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Project recap: GEER

August 30, 2024 in Stories

Getting in GEER: CELL Funded Technology and Training During COVID-19 Pandemic

March 6, 2020, marked the first known case of COVID-19 in Indiana. Just three days later the state’s first school district canceled in-person classes. By the end of the month, the Governor issued a stay-at-home order for all Hoosiers. On April 2, Indiana’s nearly 2,000 schools, once hoping to re-open within a couple of weeks, learned they would remain closed for the rest of the academic year.

That Thursday is a date no Indiana teacher or administrator will forget. Now more than 1 million students had to learn virtually. Not just for a day. All day, every day, for months.

Many districts lacked the technology and educator training to excel at remote instruction. The Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER) sought to equip schools with the resources necessary to move classrooms online. Using federal funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the State of Indiana awarded CELL nearly $4.9 million for GEER in June 2020.

The GEER initiative had one major goal: to help schools deliver high-quality instruction digitally during the pandemic and beyond.

The Challenge

Technology access was a major problem for many school districts. Despite making strides in recent years, many districts fell short of a one-to-one student-to-computer ratio. That left families without a way for their child to access online instruction at home. Classrooms required an updated technology infrastructure for virtual learning as well, including new software, cameras, and laptops.

Indiana also has the eighth highest population of rural students in the country. One in four Hoosier students attend a rural school. Many of these remote areas lacked internet speeds fast enough to support remote classrooms and video streaming. The price of high-speed internet in rural Indiana was prohibitive for many families, yet a requirement for long-term virtual learning.

But going digital during the pandemic did not just require new technology. Teachers needed training to effectively lead online classrooms. Not much was available and finding time for professional development was nearly impossible. Teachers were working harder than ever to navigate the demands of this new learning environment.

The pandemic also intensified a teacher shortage across Indiana. Many high schools, especially in rural areas, paused advanced coursework to reallocate teachers toward standard requirements. The move left many students without access to dual credit classes. The shift had the potential to impact college-going rates and post-secondary affordability for thousands of students, especially those from economically disadvantaged and minority populations.

The Solution

CELL launched GEER to support districts and collaborated with the Indiana Education Service Centers (ESCs) to support additional districts. In total, participating schools represented:

  • Rural, suburban, and urban districts spanning 26 of Indiana’s 92 counties
  • About a 50% free- and reduced-lunch population
  • An average of 18% of students without home internet access

The GEER initiative included three major focus areas: connectivity, components, and capacity. Districts identified their greatest areas of need to put the funds to work. CELL and the districts collaborated over the summer to ensure schools were ready for virtual learning and hybrid classrooms by August 2020 to start the new academic year.

Connectivity

Prior to GEER, districts were getting creative to give all students access to high-speed internet at the onset of the pandemic. Children logged on at the local fast-food restaurant or public library. Schools turned buses into mobile hotspots and parked them around neighborhoods. They looked to local businesses for help in creating additional access points without compromising student safety.

GEER funds helped schools purchase hotspot devices offering home connectivity for families lacking internet access. For hardwired classrooms, districts could retrofit with Wi-Fi giving teachers more mobility. Districts with one-to-one devices incapable of supporting the bandwidth demands of Zoom and virtual lessons received funds to buy laptops able to do the job.

A child without reliable internet access in a virtual world is a student left behind. GEER ensured all students within participating districts could access and engage in their online classroom every day.

Components

The technology needs of in-person instruction differ significantly from virtual classrooms. The infrastructure of GEER’s participating districts to deliver online learning did as well. With CELL’s guidance, each school district drafted a proposal for their unique needs. Some schools focused on one-to-one device capabilities while others chose to invest in various technologies to advance instruction. CELL and the ESCs collaborated with the schools to procure, install, and utilize the new hardware and software.

