Education Software Company Provides Tools for Virtual Intervention Periods & Office Hours
Oshkosh, Wisconsin: This fall, Edficiency launched a set of new features in their flexible scheduling software that cater to schools engaging in some form of virtual learning in response to COVID-19, integrating these into their automated flexible scheduling tool. These new features allow teachers to create virtual “sessions,” including links to the virtual classroom of their choice, on whatever topic they believe their students need. From their device, students can access and request to attend sessions from anywhere with an internet connection. Teachers also request students they’d like to see attend their sessions. Then, Edficiency emails students their daily assignments, including a link to the teachers’ choice of virtual classroom. Most schools prioritize using their flex time for interventions, but schools also use it for making up lessons, enrichment opportunities, club meetings, and even office hours, which have become especially popular for schools in primarily virtual settings.
“We’re really excited to provide schools with more options to respond to their students’ needs and foster connections between their teachers and students in virtual settings, ” says James Bacon, director of outreach and operations at Edficiency. “We know how important interventions and relationships are in more ‘normal’ times, but I’d argue they’re even more important during these especially challenging times as students and teachers are constantly forced to adapt to new ways of doing things and to rethink their structures, especially how they’re using time.”
While this year has certainly presented plenty of challenges, schools are getting creative with their schedules. While many are still entirely virtual, others have the majority of their students on campus in-person. Then there are plenty that are providing some type of hybrid option, some with “blended” environments, where some students are participating in-person while others are participating in the same lesson remotely. Some schools have continued to implement one or two flex blocks every day, where others have carved out entire days each week with as many as eight flex periods back-to-back.
Features and benefits of Edficiency’s new virtual scheduling updates include:
The ability for schools to offer flexible and responsive intervention, enrichment, and extracurricular activities in virtual and blended (in-person and virtual) settings, in addition to the traditional in-person only model
The ability for schools to quickly switch back and forth between in-person, virtual, and blended flexible schedules as their needs and local landscape changes in response to COVID-19
The ability for schools to take attendance and pull reports to know exactly who attends each session virtually and/or in-person, providing easy contact tracing for in-person students and staff
Edficiency’s flex scheduling software is currently available to schools across the US, with pricing based on a school’s number of students and their frequency of use. For more information, visit www.edficiency.com.
About Edficiency: Edficiency is an education software company that simplifies daily flex period operations for middle and high schools by automating the process of assigning students each day so teachers and administrators can focus on students, not logistics. Founded in 2015, Edficiency has worked with schools across the United States, serving over 50,000 students. Edficiency is proud that over 94% of teachers and administrators using the software believe it is easy to use.