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Student Groups for Blended, Hybrid, and Distance Learning

student group distance learning on a virtual call

This week, we are excited to announce a simple new way to do student groups for blended, hybrid, or distance Learning. Read on to learn about this exciting new feature in Kiddom for Schools & Districts.

In this article, we’ll cover:

  • 5 Solutions for Student Groups in Any Learning Environment
  • Student Group Chat
  • Kiddom Live Student Group
  • Coming Soon for Student Groups

Student Groups in Any Learning Environment

There is a lot of information out there about how to do student groups for blended learning, station rotation groups in socially distanced classrooms, as well as remote learning student groups.

But what we want to show you today is how to do student groups in a way that transcends to any environment – this new feature will be especially helpful for hybrid classrooms or those experiencing a lot of students going in and out of quarantine, which can make it hard for both, students, and teachers, to keep track.

“Kiddom has been a game changer for us. It’s such an easy transition from face-to-face to virtual without any content loss. There is minimal to no loss, because teachers and students are accessing the same material from the same place, without confusion. If school were to shut down tomorrow, we’re ready. We could all pick up our computers and say “We’re logging into Kiddom, and we’ll be fine.””
– Dr. Amy Whitener, 5th grade literacy teacher, Ooltewah Elementary 

Dr. Amy Whitener spoke at the What Matters Most: EL Education Virtual Summit last week when she shared how her school is using Kiddom for both, in person and distance learning students.

Dr. Whitener’s district (Hamilton County, TN) is using EL Education digital curriculum by Open Up Resources on the Kiddom for Schools & Districts platform. Because EL Education curriculum is very discourse-driven, it is important to have the ability to do student breakout groups, which can be challenging in the current pandemic.

But because teachers in her district are accessing their EL Education curriculum, building lessons and assignments, and communicating with students through the flexible Kiddom platform, they are able to overcome many challenges posed by the pandemic.

 

Five Solutions for Student Groups in Any Environment

When students access their expected assignments from home, or in school, they always see the same assignments from their Kiddom Timeline. Teachers can create assignments for student groups, whether at random, or by mastery level on a particular skill, which can all be accessed in the platform.

When a quarantined student needs to work from home, their teacher can simply edit the assignment for that one student, adjusting any in-class instruction for a home setting – for example, they might change “Read the excerpt aloud with a partner” to “Read the excerpt to yourself” – so there is little to no content loss or confusion for that student about what to do.

When a socially-distanced classroom needs to break out into student groups for some station rotation at a safe distance, students can log into Kiddom to see who else is in their group, and they can communicate through chat without leaving their desks, if needed.

If one student from an in-class student group is working from home, all is not lost! The student group activity can carry on as usual, and partners in the group will still be able to communicate with them in real time.

If you are wondering how to do student groups for full-remote classrooms, Kiddom’s new distance learning tools give you many options to do so. Read on to learn about the features in detail.

1) Student Group Chat

Teachers using Kiddom for Schools and Districts can now create a student group chat by selecting students from the roster. Within a student group chat, the teacher and students will be able to hold discourse-driven discussions, share attachments, and even record audio and video directly from the platform.

2) Kiddom Live Student Groups

Teachers using the Kiddom Live upgrade will be able to start a virtual call with student groups at the click of a button. Students will be notified once a call has started and can easily join from their home screens.

3) Coming Soon for Student Groups

Currently, teachers can create assignments for student groups from all plans, the paid plan or the free app, by assigning work by mastery level group, or by selecting students’ names when creating an assignment.

However, coming soon there will be an option for those using Kiddom for Schools and Districts to assign by the custom student group they created. They will also be able to customize the names of each student group.

There you have it!

We hope you’re just as excited about these student group features as we are to share it with you. If you’re interested in bringing Kiddom to your school or district, you can request a demo by clicking the big red button below.

Kiddom seamlessly connects the most critical aspects of teaching and learning on one platform.

For the first time, educators can share and manage digital curriculum, differentiate instruction, and assess student work in one platform with integrated tools for communication.

Thinking about bringing Kiddom to your school or district?

Connect with us in a 15-minute meeting to learn more about available pre-packaged curriculum by Open Up Resources, and how the Kiddom education platform can support your learning community.

Request a Demo