Molesey Matters Roving Reporter, Della Reynolds
Once the schools closed for lockdown, families started to home-school their children using online resources. Teachers set the coursework via the school website and were then available for feed-back and support. (No, they are not all on an extended holiday) I’m sure that the parents learnt as much as the children as the new teaching methods were mastered or possibly modified in order to complete the tasks. The normal six-hour school day could be condensed into a comfortable three hours to work on maths, literacy and topic. Then the rest of the day was your own. The flexibility of home schooling must be one of its greatest assets. No early mornings trying to drag youngsters out of bed and no stressful school run. You start and end your teaching day as it suits. Fortunately, the weather has provided a most appealing outdoor classroom for cycling, scooting, pond dipping, exploring, digging, planting and generally being in touch with nature. The learning doesn’t end when the computer is turned off. Apart from missing their friends, I’m sure that many children prefer on-line schooling. They can work at their own pace with instant access to support and balance work and rest time to suit their learning style. In a recent survey 40% of parents said they would consider continuing with home schooling once lockdown ends.
As we move into the turbo-charged era of on-line living, the election promise of free broadband to every household can be seen more as foresight than a vote-winning throwaway. Without access to the internet you will soon get left behind and providers are quickly working to make the switch to on-line portals. Richmond and Hillcroft College moved a number of their courses to on-line learning and I signed up for a ten-week module in web design and social media. I had a taster session using Microsoft Teams and once I got used to seeing myself on screen the rest was easy.
Remembering to mute your microphone is one of the first things to master. I inflicted the consumption of two rather noisy rich tea biscuits on my fellow students when I forgot to touch the mute switch. In return I have lis-tened to the wailing of attention seeking young-sters, snippets of private conversations and an intriguing cacophony of sounds that make you wonder just what your classmates are up to. Turning off the camera is another useful asset. I dutifully watched every minute of my first lesson but after lunch break I found that turning off the camera allowed me to listen whilst I got on with the washing up. Double bagging has great appeal and you can move away from your laptop by connecting on your phone. The teacher too has muting options, which make class control a thing of the past. Our tutor muted all our mics from his end and turned off our cameras. In blissful ignorance he expounded on his topic as we all waved frantically to tell him that his sound was breaking up and we couldn’t hear him. Must be wonderful for a teacher to be able to pontificate without interruption, but even better when your students can actually benefit from your soliloquy.
Another great asset to on-line learning is the facility to record. I volunteered as video monitor, responsible for pressing the record button at the start of our teaching sessions. These recordings are then available to listen and learn as many times as you like, doing away with the need for detailed note taking. You can also share your screen, so if you have a problem you can flick the share button and the tutor can see what you are working on. A great deal can be learnt from watching the tutor unpick other people’s problems or you can just mute everyone and get on with your own stuff uninterrupted. You even have the option to have private conversations with other students, making talking in class totally undetectable.
On-line learning certainly offers an appealing flexibility not available with traditional methods. More resources are becoming available all the time. History and science are being taught by experts at the BBC who offer an extensive free package of ‘bitesize’ topics, or you could spend the afternoon on a virtual tour at the museum. When lockdown lifts, many aspects of modern life will have changed forever and on-line learning, still in its infancy, will certainly challenge and enhance traditional teaching as we move into the ‘new normal’.