美國威力塔斯學校探討遠程教育：異步教學方式

　　Greetings! My name is Scott Markley, the Classics Department Head at Veritas Prep School.

　　大家好！我是威力塔斯北京校區經典教育學部主任Scott Markley老師。

　　It is a blessing to be able to communicate with you in these challenging times. I wanted to take a moment to express my thankfulness for your continued support in your child’s academic career and explain the methodology behind Veritas’ decision to embrace the asynchronous teaching model afforded to us by systems such as Blackboard. It is my hope that, with this knowledge, you can help us continue to effectively teach your children while we wait for the health situation in China to subside.

　　首先，我希望能夠在這個艱難的時期，把我的祝福，通過這篇文章傳遞給您。我希望能借此機會，感謝所有的家長對孩子們學術成長的一如既往的支持。同時，也希望向您詳細的介紹，在此特殊時期威力塔斯學校所選擇提供的一種特別的教學方法：異步教學法，以及我們所使用的教學平臺Blackboard。我衷心的希望，在您充分了解它之后，能與我們一起更好的教育孩子，我們也會與您一同陪伴他們。愿中國的疫情早日平息。

　　You have been heard. The teachers at Veritas have heard the concerns you have with the online system. You are worried your child will not stay motivated to finish the classes without an instructor standing them up to answer one by one. You are worried that your child’s online education will be inferior to a classroom based one. You are worried that your child will fall behind in AP, SAT, or TOEFL skills and be unable to continue along the path they used to have. You are worried about how your child will learn, when your child will learn, and what your child will learn. Your worries are completely understandable and valid, and we as professional educators share all your concerns and take deep pride in finding solutions to all of these challenges.

　　如您所了解，威力塔斯的每一位老師都在關注您對于網絡教學系統的顧慮和問題。您會擔憂在沒有老師親身監督的環境下，孩子們是否還能自覺的完成課程；您會擔心在線教育效果不如課堂教育好；您會擔心孩子們的標化考試的準備節奏會被打亂；您更會擔心孩子們會如何學習、何時學習、他們能學到什么？您的擔心是完全能夠被理解、被重視的！因為，作為專業的教育工作者，我們也有著同樣的擔心與顧慮。為此，我們每位老師，都在孜孜不倦的尋求戰勝這些困難的方法，并且以此為榮、盡心盡力。

　　I wanted to begin with the reasoning behind the foreign teachers’ proposal for asynchronous teaching. “Asynchronous” classrooms are those classrooms where students access their education materials at their own time and pace without the need for teacher observation or presence(But we certainly will set aside office hours for live instruction and interaction with your child. And there are many uploaded lecture videos). At first thought it may be assumed this decision was made because of the time gap between teachers and students. With teachers in at least 4 different time zones, some as many as 13 hours apart, scheduling does become a bit of an issue. However, with competent and skilled administration, this scheduling is not the problem. Asynchronous teaching was chosen for three basic reasons that, I believe, make it superior to “synchronous” or live instruction.

　　我希望和您分享一下外教老師們倡議使用異步教育的考慮。“異步”課堂是指學生在不需要教師出席和當面監督的情況下，利用自己的時間接入教育資源進行學習的一種特殊的學習模式（當然我們會有專門的線上輔導和互動時間，以及充分的視頻內容）。或許多數人認為我們選擇這種教學模式的最大的原因是老師與學生之間的時差。誠然，老師們身處至少4個時區，甚至最大的時差跨度為13個小時，確實會讓排課變得困難，但是，對學校的管理能力和老師們的工作能力而言，這根本不是什么大問題。使用異步教育，實際上是我們深思熟慮后的選擇，我認為相比在線直播或同步教育而言，它也具有顯著優勢，這背后有三個非常重要的基本原因。

　　1.Technology. Believe it or not, Asynchronous classes provide an infrastructure which accounts for every student’s technological situation. If a student or teacher has slow or bad internet they cannot do a Synchronous class. A teacher cannot facilitate a student with a non-academic need while focusing on a video screen and presenting slides. Asynchronous teaching, and Blackboard especially, allow for students to access their information at any internet speed, at any time, and in an organized fashion. Students cannot lose or misplace a piece of information, as often happens in Wechat, and they cannot claim to have forgotten a due date because of the Blackboard reminder system. They can collaborate, discuss, and work effectively using Blackboard once they’ve learned it. Most importantly, having every student use a single online platform cuts down on the amount of unacademic learning they need to do. There is no switching between apps, switching between wechat message groups where things move quickly, or remembering multiple log ins. One platform makes it easier for your child to focus on what is important: their academics.

