Courtney Ostaff on Effective Teaching with Online Tools – Education Rickshaw

Banner of Progressively Incorrect Podcast Saying New Episode Featuring Courtney Ostaff


In this episode of the Progressively Incorrect podcast, I am excited to be talking to Courtney Ostaff, author of The Teaching Online Handbook and the forthcoming book on homeschooling: How to Homeschool the Kids You Have.

Before I knew Courtney Ostaff as Courtney Ostaff, I knew her as the anonymous Twitter user, StuckintheMiddle, during the time when schools were suddenly forced to shift to remote learning due to COVID-19. For many edtech gurus and “thought leaders” on education social media, remote learning was the opportunity of a lifetime to rethink education. But what “rethinking education” actually meant was recycling progressive ideas from the previous century such as student choice and discovery learning. Rising above all the noise was StuckintheMiddle, a teacher who had been teaching online for longer than most of us had been teaching in the brick-and-mortar classroom, and who clearly knew her stuff. Instead of encouraging teachers to “ask the kids what they want to learn and how they want to learn it”, she tweeted about the importance of structure, teacher guidance, and a knowledge-rich curriculum. Her practical advice about organizing course materials and setting due dates, and getting kids to interact with each other and use feedback was a lifesaver for me back when it seemed that most edtech people had lost their minds.

So, it was quite an honor that Courtney Ostaff agreed to come on the podcast to talk post-pandemic about strategies for teaching with online tools. Even if remote learning convinced you to replace student Chromebooks with paper-pencil notebooks, I think much of Courtney’s advice easily translates to the low tech face-to-face classroom. So, without further ado, please enjoy S2E6 of the Progressively Incorrect Podcast featuring Courtney Ostaff.

Be sure to check out Courtney’s website and Twitter feed, and her book below.


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