Early reports concerning the on-line, virtual, remote learning project for all Ontario students is indicating that some parents, those that have shared their feelings, do not like it at all. My niece, working from home, finds that she must dedicate a lot of time to support her daughter’s experience. Other family members are now reversing their past comments about the value of teachers. These parents have a different view on how important a job a teacher performed on a daily basis; they have a different appreciation for teachers. This on line learning is placing some responsibility on the parents, in order for it to be successful. But, as I think of it, parents, were they not always an expected partner in all of this anyway? We all agree that the education system did provide a supervised day in the lives of many students; and, if some learning took place, wow, even better.
Educators need to be careful, though; if they get too create and develop excellent methods of delivery of curriculum, they may lead the government to believe that this on-line stuff can really work. This particular suggestion of introducing on-line learning was one of the issues in the past contract talks in late 2019 and early 2020. Teachers will succeed in making this work; that’s what teachers do best, they find ways to improve student learning, and develop creative solutions, and inspire, motivate and care. Of course, there are probably many teachers out there that are resisting this because they are a bit uncomfortable with the technology. Before Covid-19, some older teachers were entering the classroom simply doing the same old stuff they had been doing for years. Now, these same teachers have to learn new applications, develop strategies, arrange lessons delivering material in different ways. I really feel for all those teachers that avoided staying current with the new technology. These teachers will be very frustrated with what is now expected of them. The younger teachers will probably excel. I wonder how many students do not have a computer, or access to WIFI. I think the school boards will be required to provide some training and direction. I think there will be more pressure on the student to become an independent learner; more responsibility for learning, exploring, the internet. I think most students are more comfortable with the technology than the educators.
This new challenge for students, parents, teachers, school boards, government will certainly test everyone in many ways. Let’s face it, what jobs are educators expected to train these young students for? How do you inspire some learning, when this learning can probably only take place in a classroom?
I was expecting these big changes in education, even years ago; I think some of us did realize this. It costs too much to run things the way we were running things in education. I just do not think we were ready for this, now. Do we have the expertise in place to be able handle this huge undertaking? For example, I was thinking about the impact of AI, space exploration, robotics, climate control, world problems to solve, as the current time with Covid -19, a global issue that has impacted everything. We need to train our students with skills and thinking that apply to today. But, not all students have an interest in medicine, science, math, physics . . . There are a variety of interests that still capture our curiosity.
Above, I mentioned that many people now have a different appreciation for teachers; I want to mention that we now have a different appreciation for nurses, doctors, grocery store workers, farmers, drivers, in short, the essential workers, who risk their lives daily so that we can be safe.
The remote learning can be very challenging for teachers who now have to communicate with students and parents on line. Government, school boards, teachers, parents and students need to be very cautious about proper use of the internet, where safety for everyone must be protected.
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