Teaching and learning online: Stop going to school, not stop learning

Regarding online teaching and learning, Nghe An Newspaper also recorded the opinions of some teachers.

Teacher Nguyen Thi Huong - teacher at Quynh Luu 2 High School:

At this time, more than anyone else, my colleagues and I just want to go to school to see students, see familiar spaces again and teach directly. Many of my colleagues also shared that they have never loved their jobs and school as much as they do now and just want to go to school.

But with the current complicated epidemic situation, online learning is the optimal choice. I know, many parents still say, we can wait. However, we do not know when to wait and in that situation, the policy of "not going to school but students still studying" proposed by the education sector, in my opinion, is completely correct.

Teacher Nguyen Thi Huong.

Currently, the Department has issued guidelines on dividing school hours for each level so that schools can plan, and with this schedule, I think it has partly resolved the concern about overlapping school hours of children in a family. Of course, for families with many children studying at the same level, it will be very inconvenient. But in reality, there will not be a suitable solution for all subjects and all situations. Among many options, we will choose the best and safest option.

I also think that online learning will create a big challenge for teachers, students and parents. For teachers and students, it is how to teach and learn most effectively. For parents, it is how to support their children, how to have enough computers for their children to study when the epidemic is prolonged and life is difficult. Questions such as where to buy computers, where to get computers when 2 or 3 children are studying at the same time are not easy to answer, especially in areas and families with difficulties. However, I believe that for students who do not have enough equipment to study, schools and parents must have a way to ensure that they are not disadvantaged.

Students in Vinh city attend an online class. Photo: MH

To study online effectively, I think the study time of primary, secondary and high school students should be reduced because sitting to study on the computer is very tiring for those who are not used to it. Instead of each normal 45-minute class, the time can be reduced by 5 minutes or more. If studying on the phone, it is even more tiring and can only study for a maximum of 2-3 hours.

Mr. Phan Van Thiet - Head of Education and Training Department of Ky Son district:

Compared to many other localities in the province, Ky Son is the most difficult district with many unique characteristics. Therefore, the implementation of online teaching also has many shortcomings.

In fact, in the previous school year, we organized online teaching but it was only implemented in the town area, convenient areas or commune centers. In the rest, online teaching could not be done because many places did not have internet, did not have phones, and some parents did not care about their children's education. Ky Son also has 126 villages, about half of which do not have electricity, so online learning is unavoidable.

Mr. Phan Van Thiet - Head of Education and Training Department of Ky Son district.

In the current context, although the entire Ky Son Education sector is making efforts for the new school year, the Department of Education and schools are also preparing conditions to organize online teaching, but large-scale implementation is difficult and many schools are confused.

Given this reality, we are also considering the option of asking for the province’s separate opinion for Ky Son district. Currently, many schools in Ky Son implement the boarding model at both primary and secondary levels.

Students of the mountainous district of Ky Son. Photo: MH

If conditions are favorable, after the implementation of Directive 15 and Directive 16, we still hope to gather students at school (after testing for Covid-19) and implement a boarding model of "no one in, no one out" including teachers and students to ensure that there is no disease invasion. Once the students are gathered, the department will take advantage of every moment to organize teaching and supplement knowledge during the time the students are not allowed to go to school.

At this time, for schools where teachers have arrived, we also recommend that schools focus on repairing classrooms and renovating the school grounds so that if they are allowed to return to school, they can focus on studying immediately so as not to waste students' time.

Teacher Tran Thanh Chung - Vice Principal of Dien Lien Primary School, Dien Chau District:

In recent days, the Department has deployed training for school managers and the Dien Chau District Education and Training Department has also organized training for teachers throughout the district. Up to this point, the orientation of online teaching is basically quite clear. Through the deployment sessions, many principals in many different regions have also clearly identified both advantages and difficulties, but all teachers have determined that this is the only solution at the present time.

Teacher Tran Thanh Chung.

In my opinion, implementing online teaching at secondary and high school levels is quite favorable. However, it is quite difficult for primary schools and many parents do not want to implement it. This is also the most difficult problem at present, partly due to the limited equipment conditions of some families. In fact, according to our survey, currently 70% of parents have smartphones and internet connection, but only 10% of parents have computers.

On the school side, in the current situation, we are always ready and continue to promote and encourage parents to accompany the school. Many parents may ask why we do not postpone the school year, but in reality, we do not know when we can control the epidemic.

We also know that there are many forces participating in the front lines, in dangerous places. Individual teachers are more fortunate to be at home and therefore, if they do not make an effort at this time, they will be at fault with their parents and students.

Online teaching will be more difficult for primary school students. Photo: MH

In the coming time, when the new school year begins, if conditions are sufficient, we will organize online teaching. In other cases where the equipment is available but unstable, we will assign homework and online study sheets at home. If the student does not have a device, we will send the study sheets at home through the epidemic prevention team, and depending on the actual conditions, we will even assign teachers to support at home.

Teacher Nguyen Thi Lieu - Grade 1 teacher, Tan Ky town Primary School

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, in the past time, the Department of Education and Training of Tan Ky district has organized training on many teaching software, built online classrooms, grasped the thoughts and aspirations of parents and students and investigated how many students in schools have learning facilities and how many parents have the conditions to support their children.

Although we have prepared, as first grade teachers, when implementing online teaching, we also have concerns because the children at this age are still too young, just starting to step into the school gate. Besides, teachers, parents and students do not know each other yet, the children are hyperactive, do not know how to use technology, do not have a sense of self-awareness in learning, playing is the main thing, studying is secondary...

Teacher Nguyen Thi Lieu.

With these specific characteristics, we are looking for ways to solve them. In particular, teachers must increase professional activities every day, discuss, debate and build together to find methods and forms to convey basic content to students. Fortunately, the current first grade teaching program according to the new program has cloud book software, with many videos and vivid images. There are specific instructional videos and during the teaching process, I can download the software for parents through class groups for parents to watch and ask parents for guidance.

We are also working with the Department of Education and Training of Tan Ky district to build clips of sample lessons. In the near future, we will focus on conveying some basic content such as Vietnamese language, helping children recognize sounds and phonetic letters to read simple words. Through these video clips, children can write, although not beautifully.

Class time of first grade students at Tan Ky Town Primary School. Photo: My Ha

In the first lessons, online teaching can help children grasp basic knowledge, be able to write although not beautifully, and be able to calculate although not quickly. Therefore, in addition to arranging suitable time frames (like in Tan Ky, it is expected that grades 4 and 5 will study from 5 to 7 pm, grades 1, 2 and 3 will study from 7 to 9 pm), we hope that parents will accompany and coordinate with their children and teachers; otherwise, letting children play for a long time will make them impatient.