Giving Compass' Take:

• A principle from China shares lessons they learned while practicing remote learning during their successful transition to distance education in February 2020. 

• What are the tools necessary for remote learning? What kind of issues do U.S. educators need to think about for their more vulnerable students?

Read how school closures will impact students with disabilities during COVID-19.


As students left our boarding school in Shenzhen on January 17 for the long-awaited Chinese New Year vacation, none of them expected that an epidemic brewing in Wuhan would spread rapidly across the nation, preventing them from seeing their teachers and friends at school for the foreseeable future.

Some students didn’t even take their books home.

Now, 415 students and scores of teachers are in self-quarantine and haven’t seen each other face-to-face in over 60 days—but, gratefully, they are still interacting and school is progressing.

How did this happen? Simply put, the new coronavirus outbreak caught us unaware.

In fact, approximately 180 million Chinese students are currently engaged in distance education. With varying success, Chinese educators are continuing their teaching through distance education methods and tools.

As the principal of a Chinese secondary school that successfully transitioned to distance education in early February 2020, I have been encouraged to share tips for educators and parents for when a school closure affects you:

  1. Be optimistic. 
  2. Keep routines.
  3. Keep assignments simple. 
  4. Use video. 
  5. Hold virtual class meetings, but make them optional. 
  6. Carefully choose digital curriculum
  7. … but limit screen time. 
  8. Focus on healthy living
  9. Involve parents. 
  10. Consider a learning management system. 

 Read the full article about lessons from China in remote learning by Leland Anderson at EdSurge.