　　第一是技術上，不管我們相信與否，從技術可行性的角度上講，異步教育課堂提供的是一個適合所有學生的網絡學習平臺。周所周知，如果學生或者老師的網絡速度太慢，就無法支持同步教育。而一個老師如果只專注于對著屏幕的幻燈片展示，就無法幫助到一個學習能力薄弱的學生。但是異步教育，特別是Blackboard平臺，則能夠幫助學生們可以在任何時間、任何網絡環境下，依照老師做好的安排，來獲取學習內容。學生們不會錯過、或者搞混任何一條信息，完全不像使用微信那樣，學生們也不能找理由抱怨他們忘記了作業的截止日期，因為Blackboard有自動系統提醒功能。在學會使用這一平臺后，他們就能夠合作、討論、并且有效的完成學習任務。最重要的是，所有同學只需要使用這一種平臺學習，有效的節省他們花在學習之外的時間，比如，他們不用在不同的軟件應用、不同的微信群間來回切換，而且微信消息轉瞬即逝、容易錯過重要信息，學生也不用記住多個軟件的登錄賬號。這一平臺使您的孩子能夠更容易的只專注于一件重要的事：他們的學習。

　　2.Experience. Your child needs to learn how to succeed in asynchronous online classes if they wish to succeed in the American educational system. 75% of American Universities and 50% of American High Schools use Blackboard for online classes. 1/3 of all students in America take at least one online course in college, with this number growing every year. Using Blackboard, or any asynchronous teaching platform, will let your child learn how to use the program in a safe environment before having to do so during a high stakes course.

　　第二是經歷，如果您希望孩子在美式教育下取得成功，那么他則需要先學會如何成功的適應異步網絡課堂的學習。因為，美國75%的大學以及50%的高中都在廣泛采用Blackboard作為網絡授課平臺（見文獻1）。三分之一的美國學生都會在大學里學習至少一門網絡課程，而且這一數字在逐年遞增（見文獻2）。使用Blackboard，或者其他異步教學平臺，將讓我們的孩子在不得不面對大量的此類課程之前就能提前做好準備，在這個安全的環境下先掌握它。

　　“Education Giant Blackboard Buys MyEdu To Help Refresh Its Brand And Reanimate Its User Experience TechCrunch.” Accessed February 17, 2020.

　　https://techcrunch.com/2014/01/16/education-giant-blackboard-buys-myedu-to-help-refresh-its-brand-and-reanimate-its-user-experience/

　　“New Data: Online Enrollments Grow, and Share of Overall Enrollment Grows Faster.” Accessed February 17, 2020.

　　https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/11/07/new-data-online-enrollments-grow-and-share-overall-enrollment.

　　3.Differentiation. Asynchronous classes are best for Veritas’ at-risk and special needs students. Asynchronous classes allow gifted students to finish their work quickly and allows us to tailor harder assignments for them to do afterwards. These classes allow students with poor English to listen to and read items multiple times, at their own pace, and not have to worry about others pressuring them to move on. Asynchronous teaching, and Blackboard, allow us to tailor our lessons to your student individually. They let us talk in private to your child about their challenges and help them on their own time. Even now we are providing direct, detailed feedback to students that we wouldn’t be able to do in a synchronous classroom.

　　第三點是個性化教育。異步教學課堂既適合威力塔斯學習基礎薄弱的孩子又兼顧成績卓越的學生。異步教育課堂允許成績卓越的學生更快的完成學習任務，也允許老師來量身設計更有難度的作業給“沒吃飽”的他們。異步課堂可以讓那些英文基礎薄弱的孩子有機會重復的去聽、去讀這些學習內容，節奏完全由自己掌握，不用擔心來自他人的壓力。異步教學和Blackboard給老師們提供了很好的差異化教學的機會，它讓我們可以切身了解到不同孩子所面臨的學習困難，并且幫助他們學會用自己的時間去解決問題。而且，老師甚至可以提供更直接、更細致的反饋給每個孩子，這是我們在同步課堂中所無法做到的。

　　It would be unwise, however, not to address two major concerns you have as parents.

　　另外，作為一個明智的家長，您需要去解決兩個孩子在遠程學習時會遇到的、重要的問題。

　　1.Motivation. While they are not being watched, how can a student be expected to do their work? This is a real issue, but not one that Synchronous teaching would be much better at overseeing. Yes, synchronous classes force your child to sit and focus on one subject, but as teachers we cannot see what is on their screen, we cannot see what they are holding, we cannot police what they are doing or thinking/learning. Self-motivation and self-discipline will be necessary whether we were doing live or asynchronous teaching. Blackboard does help with motivation as it gives the student specific, clear goals for the week. Once students know that they are done with class when they finish the assignments, not after a set time limit, many are encouraged to work. Also, in an asynchronous class you may access your child’s work. You may use their login to see their classes and see when things are due(It is definitely your legal right to ask and share the platform account with your child). Blackboard gives you another way in which to hold your child accountable.

