Schools tap into technology, move to virtual classrooms

Many are using platforms such as Google Classroom and Flipgrid to make up for missed face-to-face classes

After educational institutions in the city were shut down indefinitely after the Covid-19 crisis, some schools are going online to make up for the classes that they lost.

The Canadian International School in the city is using synchronous learning, where students and teachers come together on an online platform, and asynchronous learning, where teachers post lessons and assignments that students must complete and submit for feedback.

Shweta Sastri, Managing Director,
Canadian International School

Shweta Sastri, managing director of the school, says platforms such as Zoom and Google Hangouts have come in handy, with teachers using them to provide instructions, have discussions and conduct question and answer sessions.

“We are currently using online learning platforms such as Google Classroom, Google Hangouts, Bloomz, Managebac, Zoom and Flipgrid. In fact, middle and high school classes are running on a regular schedule and attendance is being taken through Managebac,” she adds.

There haven’t been any issues with any of these platforms yet, but Shweta worries that a global increase in their use may overwhelm them.

The sudden shift to online platforms does not affect just the students, it’s a change that the parents must also get used to. Shweta says the school is looking to engage both students and parents with the new system.

Deen’s Academy, Whitefield is not a stranger to online classes. They have used Skype sessions for classes before. “We use apps to record live teaching, then send these videos to the students using the school’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software,” principal Shanthi Menon says.

Gaurav Vohra

Menon also points out the system’s drawbacks. “We are unable to get students’ reactions to the lessons.”

A generational gap became evident when the online shift was made; the students are doing well with tech-based education, but the teachers are uncomfortable. “The teachers are used to face-to-face interaction. We are giving training to them, showing them the best way to record an online session, and how to insert PowerPoint presentations when necessary,” Menon told Metrolife.

The school will take online classes till the end of this academic session, and even the classes for the new Class 11 batch, which will start on April 1, will be online.

Many schools in Bengaluru had already introduced online technology into the syllabus over the last year. One software they use is ERP, that helps in uploading worksheets and assessment papers, which both parents and students can access from home.

While the Covid crisis has essentially disrupted the educational system, Aloysius D’Mello, principal, Greenwood High International School, says the internet is the way forward at this juncture. The school has teamed up with a leading software company in the city.

D’Mello says the current system remains insufficient as so many things done in classes can’t be done online.

“For instance, for a math class, one needs a board and lots of interaction. Since we don’t have a physical board, we got a virtual board. This is how we are going to manage till things are better,” he said.

The other big problem is network connectivity.

“Until you have a broadband and a good network, online classes cannot work. That is why we have given extra time to the teachers, taking possible buffering into account,” says D’Mello.

The idea of conducting online classes is to keep the students engaged, he says.

At Stonehill International School, classes are held with online participation from the whole class, which allows for live discussions. “We are trying to create an environment that supports inquiry along with teaching elements of language and mathematics. We are taking things slowly and not overloading our students at the primary level, as this is a completely new process for students, parents and teachers,” says Karen Crooke, Stonehill’s primary school principal.

The challenge at the secondary school level is one of discipline.

“The psychological impact of studying alone and being away from school is quite significant, not to mention the screen-time that this approach involves. The pressures on families are immense and every family is in a different situation. Some of them are sharing laptops, others are looking after younger siblings who, if not for the Corona crisis, would have been at school. In such a situation, teachers need to be very flexible with expectations because every family is different,” says Joe Lumsden, Stonehill’s secondary school principal.

“We are waiting for feedback from parents and students. It is too early to say anything because some are still finding their feet with the new system,” says Crooke.

Music schools are opting virtual platform for practice sessions. The Furtados School of Music has been working on launching an online vertical for some time. They are going live from April 15 and are currently providing vocal practice and practice classes online.

Tanuja Gomes

Tanuja Gomes, the school’s co-founder and Co-CEO, says that the objective is to enable access to students and teachers from anywhere in the world. “In music, practice is the main thing and usually, children don’t practice at home on their own, so this really helps. We have noticed that children really enjoy online classes. It’s teachers and parents who are apprehensive.”

She says that the country’s teaching community is not comfortable with online education as yet. “The transition takes time, even for parents to accept that their children are learning something online. We never thought of buying vegetables online, but we are doing just that now,” Gomes told Metrolife.

There are veterans in the field of online educations. One such institution is the Jigsaw Academy, which has been teaching professionals online for ten years. Gaurav Vohra, CEO and co-founder, says the city is among the most enthusiastic when it comes to ‘tech-biz’ training.

“Bengaluru is well prepared for online classes. Given that working professionals have been using online learning for a fairly long time now, I do not foresee any problem with schools and universities doing it,” he says.

Vohra too says that a lack of feedback from learners is always a problem. In a classroom, a teacher can look at the students and gauge their responses. Such visual cues are absent when it comes to online learning.

“In the absence of visual cues, teachers will have to make their classes more interactive. Instead of asking a question every ten minutes, they will have to ask questions every two minutes. Often, students will be asking questions by typing them into a chat window instead of speaking into the mic. There will be a flurry of questions, so teachers will have to read out the question they are answering, so that students know what the conversation is about,” says Vohra.

“Changing people’s mindset is the most difficult thing to do. Most parents believe that the real value of teaching is in face-to-face classrooms. When monitoring of this sort is not there, the parents will be doubtful about whether their child is in fact studying,” he says.

He says that the Covid-19 outbreak will force people to adapt to a new system; circumstances will necessitate a change in the mindset. The silver lining is that the latest technology will be adopted much sooner than they would otherwise have been.

“We witnessed this in the professional stream years ago. In pre-Coursera days, the biggest question was whether online learning was possible at all. Workplaces adapted fast, but schools will be forced to adapt even faster because there is no other option. However, this will need innovation because younger audiences have lower attention spans. It will be harder to keep them engaged in front of a screen,” Vohra says.

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Tips and trcisk for teachers

• Make sure to engage with students by asking them a lot of questions and getting them to respond.
• Use tools provided by online classrooms such as polls.Teachers can set-up multiple-choice questions to quiz students.
• Online classrooms give teachers the option to use virtual ‘whiteboards’ so they write, draw, and explain concepts in a visual manner.