Navigating through Learning Tools in Challenging Times – A simple Guide to Teaching Staff

n the face of social distancing norms, physical campus and the classroom have become vulnerable spaces for learning. The crisis was unexpected, and there were no signals to predict what was coming. But this opens a discussion on how teachers and the education system in general better prepare to handle uncertainty. What is more important is giving our teachers; tools to navigate the online spaces, so that they can reorient themselves to do their job.

To say that change in space is the only challenge teachers face is to not understand the gravity of the problem. So, what are the three most challenging things for teachers when they teach online:

1. Isolation

The idea of a group and the instructional strategies that work well within group settings all become defunct with the isolation forced by the current times. Students miss their proximate friends to whom they would whisper their questions, and that is a learning opportunity lost. Worse, there is no teacher in the physical space to notice that these are missing and take corrective action by pulling up the student to participate more actively. Many such nuances of the physical classroom will be missed much where the teacher and students are all operating in isolation.

2. Lack of motivation in online learners

Most teachers might have several strategies to grab the attention of students and then sustain it through their instructional session. In a physical classroom, the teacher is assured of the students being in the class and then can also exercise a degree of control on student responses to his inputs and actions. It is utopian to expect all students to be inherently motivated to learn. Reality is a bit far from that. In an online learning space, the repertoire of teachers in connecting and engaging with their learners requires alternate strategies. Their kinesthetics are cut off, and more audio and visual cues must be used to hold the attention. And it takes very little for the learner to veer away.

3. Difficulties with online teaching tools

Making and managing learning content, sharing and engaging students with the content, planning and administering different kinds of learning activities suitable for online learning are all activities that teachers are expected to learn and be effective with. While the tech-savvy teachers may naturally take to these, the others may need a nudge and assisted initiation.

So, the big question is how do educational institutions educate and empower teachers? There are three ways in which the institutions can work with teachers:

a. Engage with teachers asking specific challenges they foresee while teaching online

Each subject has got a set of challenges while teaching online. To expect a math teacher, a drawing teacher, and a social sciences teacher to use the technology similarly for the purpose of instruction is not only futile but also shows a lack of appreciation for the instructional strategies demanded by these different subjects. So, it is always good to ask teachers about what challenges they foresee. This step also ensures that the teachers engage in a dialogue about how to teach online, a good step for change management.

b. Select the right kind of technology partner

Often, the promise of technology is far bigger than what it offers in reality. Across the cost spectrum, especially during the current lockdown times, many technologies are forming as they are going to market. It is important to invest in a technology that is proven historically and is also future proof. In other words, a technology that can journey along with the institution and prepare to embrace uncertainty in its stride, a technology that has business continuity built in its architecture.

c. Provide a safe space and ease the teachers into adoption of technology

Any technology adoption comes with its initial challenges. But that is true of any change management initiative. Institutions that have the winning mindset thus communicate their commitment to change constantly to the teachers. This allows the teachers to experiment and innovate. Although there may be minor hiccups, the reward as an aggregate is a teaching fraternity that is equipped with using online teaching tools effectively; and a student community that feels connected to their institution, even as they are far away.

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