Providing an Effective Online Learning Solution in the Context of the Digital Divide

A recent conversation with an adult education teacher has brought to light various challenges as campuses shift from face-to-face to online classes. Millions of college students are no longer attending classes after chancellors notified students of the many college and university closures. This narrative is happening nationwide as faculty were tasked with a “transition week” to prepare for fully online instruction. 

Within days, college campuses devised transition strategies using the campus LMS and video conferencing to replace face-to-face instruction and put them online. As a significant amount of face-to-face learning is highly experiential, one concern is the digital divide as many students rely on free WiFi hotspots to complete their course work. Another concern is, while some faculty are experienced online instructors, many have never taught in an online environment or ever really used their institution's LMS. 

To guide instructors who are faced with this transition, especially those not experienced in online instruction, the Poynter Institute recently held a webinar offering tips for engaging with students. Creating an inclusive experience when converting to remote instruction brings some challenges. During this transition, any type of approach to hold students' attention longer online is important given the differences from live instruction.

Nationwide, college faculty have surveyed their students in preparation for the move to online instruction. As a result, many instructors discovered a lack of access to high-speed internet, and a majority owning only a Smartphone.

Before this pandemic, individuals could go to their campus library or a coffee shop to use the WiFi. In the current context, students have expressed concerns about their health and safety if they were to go to public settings. Access to free WiFi hotspots across cities is no longer an option. Students are also very concerned about the effect this will have on their grades.

This rapid transition to online has some educators worried that it might disproportionally impact underserved students and widen the academic achievement gap.

To address these concerns, Tradepal has come up with a two-modality approach:

1) a centralized course listing to connect all participants in one place via sync/async chat,

2) a free conference dial-in to deliver the lesson.

During this transition, Tradepal is giving immediate and complimentary access to its online learning platform for the rest of this semester to colleges that need to take classes and tutoring online. This will help colleges deliver remote instruction to all students with full access irrespective of the devices or high-speed internet. The platform works on any device -- smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop, and there is no need to download anything to access the solution. 

Steps for Setting Up Remote Teaching/Tutoring

Step 1. Set up an audio conference call line to hold weekly live lessons. Inquire whether your institution has a subscription to an audio conferencing service. If not, here’s a free option: 

• FreeConferenceCall.com create a dial-in number to hold audio-only lessons with your class (up to 1,000 participants). 

Once you create the account, add the dial-in number and access code within the “Description” section in the course module created in Step 2.   

Step 2. Create a free account on Tradepal’s remote learning platform to support taking your course online. The platform facilitates sync/async group chat and 1:1 chat between instructors and students within each course module. Chat threads are archived for each course to insure continuity and allow students to access them anytime anywhere:

• To create a module, simply join the platform and create a listing by selecting List Course from the right-hand drop-down menu. Add your course heading (for example: the course name and number), the subject area, a description, a banner image, some keywords, your campus location, and up to three attachments then list. Make sure to add the Audio Conference call instructions within the “Description” section and clarify the important details about the course. 

To create a free module visit: https://tradepal.com/continuity