Teaching to black screens...

Jeff,

I feel your pain. My school year is stinking as well. Most of my High school kids log into Zoom, and walk way. No camera, no mic. It's so hard to get motivated on school stuff this year. I'm really seeing how many kids are struggling with learning. Teaching history is kind a boring when all I get to do is a brief lecture and turn the kids loose to work independently. I was really bummed when I had to plan a worksheet to replace a class simulation activity. 

I wonder how I can justify a model railroad in my classroom? Maybe a nice Gn15 field railway from WWI!?

Feeling the pain on the other end of the line

Hi,

my kid is currently in second grade... The second half of first grade was - well, it was not. Just before the end of the school year they returned to school every second day which was a huge improvement over weekly homework assignments. No video conferences, though, not even audio-only group calls.

We are expecting that classes will be split in two again this week with school every other day. The new lockdown is due over the next day or two... I'll be content if the "school-every-other-day" thing can be kept up. Which is doubtful given that several classmates have older siblings who have been quarantined, waiting to get tested since last week.

The other thing that concerns us - the kids lost basically half a school year last year, depending on what happens next, there'll be another half a school year gone... How are they ever gonna catch up?

The next weeks are going to be difficult...

Stay healthy...

PS: as for the kink - that would be a nice lesson for the kids and is easier to fix than it would be to pack the disease up and send it back.

Hats Off

My hat is off to all of you teachers out there trying to do your job with one hand tied behind your back. I suspect that it would be wicked frustrating. The really sad part of all of this is what the kids, particularly the younger kids are missing out on all of the social interactions that help shape who we are.

My kids are all grown, but I see the frustration with my grandkids about remote learning, it has got to suck for the kids the most.

Jeff, is it possible to give the kids an assignment that would have something to do with the layout? Perhaps inciting more interest in participating in the remote classroom? Would it be of any relevance to maybe ask them to design an extension? Might be interesting to see what they come up with.

Wicked frustrating, exactly.

Parents, teachers, students, we're all feeling a bit like zombies. My school is planning a gradual, limited return to campus, but for teachers the prospect of some students on campus and some off, or toggling between the two modes as waves of infection ebb and flow, is not very heartening. 

And the issue dark2star raises - how are they ever gonna catch up? In math it looks like we'll make about 1/3 of the usual annual progress through the curriculum. Three years of this will "lose" two years of progress, the only consolation being everyone is in the same boat.

Except everyone isn't in the same boat. Distance learning just amplifies learning differences. High functioning kids still sail along and mostly just need more challenges, and the kids who need the most support check out, as Craig attests. 

I have a series of railroad and layout-related exercises and assignments, which are helpful but mostly also heighten the frustration the kids feel about not getting to fire up the ProtoThrottles any time soon. After eight years of growth the benchwork and track are now "complete" and will support an operating crew of twelve (or more), the cohort size for a return-to-campus scenario. Most of the "maker" projects going forward will be scenery and structures, but we can go full tilt with operations now. 

I do have a to-be-built peninsula in the plan which will add two sidings to the branchline and allow me to introduce a tiny hint of TT&TO fun to our operations, but I'm not going to start that until the future becomes a bit more clear. I'm 64 years old and had hoped to spend several more years teaching and weaving this model railroad into the curriculum, but right now retirement is suddenly looking more attractive. 

Now THAT'S a bummer. I'm ashamed to admit it and it deeply worries me that teaching will lose the intrinsic rewards that have provided motivation for so many talented and generous souls. 

Jeff Allen

Jeff, could remote operations help at all?

Your posts made me think about the missed opportunities for you and your students to progress at the moment. I wondered if remote operating could be a stand-in for some of the exercises you have planned?

If you use Zoom. Skype, MS Teams etc. for remote learning with your students from their computers home, and your classroom layout is DCC, then you likely have half of what you need already to make it work.   

I'm running regular ops sessions (mostly switching) with remote Engineers and Conductors. It's one crew at a time and I have to be at the layout in person, but any number of viewers can attend the Zoom call to watch, comment  and maybe contribute to the strategy.

I send track schematics and all the ops paperwork to the remote Conductors ahead of time, so they get to problem solve the most efficient switching moves before we start a session.

Here are a couple of quick videos to give you sense of the user experience. I've added a few cheap Wi-Fi security cameras to give an overhead view as well as the Zoom call view from my phone.

Let me know if this might be of interest and we can get into the details of making it work for you and your students with your classroom layout, either on here or offline as you prefer.

Pete   

Yes, please!

Thanks Pete, I'm at work and can't watch the videos at the moment but will when I get home. I think I get the idea and that might be a very attractive approach. I'd like to give it some thought if you don't mind sharing some details. I'm sure it would be of general interest so I think posting your scheme here makes sense. 

