Overton Schools Launch Remote Learning Center

The Overton County School System launched a new Remote Learner Center to help in remote learning.

The online platform provides a space for students and parents to access useful resources as they learn from a remote environment. Instructional Technology Coordinator Brent Thrasher said learning at home is going to be a challenge, but he thinks this platform will make the process easier.

“We’ve put up some documentation that we put together in the district to outline our plan, and we’ve also put up some information up, like instruction videos, to help students navigate the Microsoft Team platform that we’re going to be using,” Thrasher said.

Thrasher said other resources available are how-to student videos on how to collaborate on a Word document or PowerPoint, and information on home set up and internet connection. He said the technology department have worked since the summer to launch this platform.

“We hope that it’s a good resource and we hope that it’s something that is a unified communication for them to go to,” Thrasher said. “We think it should help everybody out.”

While the Remote Learner Center is the informational platform, the classroom platform will be Microsoft Team. Thrasher said all teachers will have a team platform kit, a 55-inch display that will stream the students working from home. The teacher will be able to see them and interact as in real time. He said real time interaction is the department’s main goal.

“I believe we are fairly unique because from my understanding from what I’ve heard, it seems like most of the other districts are working toward using kind of more of an asynchronized approach where they provide packets or they have things done in Google Classroom and students just complete that outside of the classroom,” Thrasher said.

Thrasher said over the summer, teachers and the technology department have worked together to create the Remote Learner Center and choosing the classroom platform.

The first day of school is August 7.