Best distance learning tools

Many of our children – and parents – have to cope with distance learning at the moment.

I’m always on the lookout for ways to make this easier. So below are some of the best tools I found. Please let me know of any you think are missing in the comments below. Since I live in the UK, these are mainly in English. There are some good tools suitable for the use in other countries too, so do read on if you are interested.

Firstly, data. Schools can apply for more mobile data for children that need it. Ask the school to apply for you if you need it: https://get-help-with-tech.education.gov.uk/ If you have 3 children and only 1 laptop to share for them, ask your school for one. The UK government currently has a scheme where schools can apply for them to lend out. If that takes too long – ask around.

Since children will be spending a long time online, it is a good moment to review your router settings to block out any content you don’t like, check your virusscanners are up-to-date. Also make sure your child knows what to do when confronted with something uncomfortable for them and help them by giving them the tools to feel safe online. I have spoken with many children about this (I teach computer science in a secondary school), and many are really worried especially about terms that come up a lot and they don’t really know what it means, like for example “hackers”. Check out https://www.childnet.com with them (for both primary and secondary aged children).

As a parent and a teacher I would like to stress that the most important thing to keep in mind is the mental health of both the children and the parents. Distance learning is a challenge for everyone involved. If the children come out of lockdown happy and ready to go back to learning, you have done a great job as a parent. Anything beyond that is a bonus!

For the very young ones (4,5,6 year olds) I would like to add that formal learning in most countries does not start before 6/7 years old, and that they just pick up the learning faster by then. I have seen this first-hand a couple of times in children that moved into year 2 from the Netherlands and Germany without being able to write. They caught up.

Good tools

Google docs – perfect to work on projects together
Kami: https://www.kamiapp.com/ – no printer – no problem. You can now work on pdfs on the screen and submit them digitally
Discord/Hangouts/Teams: the children can work together and talk together, in my opinion really vital for them at the moment. Of course, depending on age, more or less supervision is required.
Lots of books – when your child still needs a lot of help, but you have to work, they will learn much by just reading – spelling, grammar, & vocabulary to start with