IGS_Online

“As an EdTech Coach, I am thrilled with how much motivation and without any objections the teachers of all ages have switched their lessons to igs_online. Above all, the size of the teaching staff and the mostly manageable class sizes made a quick and efficient changeover possible. Both teachers and students were able to fall back on their many years of experience at the IGS with the Google Suite for Education and by combining several applications, the planned transmission of the subject matter and often even different social forms could be retained.

As a team, igs_online has certainly welded us together and promoted the exchange of experience and working methods. Despite the sense of achievement, we look forward to welcoming the students again soon in more than two dimensions.

By the way: As a DAF / DaZ responsible person, I have been publishing a weekly DaF newsletter with online resources for the pupils for 3 years. You can find the latest issues here.“

“Even in elementary school, online lessons can be implemented sustainably and profitably for all parties. Unlike in secondary school, you cannot of course convert the timetable directly into an online timetable. In contrast to lessons in the real classroom, it is important to divide large classes into smaller groups for online lessons. The group size should not exceed seven for high performing students. An optimal group size is 3-6 learners. Experience shows that a learning group that is as homogeneous as possible facilitates online teaching and enables lessons to be adapted to the group, so that the teachers can focus on topics specifically relevant to those groups.

As already mentioned, an adapted timetable must be created for online lessons. So-called core times have proven their worth. For grades 1 and 2, a work phase of 30 minutes, followed by a 15-minute practice phase, seems to make sense. The contents of the timetable are also reduced to the so-called core subjects German, Mathematics, specialist knowledge and English, which can be easily covered online. It is interesting to note that the teaching phases, which serve to create rhythm, hardly differ from the real teaching, in which a ritualized entry into the lesson as well as a joint conclusion means, in addition to the educational value, also a check of attendance.

Contact with parents and close communication with them is an important feature of good online teaching. If necessary, there can be short information letters with general information and homework every day. Close cooperation to support the students is particularly important in class 1. For older classes (3 and 4) there is an email at the beginning of the week with link tips, announcements of important tests and class work to the parents. At the end of the week, parents receive a short summary of the week. Alternatively, communication via Seesaw is an option. Messages to parents, private messages, posts for the students, information about homework, weekly assignments, use of new websites and apps as well as reminders of forgotten tasks run through this application.

The question of selecting the right application arises in those classes in which no ICT lessons have yet taken place. For grades 1-3, Skype is the ideal starting point. Most parents have a Skype account, so setting it up is little or no problem. The screen can be split edited. Google Meet with grades 3 and 4 has also proven its worth. No registration is required. The first session can take place together with parents and pupils via a link to the parents. In the first session, rules and technical skills are discussed. The screen can also be shared with Google Meet, which facilitates the visualization, especially in DaZ / DaF and worksheets can be edited one-to-one on the screen.

In order to make things easier for parents and pupils, the smallest possible number of apps should be used within a class. So don’t switch between Google Meet and Skype. Alternatives would be Zoom, Webex or Teamviewer. We don’t actually need the functions these applications offer for primary school students.