Du Quoin superintendent: Remote learning 'a real possibility' in the fall

The Du Quoin school superintendent said there is almost no doubt that remote learning will be a component of classroom education this coming fall. What's unknown, he said, is how big a component it will be.

"The big question is what will the next school year look like," Superintendent Matt Hickam told the school board at Thursday's meeting.

And if remote learning is still a part of the overall picture, "Remote learning 2.0 is going to have to be better than it was" this spring, he added.

The just-ended 2019-20 school year was carried out via remote learning from mid-March to mid-May. The state board of education told districts to do the best they could, but that no student should be "harmed" by how well they did or didn't perform during this time.

Hickam, who has said he has been pleased with how District 300 handled the challenge of remote learning so far, said by fall he expects the state will undoubtedly demand more accountability, better student participation and will have more stringent guidelines for grading.

He believes a big part of the answer in Du Quoin is better internet accessibility for all students, enabling teachers and students to all work online and retire the paper packets.

Hickam said the district is working with a local internet provider to improve hot spots for Wi-Fi access - including on its own properties, so that Wi-Fi can be accessed from a school parking lot, for example.

"We're looking for more points like that in the community, so we can have better geographic (Wi-Fi) coverage at least in town," he said. He said it will be harder to create such spots in the rural areas of the district.

Also, getting devices like laptops and tablets into the hands of all students, will be key, he said.

Once students are wired, teachers can do a better job of keeping them accountable and participating, Hickam said. And once they are participating, teachers can ramp up the academic challenges.

The state has mandated that summer school classes will be held remotely.

Hickam said the three District 300 principals are currently thinking about their buildings and what kind of a plan will be needed if classes have to start remotely in the fall, or even partly remotely.

"We may not have all of our students in the school at the same time, for instance," he said.

What stage the coronavirus pandemic will be in this fall will drive a lot of the planning.

Whatever the challenges, Hickam is confident in District 300's ability to meet them.

"A large majority of our people care about kids, it's not just their job," he said. "That guarantees we'll be successful. We need to be ready to go in whatever direction we have to."