Making the Transition to Distance Learning By Alex Northrup, Director of The Innovation Lab; Department Chair, History When Foxcroft moved classes online in March we already had two important elements in place. First, the School uses a Learning Management System (LMS), so students were accustomed to logging into a website to see their assignments and class materials. Second, we had spent most of the year in the classroom, so the relationships between students and teachers were well-established. Still, faculty faced significant challenges in order to continue delivering high-quality instruction. Specifically, classes would need to be asynchronous to accommodate students living across the globe. In addition, much of Foxcroft’s pedagogy is based around students working together to solve problems — a learning strategy that can be difficult when students are not physically together.
technology and tools. Our teachers use Zoom but mostly as participants, so we needed to educate them on scheduling and running Zoom meetings. We also held a training in Loom, a tool that can record your computer camera and screen with voiceover. Faculty are using these tools very effectively to record short lectures that students can watch independently and then bring questions to their teachers during online tutorial periods. Additional training was also provided on our LMS to emphasize those aspects that would facilitate distance learning. Finally, we offered instruction on tools such as Flipgrid, an app that records short videos using your phone or computer, that make asynchronous interaction between students and teachers easier. We miss seeing the girls on campus, so using these technologies to see their faces has brought joy to the faculty.
To overcome these challenges, Foxcroft held 15 different workshops to train teachers and staff on a variety of
Whether the fall semester begins online or in person, we are building on the lessons learned from our weeks of distance learning and feel confident that we have the tools and the experience to continue to deliver the hallmark Foxcroft education and experience.
Virtual Student Center: Creating Community From a Distance
The heart of our culture is in our community — the people, the values, the intentional events, and the programming that celebrate student voices and bring us all together. It was clear that we needed a place for gathering — both formally and informally.
By Emily Johns, Assistant Head of School for Student Life When the Office of Student Life realized that Foxcroft would need to quickly move to a virtual learning experience, we immediately began to brainstorm innovative ways to keep our students engaged in community life even though they were not on campus. During the early days of distance learning, we held a Student Council meeting where the students expressed how much they would miss the community — those intangible moments that made Foxcroft feel. . . well, Foxcroft. They (and we) would miss hanging out in the Student Life Lounge, eating lunch on the Senior Porch, and visiting the Learning Center or the Club House to ask a question. They would also miss the election process — the speeches, the candidate profiles on the bulletin board, and the fun, celebratory announcements.
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Thus, the Virtual Student Center was born! Here students can find weekly schedules, games, Zoom links, and even student videos. They can pop over to the “Club House” for virtual club events or to the “Leader Lab” for resources curated to teach and reinforce Foxcroft’s essential leadership skills. They can visit the “Wellness Center” for inspiration — from videos to challenges and tips for self-care. And for our seniors, we created the “Senior Porch” to celebrate college choices and watch heartfelt videos from New Girls to their Old Girls who are missing them and wishing them well. While it is certainly not the same as seeing each other face-to-face, the Virtual Student Center has become vital in delivering some essence of the Foxcroft community and traditions to our girls.
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