Purchased technology included:

  • Laptops
  • Accessories (charging cables, laptop bags, protective cases, and computer peripherals)
  • Monitors
  • Webcams
  • iPads
  • Hotspots/MiFi devices
  • Cell phones

Capacity

Having the right technology solves only half the challenge of delivering high-quality online instruction. Teachers needed professional development to transfer their skills to a virtual classroom. While “e-learning days” were not new to most districts, they were an exception rather than the norm. Used mostly to accommodate inclement weather or teacher professional development, they were one-off days out of school. Now every day for the foreseeable future was an “e-learning day” and teachers needed to maximize their effectiveness.

To meet this need, CELL and the ESCs provided a variety of trainings to educators across the state—not just those from GEER-sponsored districts. The professional development was delivered virtually, onsite at schools, and through in-person workshops. Sessions included topics on:

  • High-impact instructional strategies for digital learning
  • Social-emotional learning
  • Leadership and culture
  • Curriculum development
  • Asynchronous teaching and learning
  • Virtual classroom technology usage

CELL directed a portion of GEER funds toward the Central Indiana Education Service Center (CIESC) for a comprehensive resource hub called Keep Indiana Learning. The digital library launched in September 2020 as a source for on-demand professional development videos and virtual courses for educators across the state. Keep Indiana Learning addressed pandemic hot topics like teaching in digital and hybrid settings, minimizing learning gaps in content areas, and promoting social and emotional well-being in students. Teachers could select professional development based on their unique needs and skill gaps to improve their instructional effectiveness.

To ensure a lack of teacher capacity did not impact access to advanced classes, CELL also allocated scholarship funds for virtual coursework. Indiana Online Academy offered classes allowing high school students to continue earning credits toward their postsecondary education and CORE 40 from home—at no cost to the student or the district. The funds both maintained dual credit access and expanded the courses available to students, especially in rural districts.

The Results

The pandemic left students and districts disconnected and struggling. GEER created the connections—to technology, professional development, and a powerful network of resources—to help schools survive and thrive in this new educational environment. The project concluded in August 2022 with a long-term impact benefiting students and classrooms for years to come.

  • Connectivity – GEER ensured every student from participating districts had access to the internet. Technology infrastructure investments made through local school districts helped bring better internet access to rural areas.
  • One-to-One Devices – Over half of GEER funds went toward purchasing teacher and student laptops. At the conclusion of the grant, most participating districts achieved a one-to-one student-to-computer ratio thanks to nearly 5,000 laptops added through GEER.
  • Preparedness – CELL helped deploy each district’s technology needs within about 90 days, allowing all participating schools to start the academic year in August 2020 equipped for virtual and hybrid instruction.
  • Professional Development – GEER provided more than 200 educator and administrator trainings across the state impacting over 2,000 participants. Survey data showed teachers found the resources, new ideas and strategies, and technology tools most beneficial to their job. Keep Indiana Learning has provided professional development to more than 16,500 educators since its launch in September 2020.
  • Networking – CELL regularly brought district administrators together to share best practices, work through issues, and address concerns. Leaders discussed how they were using GEER funds and ways of tackling new pandemic-related challenges. The leadership network created a close-knit cohort for administrators to learn from and collaborate with each other.
  • Coursework Access – GEER funds covered the cost of students taking a total of 1,200 advanced courses between June 2020 and August 2022. The scholarships made some classes available to rural districts for the first time, helping students expand their postsecondary aspirations.
  • Partnerships – CELL’s inclusion of the ESCs accelerated GEER’s impact. The service centers provided valuable insight into the needs of their member districts and helped deploy the technology. The ESCs created and delivered valuable professional development for educators in their service areas. Those trainings still contribute to Keep Indiana Learning, which boasts more than 19,000 educator viewing hours and counting.

When the pandemic shut everything down, GEER opened up a new world of technology and educator training to serve Indiana students. The initiative ensured all participating districts could provide high-quality virtual classrooms that minimized learning loss and maximized educational opportunities.