Lab schools have been around for years, and as the name suggests, they can be exciting places for experimentation. Typically affiliated with a college or university, they are schools where educators and researchers pilot new education methods and innovative ways of teaching and learning with real students who enrolled in the school.
When the pandemic kept students home for school, experimental classrooms of a different kind became commonplace as teachers, students, and parents transitioned to remote and online learning. Welcome to the living room-cum-new lab school.
The juggle of remote learning, fear over safety and keeping children engaged and social, however, led many parents to "pod up" for their children's school experience. In this case, learning pods are small groups of students - often friends - learning together online for their school subjects and with a healthy dose of social activity. One or more adult (typically a parent) serves as Learning Coach and the classroom might rotate from house to house. "A really important part of the pod was making sure that all families agreed to the same Covid safety protocols," said Amanda Ebel, who started a pod for her daughter in South Carolina last school year.
But for others, the idea of learning pods offered a wider opportunity to try things, like grouping students by interest or building new businesses to foster and facilitate pods.
A school of dancers
"A breath of fresh air." That is how students described the short-term pod that Vesna Lane established using the Connections Academy online school program. The students, all part of a local dance academy in South Carolina, opted to create a pod so they could learn together safely but also maintain their dance training after school. Although Vesna carved out dedicated time for academics and one-on-one time with her as a Learning Coach to work through the online curriculum, dance made its way into the classroom throughout the school day in refreshing and unexpected ways. Movement became incorporated into many of the lessons and woven into the structure of the school day overall. Students regularly acted out scenes from books, they pulled in references to dance throughout their lessons, and they were able to stretch out, untethered to a desk, learning in a way that was more physically comfortable for these young dancers. Vesna said, "the bond these students have is amazing, and their COVID school experience became a beautiful and unexpected adventure."
Helping parents from a local church
Katie Wiggins from Oklahoma was inspired to create a pod service for local parents who attended the same church. For a modest fee, students could sign up to complete their online learning with Katie and a partner who served as Learning Coaches for the group of students. The program grew quickly by word-of-mouth and soon expanded beyond the church community. "The program definitely met the needs of parents who were struggling to manage the realities or working during the pandemic," said Katie. "Our focus was on the curriculum provided by our online school (also Connections Academy), but the students were also able unite around things from their faith and other interests to connect. Student success and appreciation for the environment led many families to stay even after schools opened back up."
Going mainstream: Amar Kumar on KaiPod Learning
The pandemic opened parents’ eyes towards the potential of online learning. Rather than sitting in rows of desks and chairs grouped by age, students can receive a much more personalized education at the pace, time, and location that works for them.
But the pandemic also highlighted the importance of social interactions and academic support that were sorely lacking during the pandemic. This gap inspired me to start KaiPod Learning helping online school families join learning pods. Anyone can enroll in one of our pods which, right now, are located in Massachusetts -- but we are growing!
By combining an online school with a KaiPod, students can learn at their own pace, collaborate in-person with their peers, and get the academic support they need to succeed. Our students truly love the experience and don't want to leave at the end of the day. In a pod, students are not alone -- they make friends in classes, explore extra-curricular interests, and excel together.
At KaiPod, students are matched to a local KaiPod Learning Center, which is led by an experienced educator (called a KaiPod Learning Coach). By partnering with high-quality online schools, such as Connections Academy or Pearson Online Academy, we support each student's self-paced learning by providing 1:1 academic support, tailored enrichment activities, and socialization opportunities -- while still maintaining the flexible schedule that online learners love.
One of our parents summed up their experience as follows. "We love the small class size, the flexibility, and the fact that the program is really tailored to the life and the education of tomorrow. I've never seen him excited to go to school before. He just became an overall happier person!"
Kimberly Francese is Manager for Learning Coach Support at Pearson, supporting K-12 online schools. Amar Kumar is the founder of KaiPod Learning.