Teachers preparing for virtual learning amid coronavirus pandemic

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. - Teachers all across central Florida are making the switch from classroom teaching to virtual teaching.

Foundation Academy in Winter Garden launched its online school on March 25.

“I think it went really well for our first day,” Foundation Academy teacher Lori Waters said. “Our administration has done a great job in figuring out the logistics very fast.”

FOX 35 News videochatted with Lori Waters, a biology and environmental science teacher at the school.

She’s converted parts of her home to make learning online easier. She brought the students’ plant experiment home with her.

“I just thought it would be a great way to have that piece and sit out here with the plants and experiments and set it up as an outdoor classroom,” Waters said.

A large part of virtual learning is done through products provided by Google to assist teachers.

“We can set up through Google Forms: we can do quizzes, we can have them read something and then send them a Google Form so they can respond and give us questions and feedback,” Waters said.

Waters is also recording videos to help with instruction.

“They’ll view that and then when we get online tomorrow morning, the time will be theirs to ask questions and seek clarification on assignments,” Waters said.

She is also using Google Meet to meet one-on-one with her students.

“I had to troubleshoot a technology problem with a student earlier today,” Waters said. “I was able to do it in just a few minutes by doing a live session.”

She said her kids are engaged and ready to learn.

“I’ve just seen the kids really step up,” Waters said. “They want to have a good routine. They want to be back involved with the class and each other. I think the students are very prepared for this. Many of them are very tech savvy, even the younger ones.”