of the classroom to bring everyone as close as they can back to receiving “normal” instruction. Flipped and blended learning models will enable teachers to leverage video and other technologies to serve their students’ varying needs. 

As these new enhanced support models roll out for students, professional learning and support for teachers must never be sidelined or forgotten. Teachers are navigating a digital shift in their instruction and delivery like they have never had to face before. Support is needed now more than ever: support for learning new tools, support for making the best instructional decisions given the circumstances, and support for sustaining positive relationships with each other, parents, and students. But that’s another blog post.

Swivl videos are uploaded to our FERPA compliant platform where users can take advantage of unlimited storage and share privately within the platform or embed to Google, Canvas, Microsoft Teams, or any other LMS. 

Wherever the winds take us through Fall 2020, Swivl will help every school member participate in authentic learning experiences through video and will help leaders sustain those experiences for years to come. We can help you design and implement the right combination of our tools that works best for your organization. Contact us if you have more ideas about how your school landscape will take shape and how you plan to incorporate video.