The Learning at Home Summit with WJCC and WRL August 24, 2020
Williamsburg Regional Library to Host Learning at Home Summit to Address K-12 Virtual Learning Needs
The upcoming school year is going to look significantly different for many local families, and Williamsburg Regional Library is preparing to support that transition with a Learning at Home Summit that will address some of the challenges and opportunities that virtual learning presents.
The Learning at Home Summit, taking place on August 24 over Zoom, will feature remarks from Dr. Amy Colley from William & Mary’s School of Education as well as presentations from both WRL and Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools staff.
It will include an elementary school session and a middle and high school session, both of which will be focused on sharing information about what virtual learning will look like and what resources are available to support students, families, and teachers as they navigate this new system.
“Though many families had some experience with virtual learning this past spring, beginning the school year online presents a whole new set of challenges, and people are understandably anxious about what their child’s school day is going to look like and how their individual learning needs are going to be met,” said library director Betsy Fowler. “The purpose of our Learning at Home Summit is to assuage those anxieties by giving parents and kids an opportunity to hear first hand all the ways both the school district and the library can support them through this.”
Both sessions of the summit will follow a similar structure. Colley will kick things off with information about best practices for creating an online learning environment, followed by staff from WJCC Public Schools, who will share details about how virtual learning will be structured and what the online classroom interface will look like. Then Melissa Simpson from WRL will highlight various physical and digital resources that the library can provide to support both students and teachers, including research tools, ebooks, and more.
The sessions will conclude with a comment and listening period during which participants can ask questions, voice concerns, or share requests and ideas for additional resources that it would be helpful for them to have provided by the schools or library.
The elementary school session of the Summit will take place on August 24 at 10 a.m.
The middle and high school session will take place the same day at 1 p.m. Both sessions can be accessed via Zoom — go to www.wrl.org/event/learning to find the connection information.
A link to the recording of both sessions will be available after the program concludes on the event page at www.wrl.org/event/learning
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