COVID-19 has shaken up the world. A pause button has been pushed on so many daily activities – but two things that cannot be paused is teaching and learning! As the world is adapting to the ‘new normal’, the sector of education has been trying to make the best out of it as well. Obviously, it won’t be the same as the usual form of teaching and learning but we are all trying our best, aren’t we?
Here are some of the steps that have been to ensure proper teaching and learning in the time of COVID:
- Adapting to digital education
Going digital is not new to us. We use technology in all aspects of life – even for learning and teaching, even before COVID. There are online courses, YouTube videos – but we still were accustomed to our traditional classroom education. And we love it, don’t we? However, social distancing requires us to be at home and learn from online classes. Being in a classroom is good for learning. We have our focus set on one thing. There are so many others learning with us and if you don’t pay attention, the teacher will probably call you out on it! With online classes, it’s different. You have to be your own motivation. Instead of a class, you are in front of your laptop – and not everyone can focus in an online class. But not everyone likes wearing masks, and we are doing it to protect ourselves – so might as well adapt to digital education.
Even teachers have been struggling as their first task was to understand the psychology of online classes. They have to learn a digitally effective technique of teaching and they also have to learn to fix the camera so that students can see them. But, they are working hard to ensure this virus doesn’t take away our education from us. So, guys, please attend your online classes!
- Creative and non-conventional teaching methods
Have you ever realized that the acting in television series is a lot louder and more dramatic than mainstream cinema targeted to play in movie theatres? Have you wondered why is that? In a movie theatre, your full attention is in the movie. There is a big screen, the lights are off and all you need to do is watch the movie while eating your cheese popcorn. But when you watch your television series, it’s you at your home – probably with a lot on your plate, and your focus is divergent. Similar to online classes.
In a classroom, the big movie screen is your teacher and the lights turned off is the fact that you can’t use your phone or side-talk. It’s not the same in an online class. To grab the student’s attention, the teacher has to come up with creative and unconventional measures. Maybe play an instrument, narrate a story – well, something creative! And doesn’t that open a pandora of opportunities to explore? How exciting!
- Binging on online courses
There are a plethora of online courses that were just there as unexplored territory. But now, people are exploring it , and using that as a learning platform. Many courses are being offered for free and at affordable prices so that anyone at home can start on their learning journey. In our everyday lives, we don’t have the time to invest mentally, financially and physically to a course, but now we can and many of us are doing so. While binging on series after series, we can also binge on online courses.
COVID-19 has changed a lot of things for us. From education to businesses – everything has seen some form of change, and education has probably been hit the most. But where there is chaos, there is also opportunity – and we are definitely on the verge of mnay more progress in teaching and learning!