Although I feel utterly spent with the effort of trying to keep my classes moving, and especially the effort required to provide effective feedback so kids can learn interactively, I also know that we sometimes don't realize how much we can accomplish unless we extend ourselves. And giving the kids an opportunity to remotely operate the railroad will certainly fire their rockets, which has incredible value right now. 

Thanks!

Jeff Allen

Great stuff!

Pete, that is fantastic. Of course there is a huge amount of detail, especially clear and succinct communication and the jargon that makes it possible for my students to acquire, and I can see that an effective on-site coordinator can make a fun and educational experience for remote operators. 

I have two ProtoThrottles plus NCE wireless throttles. How are you setting up to run from the remote station? I can see how all the visuals work over zoom, but I'd be interested to hear how you're relaying the DCC control signals. 

Thanks for sharing that!

Jeff Allen

More info

Jeff, you're welcome!

There are a couple of levels you could work through to increase your students' interaction. As well I guess we ought to aim for the right blend of realistic ops and an effective math class! 

Level 1 could just be a Zoom call from your phone to provide a view and sounds of the layout You could show a mix of "drone view" and "brakeman on the ground" close-ups to the students on their PCs / tablets / phones. You operate the trains, throw the switches and make joints and cuts and your students play the Conductor, Yardmaster and CTC roles. 

Level 2 could be the remote Engineer setup. One student can operate a train on the layout using their phone or tablet with a throttle app while you throw switches and make cuts, both under the direction of other students. As well if your layout has DCC controlled switches, another student could throw them with the phone throttle app.

The top part of this diagram shows one way to do it:

This requires that you have JMRI on a PC connected to your layout and that a port can be opened on the school LAN. As well the remote Engineer needs to have an iPhone/iPad with WiThrottle app, or an Android phone/tablet with EngineDriver app. We've done this successfully with just the Zoom call view from my phone.  Not sure of any implications security and privacy-wise in a school regime though.

Level 3 could be where you add overhead cameras for a more general continuous view. I did this with Reolink WiFi cameras but this requires an app on the remote user's PC/tablet and only 19 people can view at once.

That's shown in the lower part of the above diagram. You can also do this with USB cameras to the layout PC and aggregate them into the Zoom call using software such as OBS on the layout PC.

Anyway, food for thought! LMK if I can help further.

Pete 

"worksheets"

That's great Pete, I get the picture perfectly!

Dale's comment about giving the students layout-related tasks reminded me that there's a very relevant and specific thing I can do. Over the years I've accumulated several paper-based "switching puzzles." Many were from Bob Hayden in the pages of MR and other sources (see an earlier blog post with some examples,  blog post). I start kids with extremely basic moves, but eventually some of the students can handle situations like this one, which I adapted last year:

What I haven't done yet is make similar puzzle sheets that represent situations on our layout, like the branch terminal at the town of Day which was just reaching operational readiness when kids were sent home:

It's the perfect way to have kids work through situations before executing them, remotely or in person, on the layout. 

Good work you guys, now I'm getting fired up again!

Jeff Allen

posted to wrong topic, was

posted to wrong topic, was about the bad level, not the kink.

More on worksheets

Glad you're getting fired up again Jeff! 

FWIW here are some examples of the paperwork my remote Conductors get prior to a switching ops session.

They have a schematic of the whole layout with car lengths of each track segment between switches. As well wheel reports (standing order) of cars in yard and storage tracks, and which cars are in every designated spot around the layout.  

Here's one page from the schematic which relates to the 3rd video above, "Remote conductor on train #61":

As well they have the switch list for the train. Here's the page that relates to the schematic page and video of #61 above (Cargill is a separate job). Different day to the video so different cars, but the car types are the same per spot, but not all spots are switched daily. And there may be the odd re-spot as well to encourage the Conductor to plan ahead.  :

And if the train goes back to the yard, they have the yard arrival list so they can figure out how to classify the inbound cars into the proper yard tracks:

My ops scheme is run by ShipIt! but there are lots of options for generating the car moves. You can find several spreadsheet and database apps posted on MRH, and JMRI has a free Operations suite that can do pretty much anything.  As well your crew could work with switch lists or car cards/waybills. Perhaps switch lists would be easier for remote crews?  

Maybe your students could develop the ops scheme themselves? Supply and demand of products from on- and off-layout industries drives movement of car types suitable for the products (empties and loads) and in quantities to meet that demand and supply.    

Onward!

