Online learning opportunities and resources

At Fogarty EDvance and especially during this time, we are constantly looking out for useful resources and online learning opportunities that may assist to support EDvance schools and our broader FED Network. We’ve summarised a few of the resources below that have landed in our inbox that might be helpful for schools in the near future.

Pivot

Pivot allows teachers and school leaders to develop professionally through carefully designed, confidential, evidence-based surveys, services and reports. Through the EDvance program, Pivot has allowed EDvance schools a free trial to use the Pivot student survey.

Pivot wanted to let you know that they are ready to listen and can support schools to navigate the important task of collective and collating feedback from your school communities in preparation of a shift to distance learning. Ways that Pivot can help include:

• the new COVID-19 Pulse Check survey question sets to support you in a targeted collection of feedback from students, teachers and families. Pivot have surveys for preparing for a school closure and check-ins for once your school moves to a distance learning framework
• real-time, ready to share resources for all groups in your learning community to support preparing for school closure, including a student checklist and the home learning strategies for parents
• targeted guides and resources to assist your school leaders and teachers in preparing for a period of distance learning
• a distance learning version of the flagship Student Perception Survey with support for remote administration, launching at the start of Term 2.

Pivot are also providing free, limited access to our COVID-19 Pulse Check surveys – available to any school until 1 May. Personalised support and hands-on implementation will be made available to your network in order to assist them during this unprecedented era in education.

For more information about Pivot, visit their website here.

DataWORKS Educational Research

DataWORKS Educational Research was founded in 1997 with the single purpose of improving student learning. By observing and teaching in more than 25,000 classrooms, co-founders Dr Silvia Ybarra and John Hollingsworth developed the research-based Explicit Direct Instruction (EDI) approach to teaching. Since then, DataWORKS has steadily expanded, working with over 750 schools and districts, in 25 states, and in 10 countries. Since 2014, the company has been actively involved in training and developing curriculum for Australian teachers and schools.

DataWORKS is offering schools a free webinar to discuss using Educeri and Zoom/Hangouts and how to navigate teaching remotely. We know many of our EDvance schools have worked with Joe Ybarra and DataWORKS, so we wanted to be sure you received this offer.

For more information, visit their website here.

Evidence for learning

Home-supported learning during COVID-19: The Evidence for Learning team have created a dedicated area on their website, to assist educators as they prepare for, and deliver home-supported learning. It contains pages, regularly updated with:

1. Clear and actionable guidance on home supported learning, based on relevant evidence from our Guidance Reports and the Toolkits.
2. A new global evidence review and Australian-focused guidance on distance and online learning (developed in collaboration with led by our partners at the UK’s Education Endowment Foundation).
3. A directory of Australian education department and agency links, and recommended resources for educators that align with our best evidence.
4. Key learning concepts for parents to be effective partners in home supported learning.

Necessarily, these pages are limited to begin with. The team will aim to add new knowledge and insights as quickly as they can. For further information and to access the above resources, please click here.