New Access Portal Allows Students To Return To School Remotely
Sonora, CA — As students remain unable to physically go to school centralized learning resources have emerged to fill the gap beginning today.
Tuolumne Superintendent of Schools Division Director Brian Thomas is letting the public know that over spring break, county educators have responded to the COVID-19 pandemics impacts on traditional classroom education by creating an innovative and collaborative response to the unprecedented need for remote learning.
It provides students with a means to universally access and engage in learning opportunities at home during the extended countywide school closure. Currently, county schools are physically closed at least through April 13, but with coronavirus cases rising across the state and Governor Gavin Newsom’s Stay At Home order in place until further notice, educators are planning for the weeks ahead
Specifically, grade-span work-groups working together remotely have created what they are calling Extended Learning Opportunities (ELO), which is hosted on the Tuolumne County Superintendent of Schools website.
“ELO is a centralized learning resource for students across various content areas and across all grade levels,” Thomas explains. “The daily lessons are created by a collaborative of teachers and specialists across the county. The ELO resources can complement a teacher’s already established distance learning and/or individual contact with their own students or may serve as a stand-alone daily learning sequence.”
Not ‘Home Schooling’, Remote Learning
This morning, hundreds of general and special education teachers began sharing the new platform to provide multiple options for county students including online, paper/pencil, broadcast, and other innovative methods to ensure students have access to educational resources and learning activities.
“We are especially grateful to our partners at Access Tuolumne [Comcast Channel 8] in including local educators into their programming,” Thomas acknowledges.
More than 60 high-quality, vetted resources and lessons are now available for access. “We are slowly starting to build a televised programming schedule that will include local educators reading stories, conducting science labs, hosting call-in homework help shows, field trips and other engaging learning experiences,” Thomas adds.
Teachers, students and parents can access the ELO website by clicking here.