Pete

Keeping the kids learning

Could some of the artistic kids draw up a virtual copy of your class layout and add scenery and opps to it like the Trainz game......DaveB

Simulators

Great idea Dave. I've been hankering to get kids into simulators for many years now, but the cost of the appropriate processing power remains out of reach for most kids and the school only provides Chromebooks. 

I've already got the whole layout mocked up on Trainz and have been using it over the years to test run switching scenarios before I commit the track to the homosote. It is a great tool and another hobby unto itself. I particularly enjoy the detailed controls, mechanics and physics when operating early steam locomotives (I also use some of the competitors to Trainz, though they change owners frequently). 

Jeff Allen

Switch lists for remote ops

Pete, I think you're right about switch lists for remote ops. I currently use printed, color coded waybills for train operators and tab-on-car (with corresponding colors) for switching. You can just make out the tabs on top of the cars on the car float in the picture on the right in the OP.

Train orders include hyper-detailed instructions:

Train 500

Eastbound WBS to Idora via Park

Train Crew Instructions

Jeff Allen

Jeff you're way ahead of me!

Those instructions are excellent! And they should work just fine remotely as long as you can give the right views at the right moments from your Zoom-call phone.

I expect that one change will be the importance of accurate and timely communication between remote Conductors, Engineers, Brakepersons and you over the Zoom call. Maybe some prototype-like radio communications procedures and rules will need to be developed. Might have to be a workaround to replace hand signals if your era is pre-crew radios. 

Perhaps the students could take the tab-on-car to the next level of products, AAR car types, supply and demand, car volumes and timing of moves later in the course if they like the remote ops concept.

The AAR types and reporting marks of the cars might take on more significance over time and add more "railroad as a business" type of thinking e.g. each car moves to meet the RR customers' needs, and how can that work be made more profitable for the RR.  I'm trying to keep it math-relevant, honest!  

Pete   

A Thought on Trainz

Perhaps contacting NV3 about a group/educational discount of Trainz Simulator 12 which apparently can run on Chromebook may be worth your while! As this appears to be an older version, price breaks may be possible. NV3 may like it since it may "hook" your students to the point they would want to get their own copies of the latest version.

From a Dell Computer page.

I just want to say -

I'm loving this topic - it started on something of a downbeat note, and people have come in and offered support and solutions and at this point it is looking very much "up." 

BTW, there are several model railroads doing the remote ops thing now, Dave Ables in New Jersey is probably the most well known, since he's been featured on the A Modeler's Life podcast and also with a Remote Ops session on NMRAx -

As a math exercise, what would be the minimum possible time lag, of a dispatcher's orders in Orkney communicating with an engineer in Gold Coast, Australia, affecting a train operating in New Jersey.... 

Right on Jeff!

It's so great when we can help each other get our hobby mojo back.

And a big thank you to Dave Abeles and his crew from whom I've learned a lot online about how to do remote ops well. 

The lack of lag in the remote ops connections has been pleasant surprise. We have Engineers and Conductors in UK and Australia operating here in Southern Ontario several times a week and the worst lag we've seen is about 2 seconds - quite manageable. It seems to take the crew only about 10-15 minutes of work to get used to timing their radio calls to make good joints and spots when switching in close quarters.         

I'm now thinking there are some aspects of remote operations that are more realistic than having all the crew members here in the basement. 

Pete

Re: Jeff's Comment

"As a math exercise, what would be the minimum possible time lag, of a dispatcher's orders in Orkney communicating with an engineer in Gold Coast, Australia, affecting a train operating in New Jersey.... "

Perhaps if remote operation were installed and the class participates, a great idea would be to include one or two "outsiders" from the UK or Australia or ??? and have the class note and calculate projected and actual lag and its effect on operations!

The next ProtoThrottle?

The suggestion has been made, perhaps not totally facetiously, that the next generation ProtoThrottle ought to resemble the Remote Control pack used in yard operations these days. 

It would be appropriate for remote ops, after all.  

Cosmic coincidence

I'm at school today, a Saturday, setting into motion the process of bringing the layout back to life. I was just informed that we are starting a "gradual reopening" and I will have a group of twelve students for two hours on campus a week from Wednesday, with another group of twelve the following week, and a final group of twelve the week after that. 

Somehow the MRH forum is my rabbit's foot. By whining and crying boo-hoo here, I not only received great ideas and practical information but fate took a turn. I will be nose-to-the-grindstone for a while trying to make this happen ON TOP of a very labor-intensive remote teaching endeavor, but I'll try to post updates. 

Jeff Allen

P.S. Bud, you've got me thinking hard about what it would take to implement a 3D modeling experience for at least some group of kids. 

Great news Jeff!

Fortune favours the brave! 

Looking forward to progress updates when you can.

Pete