(MissionNewswire) In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, some Salesian schools are moving to distance learning when possible. Egypt, which as of March 23 had 366 cases and 19 deaths, closed schools in a measure to stop the spread of the virus. Don Bosco Cairo, with 860 students and 60 teachers, immediately took action to implement a plan to continue providing its courses. The quick and effective solution may provide to be a model for the many institutions that are or may find themselves in the same conditions.

“One has seen a noticeable sense of responsibility on the part of teachers and children, making this plan effective at all levels and meeting expectations of families,” said Father Pietro Bianchi, delegate for the schools in the Salesian Middle East Province.

The plan has teachers utilizing two platforms, Spaggiari and Google’s G-Suite, to share their lessons. Teachers share the topic of the lessons, streaming education through Zoom or Meet or video via YouTube with additional written material shared through Spaggiari.

Students follow the lessons remotely by logging in with the institutional account on G-Suite. Homework assignments are delivered on Spaggiari or the institutional email of the teacher.

Manuals for teachers have been created for the use of these technologies. A YouTube channel has also been created that explains the basic steps for students. The school also shares Facebook posts to keep families and students up to date with all the new methods. Other protocols have been put into place to ensure a smooth transition to online studies and that teachers, parents and students have the information they need.

In addition, the Salesian publishing house Edebé has moved to help Salesian schools move to online platforms for education. Edebé creates multimedia materials, develops digital content, and is a provider of integral educational services with management and learning platforms. Based in Spain, Edebé is active in various parts of the world including Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Ecuador and Mexico. Edebé is offering its distance learning services free to charge to teachers until July to enable students to continue their education from home.

Edebé’s learning environment EdebéOn provides a digital learning format with resources, exercises and an activity generator. Also, the EdebéOn+ environment allows teachers to customize the content, obtain personalized analysis in real-time with a virtual assistant and work with Google Classroom.

For school management, Edebé’s Esemtia platform provides customized solutions with a free integrated moodle (a computer environment for managing courses) which allows the creation of virtual classrooms between teachers and students.

Also, as a partner of the Google for Education group, Edebé offers free implementation of G -Suite tools and access to the advanced Hangouts Meet functions for meetings. To carry out this task, teachers will have videos, tutorials, online training or videoconference presentations available to help them adapt to different needs.

With all these tools, Edebé can help Salesian educational centers and teachers support youth and families during this difficult time so that students can continue to learn.

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Sources:

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ANS – Egypt – Distance learning: plan implemented by “Don Bosco Cairo” school

ANS – Spain – Salesian publisher “Edebé” joins educational community against coronavirus crisis

Salesian Missions – Egypt

Salesian Missions – Spain