4 Ways to Help Students Adjust to Flexible Learning
Occasional shifts to remote learning have become a fact of life for many students. Now the biggest challenge is making sure every student is prepared to adjust to constantly changing learning environments. Here are four ways educators and schools can help students adjust to flexible learning. 
Take-Home Internet
For some students, staying connected to the internet outside of school is a challenge. If external pressures suddenly force schools to go remote, students may not have the resources they need to make sure they can connect to virtual classes on short notice. By providing mobile hotspots for students, schools take an important step toward ensuring that every student is prepared to continue their education remotely. As an added bonus, by providing students with mobile hotspots, schools remove the financial burden from families that might otherwise struggle to pay for the device and data service.
Drive-Up Internet Access
Even with a mobile hotspot, some students live too remotely to connect to the internet from home. To help these students stay up to speed with their peers, schools can install mobile hotspots for schools that provide convenient drive-up internet access. Some schools even install these devices in school buses to provide after-school internet access to students as they travel home. While these hotspots don’t come with the same level of convenience as having a hotspot at home, they do provide students a place where they can be guaranteed to have access to the internet.
Low-Cost Internet Capable Devices
While providing students with access to the internet is a major part of letting students continue their education remotely, it’s only half of the equation. For mobile hotspots and drive-up internet access to be an option, a student must first have a device capable of connecting to the internet. Without a laptop or tablet to connect to virtual classes, a student can quickly fall behind. Some government programs and grants help reduce the cost of purchasing these devices for schools. For quick learning adjustments, there are device refurbishment programs that supply educational institutions with laptops, tablets, and other electronic devices that have been donated and repaired. These devices are a low-cost option to help students facing a technology hardship continue their education remotely.
Online Textbooks
Whether it’s a surprise snow day or a quick shift to extended remote learning, with online access to textbooks, students will no longer be stumped by books forgotten in lockers or desks. Books are an integral part of primary and secondary education. With online textbook access, schools can be sure that their students have access to the information they need at all times. For teachers who must suddenly plan to teach remotely, knowing their students have access to online textbooks will allow them to continue their lesson plans with minimal interruption and ensure students stay on their educational track, ready to pick up where they left off in person.
Remote learning might be here to stay. Schools that continue to work to meet their students’ technological and educational needs will set their students up for success regardless of where their learning takes place.
