Teachers across the nation have been expected to flip the switch to online learning when schools started closing their doors in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S.
“We have really great resources at school, but we don’t get to take those home,” said Sammy Brandt, a fourth-grade teacher in Jackson County, Michigan.
It has been a massive change for Brandt and other teachers, accustomed to interacting with students in a shared physical classroom setting. “A lot of teachers need patience and understanding,” she said. “They don’t even know what kind of things they need or what kind of things are available to them” when it comes to online learning.
To ease that transition, Apple is making its learning specialists available to all educators who wish to schedule free, one-on-one virtual coaching sessions. Apple confirmed to USA TODAY that its more than 100 educators on staff are available to help teachers – from K-12 through higher-education – hone their approach to online student learning and workflows.
Brandt, who has also started a pen-pal relationship with her students, said that one of the important factors both teachers and students have had to deal with has been access, an issue school districts have been dealing with in different ways including some providing students devices and internet access through partnerships.
“(The) direction from our district has been not to require any type of specific learning but to offer resources.”
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