• By Admin
• 04 Jan, 2022
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Online Education-The Challenges For All Concerned

Online Schooling Is A Challenge Even For The Best Primary Schools 

Let us all bid goodbye to 2021 and welcome the new year, 2022.

A year that the world would have preferred that it had never come. A year the memories which most people would love to "Delete" from their lives.

With all the turmoil the year 2022 has ultimately passed. Most of us will agree this was one long year. Very few have fond memories.

There was not one segment that did not get adversely affected. The elite and the commoner, everyone was equally affected due to the Covid Pandemic. Still, the year 2021 has been a year that taught a thousand lessons to mankind.

Education was one of the worst hits, and it saw the closure of two academic sessions, from pre primary to entire schooling, colleges, coaching institutes, etc. We saw, felt and understood how Online schooling is a challenge even for the best primary schools.

The whole world saw a change in the mindset of every individual connected with education. Be it the promoters, the teachers, the parents, the students, etc. The Ministry of Education had to make out-of-the-box decisions, like reducing the course content, postponing and rescheduling the exams, re-organizing the syllabus, etc. And who could have thought students would jump classes without appearing for exams?

It is said that "difficult times always bring along unexplored opportunities" The education segment was no exception.

The New Norms of Teaching

The concern of the parents and the students due to the loss of learning time, we all saw the advent of a new teaching mode, i.e., through online or virtual classes.

The shift to Virtual from physical classes was easier said than done. With no exceptions, not even the best schools were ready for online teaching. Right from the inception of the thought itself, it had several demands to be fulfilled. All concerned now had to step into a new virtual world of technology. The major challenge was for the Pre-primary Schools & also the Primary Schools. We will discuss below the demanding situation this online teaching and learning presented and how one and all involved emerged winners.

Demands For Online Teaching 

A. From Teachers

We in India have dedicated teachers. Despite living with hi-tech gadgets for communication, 90% of the teachers in India are not comfortable with computers. Thus, they were all in a real fix. They had only two choices, either learn the use of the technology or be out of the teaching profession. Moreover, they were used only to teaching in a classroom full of students, and talking to the camera was a new space they had to adjust to. Preparing PPTs and flashcards for easy understanding of the kids was never easy. The teachers had to ensure that the students were learning effectively and maintaining discipline in their virtual classroom. As the children, particularly those in Preprimary and Primary school, have a very low attention span, keeping them glued to the video screen for 40 minutes demanded a different level of skill and teaching acumen. As if this was not enough, they were constantly under the scanner as the parents watched for all 40 minutes of the session, and many were overly critical. And believe me, all this was not easy. All the teachers deserve kudos for their effort. They not only overcame these challenges, but they also became experts in online teaching.

B. From The Promoters 

They were forced to create an infrastructure to meet the requirements of delivering high-quality and uninterrupted learning lessons to the students. Creating Material suitable for online teaching was another challenge that had to be overcome. Preparing Apps for effective communication with parents and students to facilitate sending relevant notifications, assigning homework or receiving completed tasks from the students was a challenge of another level. They also had to train their teachers for online teaching. And see what most teaching organizations did successfully re-create the syllabus to meet the specifications of the online teaching process. Hats off to them for ensuring continuity in the academics of the children.

C. From Students

Our students, like their teachers, were only used to a physical class, but the virtual classes lacked that ambiance, and we all know the presence of peers & the teacher creates an atmosphere for better learning. Moreover, very few parents could give access to a laptop to their kids. Over 90% of the students attended their classes on a Smartphone. The small screen interfered with the learning process. The kids of this generation, being smart enough, could easily maneuver the screen to their convenience. But most of them learned to study on and from whatever options. We all must appreciate our children for their efforts.

D. From Parents

Let us not forget the Parents. Many had to invest in smartphones and deal with the locked-in kids and their tantrums. Maintain the right balance of screen time. The mommies had to do a double shift now. Do their household work and sit with the kids during the online sessions at school. They had difficulty handling the schools' apps because they were very poor at understanding the technology. Downloading the homework and uploading the completed work, making the kids appear for online exams, and preparing their kids for virtual activities. Many more things were an alien world for the Indian mothers. But everyone is proud of these typical housewives and mothers who are now absolute experts at using these hi-tech apps.

After initial hiccups, virtual classes have finally got acceptance. However, no one would deny the importance of a physical classroom.

Several schools adapted very smartly to the change. Mastermind School in Bicholi proved to be a pioneer. Even in the changed scenario, they provided the best quality education to their students. They trained their teachers to handle the technology well and re-created study material best suited to the virtual demands. Surprisingly they did not miss out on the celebrations of festivals and important days. They proved they were way ahead of many schools still mulling over the situation and were at our loss as to how to get out of it.

So, to conclude, although the years of the pandemic were tough, it did take us into a new unexplored territory of virtual teaching and learning. We all know a student can reach out to the best teacher globally without geographic limitation. Education can now virtually reach the remotest corner of the world. In a way, we should be thankful for the adverse situation as it pushed us into exploring new possibilities in the education world.

With the situation improving, hopefully, the schools will be opening soon. The normal physical classes would begin again. All activities in the learning world would soon be back to normal.

Mastermind School wishes 2022 to be a great year of learning for students worldwide.

Also Read:  Pre-Primary & Primary School - Re-Learning Post Pandemic