COVID Series Episode 1: How Did the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County Pivot To Remote Work?

In The Midst Of COVID-19, The Hebrew Academy of Nassau County Transitioned To Remote Work

We’re now more than two months into the COVID-19 pandemic, and your business has likely been operating remotely for some time now. However you and your employees may be working, it can almost certainly be improved.

Do you know what issues you may be overlooking, and how you can optimize your remote work processes?

Gain some insight into tested and proven remote work processes explored in the first episode of our COVID series, featuring Ms. Naomi Fredman, Director of Technology at the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County:

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Audio described version

“It was important to develop a classroom that was close to a real classroom as possible, because of the star of the show is always the teacher,” says Naomi.

This was the priority for Naomi and the Hebrew Academy of Nassau County when it came to adapting to a remote work model: developing a virtual classroom that provides as ideal an environment for education to be delivered by the teaching staff as possible.

Finding The Right Solution

In evaluating potential solutions to facilitate the learning process, Naomi was looking for two features:

• The “classroom feel,” in which all students would be on-screen simultaneously
• The appropriate controls for the teacher, such as the ability to mute and unmute students as needed

Despite being a Google-based organization, Google Meet did not offer the features Hebrew Academy of Nassau County was looking for, and neither did Microsoft Teams. In the end, they opted for Zoom, because their administrative staff had some experience with the service, and it offered the capabilities they were looking for.

Integrating The Solution Of Choice

Once Hebrew Academy of Nassau County had decided to proceed with Zoom, Naomi had two main priorities going forward:

• Ensuring teachers were comfortable using Zoom and its many features to emulate the classroom environment properly
• Making sure teachers were comfortable integrating the other aspects of their work (posting assignments and resources) to Google Classroom

Around mid-March, when the pandemic escalated further, Naomi was given time with the teachers to make sure they understood the solutions they would be using if they would have to teach remotely. Part of the implementation process was setting up the appropriate pages and rooms on Google Classroom, and training students to use it and Zoomz effectively and securely.

Expert Assistance From LI Tech Advisors

“The whole process was successful because of the collaboration of the administration and the teachers,” says Naomi. “However, a huge part of our success was the support we received from our technical support.”

Hebrew Academy of Nassau County had LI tech Advidors on their side and supporting the process every step of the way. In addition to helping with all things IT on the staff and administration side, LI Tech Advisors also set up a helpline for parents to address any issues they had with using Google Classroom and Zoom at home with their children.

“The piece that’s so important is that our technicians are evolving with the situation,” says Naomi. “That also lent to its success.”

Don’t worry if you’re not sure how to deal with the challenges of remote work - you’re not on your own. The LI Tech Advisors team is available to assist businesses like yours in optimizing remote work capabilities.