Three Ways Video Drove Classroom Successes the Past Two Years

A Video Introduction: It’s Here to Stay 

As the return to the classroom has continued, educators have quickly learned that there is no going back when it comes to the role of video in any classroom environment. 

The pandemic rapidly spurred a dire need for innovation in education. And video became an absolute necessity in order for K-12 teachers to be able to provide the best possible learning outcomes for students. 

💯 By the numbers: More than 100 million videos were created using Screencastify in the 2020-2021 school year. Screencastify videos were created in over 70% of U.S. districts, with one district alone making more than 425,000 educational videos. 

And now, more educators are expanding and redefining the value of video technology for in-person learning as teachers and students have returned to the classroom. In our ebook, you’ll learn how innovation through technology positions your district’s teachers for present and future success.

You’ll discover why video will continue to play a major role for in-person learning. And you’ll see how professional development will position your educators for continuous success during the ongoing evolution of video’s essential role in education. 

Read on to learn about the successes that were achieved during the pandemic and click here for our full ebook on how video powers in-person learning at any school district! You can also watch below to see how the role of video in the classroom will evolve.

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Successes during a pandemic 🙌

There’s a consensus that despite the unpredictability and unprecedented challenges, school districts and their teachers did many things well, making the most of a difficult situation during the pandemic. 

The lessons were learned often on-the-fly, but they were lessons that have proven invaluable even as teachers and students return to more traditional classroom environments. And it all began with flexibility.

Empowering adaptability ✍️

In districts around the country, there was a collective realization of the new barriers to learning and engagement that students faced. There was also an acknowledgement that there was an urgent need to be adaptable and address them. 

Teachers were brought into students’ homes in ways they had never been before and were given a first-hand view of distractions and interruptions that prevented students from always being able to join the class at a synchronous time. 

It also gave a closer view of what individual students needed in terms of personalized learning. This brought the need for adaptability and innovation which led leading school districts to respond by empowering teachers with the technology such as video creation tools needed to produce more asynchronous learning materials. 

💡Tips for Your District: How can asynchronous video improve student learning? 

• Individualized videos and assignments make learning more personal in blended, hybrid, or flipped classrooms. 
• Interactive videos help teachers gain insights into students’ completion of video assignments and understanding of subject matter. 
• Creating videos for frequently asked questions or topics that need repeated explanation frees teachers for more 1:1 time with students. 

Learn more about how video positively impacts students in our conversation with Ron Carroll of Chicago Public Schools below!

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Building on wins 📈

Whether it’s always visible or not, teachers must solve unique problems on a nearly day-to-day basis with their students. However, administrators and districts themselves were — and still are — also faced with solving unique challenges during the pandemic such as

• Varying amounts of devices for students and staff 
• Inequity in access to reliable Wi-Fi 
• The ability to provide technical support 
  

Districts were required to support teachers and students, and take a “meet them where they are” approach both in terms of their learning and where they are physically. These lessons often were unexpected, but also resulted in victories that can be applied going forward to continuously improve technology in school districts.

Listening is more important than ever 🎧

However, even when succeeding through new challenges and building on those successes, there will still be obstacles. And it’s important to foster an environment where it’s OK to be open about those obstacles. 

As Sarah Margeson, Coordinator of Connected Learning at Tippecanoe School Corporation, said this of lessons she learned during the pandemic: 

“As somebody who works at the district level, what I have seen is that we’ve given teachers and students and families the permission to say ‘I’m not OK,’ or ‘I need something’ … Then that permission led to the teachers being more innovative and using things that maybe they had access to before but they didn’t think about using it that way. 

“And then that innovation builds connections between teachers and students. My own kids had much deeper connections with their teachers last year than prior years because that teacher really needed to know the individual students and their needs and to be able to meet those needs."‍

Related: Learn more about how Tippecanoe schools leverage video for in-person, remote learning here!

And discover how video will revolutionize student learning across your entire district.

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