That’s why the district decided at the last minute to include in its $90 million bond proposal money for 1,600 cameraand-microphone rigs from a company called Swivl. follows teachers as they circulate in their classrooms, with the aim of creating a more dynamic livestreaming experience for remote students. Teresa Vazquez, a teacher in Fort Wayne, Ind., remotely teaches a Spanish 1 class to students at Monroe High School in Albany, Ga., Courtesy of Elevate K-12 system, and worked with city and state officials to help build fiber-optic networks in neighborhoods around the city. And after the district lost touch with one-fourth of its elementary students last spring, when most of the city’s elementary schools could offer only an hour or so per day of live instruction, officials decided to change their approach. During the first half of this school year, almost all of San Antonio ISD’s 3,200 teachers provided live “hybrid” instruction from their schools. About 30 percent of their students were physically present in the classroom, while the remaining 70 percent followed along remotely home. Still, there were problems. For teachers, trying to keep in-person students engaged while also remaining visible on-camera for remote students proved particularly challenging. “Our best teachers are very energetic,” Martinez said. “They asked for additional equipment, so they can move around.” Page 27 from “I want that flexibility, as long as we can show children are still learning,” Pedro Martinez, superintendent, San Antonio Public Schools. Martinez said the purchase is a longterm investment that can help his district maintain hybrid instruction, even after coronavirus-related restrictions eventually end. “I think the right mix is the reverse of what we have now,” the superintendent said. “My ideal is when we can have 70 percent of students in-person and 30 percent remote.” San Antonio isn’t alone. Ten percent of district leaders surveyed by the RAND Corporation last fall said they had adopted or were considering a similar hybrid instructional model. Another 19 percent said they were at least considering offering ongoing remote instruction, perhaps to specific subsets of students or to keep all children learning during weather emergencies. To make that vision more feasible, some education leaders are already pushing for state-level policy changes. Since the coronavirus hit, for example, the Texas Education Agency has allowed schools to include remote instruction when (continued on page 28) “Stronger Together!” The gear automatically
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