　　第一，孩子的學習積極性。當沒有人盯著的時候，孩子們會自覺的學習嗎？這是一個非常現實的話題，但是沒有任何的同步教課方式能夠在監督上做得更好。誠然，同步學習會強制您的孩子坐下來學習一個科目，但是作為老師，我們仍然無法看到他們的屏幕，我們不知道他們手里會拿著什么，我們更無法審查他們在做什么，或者在想什么、在學什么。因此，遠程教育之下，孩子們的自我激勵和自我約束才是必須的，無論是用同步教育還是異步教育。Blackboard這個平臺可以幫助學生有動機的學習，因為老師可以通過它給學生每周設定具體的、清晰的學習目標。如果同學們在任務時限結束前就完成了課上作業，他們會感到備受鼓舞。而且，在異步教育課上您可以看到學生的作業，您也可以使用他們的帳戶（這不是隱私，家長完全有權利共享學生的學習平臺賬號）來查閱他們的課程，并且看到相關的作業提交時間。Blackboard為您帶來的是另一種了解孩子學習狀況的方式。

　　2.Confusion. There are going to be times when your child is confused with an assignment. There are going to be times where they don’t understand what to do next. There are going to be times where the lesson is not clear enough and they hit a wall in their learning. How will they learn asynchronously if the teacher is not around to help? Asynchronous does not mean they are not in contact with their teachers. It means that they do the work on their own time. To assist your child in their studies, we teachers have all set aside office hours where your child may text, call, or webcam with us for live instruction. The school will be notifying you about teacher’s office hours in the coming days so that you can hold your child accountable for communicating with us during these times. We are here, with professionalism, and we won’t let your child be alone in these trying times.

　　第二，孩子的迷茫。孩子確實會遇到不清楚作業要求的時候、會遇到不理解下一步該做什么的時候，他們也會遇到因為課程講解不夠清楚而在學習上碰壁的時候。那么他們應該如何在老師不在身邊的異步教育課堂上取得幫助呢？異步教育不意味著老師與孩子完全沒有聯系，它只是要求學生使用自己的時間來學習而已。為了幫助孩子們，老師們已經安排好了固定的在線工作時間，來和孩子們通過信息、電話、視頻會議等多種方式溝通，給予他們即時的在線指導。學校將會告知您具體的時間安排，當然，您也可以在這個時候與我們溝通、去了解您的孩子。我們會在這里盡心盡力的陪伴您的孩子，與您和他們一同度過這個艱難的時期。

　　After the first day of online classes we have learned many of these problems and have dedicated ourselves to solving them. There will be a list of “pros” and “cons” for every educational method. There will be concerns about what is best for your child. Your concerns are our concerns. Your child’s success is our success as teachers, and we would never attempt to use a method or platform that was bad for their growth. We ask in this time that you understand that this is a learning process for everyone, that this is a challenging time for everyone, and that we are doing all we can to ensure a positive educational environment for your child. Blackboard and asynchronous teaching require your child to learn a new system, but once they have learned the basics it will open a whole new world of opportunities and experiences. And it will help prepare them to continue embracing American education. Encourage them to learn the system, and to push through challenges, as we keep trying to facilitate classes that are worth learning the system for.

　　在第一天網絡課程上線后，我們從遇到的問題當中學到了很多，也非常努力的去解決這些問題。在每一種教學方法背后都有著它的優點與缺點，我們因此會去思考，怎樣才是對孩子們最好的選擇。請您相信，您所關心的，也正是我們所關心的，同樣，孩子們的成功，才會是老師們的成功。我們永遠都不會為孩子們選擇無益于他們成長的教學方法或平臺。同時，我們也希望能夠得到您的理解，每個人的學習成長都需要過程、都會伴隨著挑戰，但我們一定會不遺余力的去為孩子們創造一個積極的教育環境。使用Blackboard與異步教學，需要孩子們去學習這個新的系統，但是一旦上手，它將會為孩子們打開一個嶄新的世界、為他們帶來嶄新的機遇與經歷，它將會幫助您的孩子更好的適應美式教育。在此，我們也會盡一切努力，幫助和鼓勵他們去學習這個系統，幫助他們戰勝困難與挑戰，確保他們能夠從這樣的課堂和系統中學有所值。

　　Regards,

　　真摯地

　　Scott Markley

　　Classics Department Head

　　經典教育學部主任