Syracuse University is offering special training for teachers in the Syracuse City School District who will engage in online learning this school year. 270 teachers in the district are taking the training, as they get ready to return to a virtual classroom.
Superintendent Jaime Alicea said the district faces many challenges this year, and is happy to have a partnership that also includes the Allyn Foundation and Blackboard INC.
"This is taking the teachers from the beginning of how to develop an online lesson, how to use resources, how to collaborate with each other, so it’s a little different from what we’ve done in the past," Alicea said. "But we’re also doing similar training for all the other teachers in the district."
Alicea said one of the biggest challenges of a phased-in hybrid model of education in a poor urban district, is making sure kids have the computers and connectivity to learn remotely.
"We are working very hard, and we’re going to be able to provide a laptop to every student who needs it, and we’ll provide a hotspot to families so they’ll be connected," he said.
The new school year in Syracuse gets underway September 14, and the first three weeks of classes will be held exclusively online.
