Education meet new challenges head on
Education manager Joe Williamson says clarity and structure have been the key elements during the transition to remote learning – for both staff and students.
Joe, who has six years’ experience with online educational platforms across various Premier League and Championship football clubs and Foundation settings says those two factors are the most important when adapting to remote learning.
“Through the production of the Staff and Student guides for remote learning we have been able to give clarity and structure to everyone’s working week.
“You can also see the wrap around care that the Education department provides for its students and each other.
“Every week the team will meet online and we always start by asking ‘how are you?,’how was your weekend?’ and ‘tell us two things you enjoyed about last week?’
“This is something we want to echo with the students and that is why we have full time learning mentors who engage with students on a daily basis to check on their personal well-being.
“It is very easy to start feeling isolated and alone.
“The key to being a great educational specialist is providing a combination of the subject specialism and transfer of knowledge with the ability to build rapport and encourage engagement with students of all ages and abilities on a personal level.”
Over the past three weeks, the Sheffield United Community Foundation have been trialling out different platforms and methods of teaching with the aim of rolling out a user-friendly guide to learning ready for the summer term.
“Creating a user-friendly guide for both staff and students will help to give the clarity and structure that we have all lost during these unprecedented times
“Using Google Hangouts has also allowed a form of education hotline where students can contact any member of staff for support, with every one of our fantastic team agreeing to reply as soon as they possibly can no matter the day or time.
“Having timetabled sessions, personal conversations, educational rewards and a strong relationship with parents will help our students not only complete their studies, but surpass their targets by maximising their potential in this unique situation.”
The Sheffield United Community Foundation will continue to use Google for Education for the remainder of the 2019-20 aaademic year, and the PDFs below are free to any education establishment who wishes to make best use of them in their own organisations during this difficult time.
Joe Williamson is happy to support anyone who is new to setting up these systems.
Please contact joe.williamson@sufc-community.com should you have any Google Education queries.