High school students hooked on computers during pandemic



Jamestown teenagers will travel into cyberspace, instead of crossing a bridge, to complete their schoolwork through next week.

As with all public schools across the state, North Kingstown and Narragansett high schools have enacted remote learning for their students through April 3, at a minimum, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

North Kingstown will utilize a hybrid of styles: synchronous learning, in which students learn together simultaneously in a lecture format, and asynchronous learning, in which the students will learn at their own pace through independent work.

For the asynchronous portion, North Kingstown students will work from assignments that have been posted by their teachers in Google Classroom. These lessons will include videos and reading assignments. For the synchronous learning, students will participate in live video sessions with their teachers.

“Students can log in and have a real-time meet with their teacher, and ask questions about the work they are doing,” principal Barbara Morse said.

In addition to Google Classroom, certain departments will use their own digital learning platforms. Math teachers will utilize IXL, for example, and business classes will use Ever-Fi.

“The things that they have been using will still be in use,” Morse said.

The due dates for North Kingstown assignments will be published through Google Classroom, as they normally were when school was in session at the Fairway Drive campus. Assignments also will be submitted through Google Classroom, although English and social studies coursework will continue to be submitted through the Turnitin website.

At Narragansett, principal Dan Warner said his school is using Powerschool, an online learning platform for students and teachers to interact through video and email. Teachers also will use the software to post assignments and grades.

“We’re going to try to keep it as normal as possible,” he said, “with the task and assignments coming from the teacher to the student.”

Classes will be in session digitally for Narragansett students from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be four one-hour block classes each day, just as on a normal day when students would be at the building. The only major changes to the day are no advisory and lunch periods.

At North Kingstown, Morse said students are encouraged to schedule their own day, as classes will not meet in their normal four-period rotation that alternates every other day.

“They log on first thing in the morning, get their assignments, and then they follow the schedule that we have for when their teachers are live,” she said.

Narragansett teachers can choose to have conversations with their students, assign lessons to be completed by the end of the period or a combination of both options. Students will confirm they are present for class by either participating in the discussion or confirming they have received the assignments.

“There won’t be a video component every single time, but there will be an opportunity through Google Hangouts or Zoom where the students and teacher can get together face to face,” Warner said.

Students at both schools will continue with the subjects and units they were learning in class before the buildings closed. For example, if a history student was learning about World War I, the class would continue with that topic digitally.

“Most of the teachers are trying to pick up where they left off,” Morse said. “It’s a little difficult because you have some kids who were absent in the couple days before we left class, so they might be missing some assignments, but the teachers are trying to stay with the curriculum.”

Special subjects, such as art, music and physical education, all have lesson plans at both high schools. Warner said the career and technical programs at Narragansett, such as agricultural science, also will continue with alternate lessons that can be completed digitally.

“Kids are going to continue their learning in those disciplines,” he said.

Both principals said discussions on COVID-19 would likely come up in class. Morse said the physical education teacher at North Kingstown hosted a conversation with students Monday about the virus and its effects on their daily life.

“They talked about how viruses spread, and healthy practices of social separation,” she said. “They incorporated it into their subject.”

If students at either school are ill and cannot attend the virtual classes or complete their assignments, their parents can contact the main office or their teachers.

“The assignments are going to be at their pace, but they should let people know that they are sick,” Warner said.

Students without Internet access at home will be able to arrange for services in both districts. Narragansett is working with Cox Communications to provide Wi-Fi to a group of students without access, while North Kingstown families can contact the school’s information technology department for details.