E-Learning Information

e-Learning Update - April 6, 2020


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Dear Maranatha Community,

I last spoke to you at the beginning of our eLearning program. Since we wanted to limit our changes in the wake of going to eLearning, for 3 weeks we've maintained a class schedule very similar to what the students might have experienced at school. We have learned a lot in that time. We have been in constant communication with our faculty and fellow professionals. We’ve listened to your feedback, and we are very grateful for your openness in last week's survey.
I last spoke to you at the beginning of our eLearning program. Since we wanted to limit our changes in the wake of going to eLearning, for 3 weeks we've maintained a class schedule very similar to what the students might have experienced at school. We have learned a lot in that time. We have been in constant communication with our faculty and fellow professionals. We’ve listened to your feedback, and we are very grateful for your openness in last week's survey. 

So, as we move into the second phase of eLearning starting on April 20 we are going to make three changes that we think will be best for our Maranatha students. One, we’re going to slow down the pace by having fewer classes per day. Two, we are going to be giving students the opportunity to engage in school life in a way that we have not been able to do yet. We are especially excited about that feature. Three, we are extending the deadline for daily work into the evening, a move that we hope also benefits our international students back home in China. Remember, we are starting these changes on April 20. 

As for the schedule beginning that day, we are going to a simpler schedule with a better rhythm for students. CLICK HERE to view the schedule for April 20 to May 1. The same four classes—periods 1-4—one day we will call A DAY, and the same three classes—5, 6, and 7—the next, which we will call B DAY. Each class period is now 75 minutes. School will always begin at 9:00 a.m. and school will always end at 3:00 p.m. We have added more break time and any live sessions will only be held within the timeframe given for that class. On B DAY, time is set aside between periods 6 and 7. One of the days we have extra time for school work and it gives teachers an important time to meet together, plan together, communicate, prepare, and to grade. On the other B DAY, we are setting time aside for chapel and advisory and announcements and special student life events. We hope this breathes some new life into our long days at home. Look for future announcements regarding MHS LIFE. 

We are making a third change:  We are extending the classwork deadline past the 4:00 p.m. deadline. We will announce more specifics on April 20. The 4:00 p.m. deadline has created predictability for us these past few weeks but it has been clear to us that it is time to relax this deadline, which was confirmed in the parent and student surveys last week. This will also help those students in our Maranatha family who are now home in China.  

About the survey:  Thank you for the feedback. We certainly appreciate your support. We have talked about all of your concerns and I’ll address a couple of them here. Some of you have wondered why we do not have all of our classes live. We studied this very question even before eLearning started and the research overwhelmingly supports learning which does not just rely on live classes, although live classes are important. Called ‘asynchronous’ learning, it gives the teacher a chance to teach the material in many different ways, and it gives students options to work in a way that can be most effective and efficient. In this model, students should not be learning the material on their own and teachers need to be available for guidance. We are also aware that many families experience issues with WiFi, accessibility to computers, and responsibilities at home. We also had a question about teachers only having four office hours per week. During the time allotted for the class, teachers are available for their students, as well as during office hours. Yes, we do try to reply to time-sensitive emails the same day and have a 24-hour policy otherwise. 

Some of you have shown concern about the workload, others wish it were more. But what all of us are not surprised about is that the two biggest difficulties the students face are time management and distractions. This is a whole new way of school that was thrust upon us. I make a couple of comments about that in my additional notes below. 

In the notes below I included a few more items from the survey and included some very important information about Advanced Placement, eLearning assessments, and final exams. I also think it would be good for you to know the sorts of things we are talking about at Maranatha these days. 

I will communicate with you every week of school from this point forward. Have a great day, a good Easter Break, and we hope to see you well when we come back to Maranatha eLearning on April 20.

For additional notes about final exams, AP administration, assessments, and other information please CLICK HERE.

Blessings,

Tim Fenderson
Academic Dean
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