Online learning – what’s been the experience?

Remote online learning for students

When was the last time you dropped your child to school, comfortable knowing that the next seven hours was yours? What seemed like a regular workday routine has now become a distant dream—with no end in sight—at least in Term 3. Juggling full time jobs and housework along with having children learning from home isn’t easy. For the children too, learning new online systems, not being able to meet their friends or play sport is affecting their mental wellbeing. How then, do you make the best of this situation? Ami Mohan is a businesswoman and a mother of two sons. Her 17-year-old goes to school, while her 14-year-old is doing remote learning. It has been a hard task for Ami managing her workload, home and her younger son’s studies, who misses physical school, the daily interaction with his friends, and his sport. She finds both positives and negatives with remote learning.

Positives :

• Staying home – her son is safe and not exposed to the virus.

• More tech savvy (which 14-year-old isn’t?) – her son has mastered the new online method of learning.

• More flexibility – her son can learn at his own pace.

Negatives :

• Lack of facilities – some subjects need hands-on practice in a physical classroom environment, especially the STEM subjects.

• Lack of motivation – since he’s learning by himself the motivation to excel is lacking.

• Frustrating – there are days when the internet connection isn’t good or slow and he misses out on real-time classes.

For teachers too it hasn’t been an easy road to traverse. They have had to upskill and adjust to the new online teaching. Sarmita Gupta—a STEM teacher at a Victorian school—teaches both face-to-face and online. She also points out the positives and negatives of online teaching.

Positives :

• Independent learners find it easy as they work at their own pace without any distractions.

• Visual learners are benefitting with the multiple new software.

Negatives :

• Due to lack of face-to-face interaction students are finding it difficult to comprehend lessons—especially maths-based subjects.

• Many students are not attending classes and teams, or not completing their tasks.

• ‘At risk’ students need special care and they are suffering.

• Follow up for teachers are becoming a problem, as is setting assessments. Until life goes back to normal—or what we thought was normal—both parents and teachers have to work in partnership to get the best outcome for the children.

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