Did you ever spend an hour thinking about a historical event that you will be able to live through? The truth is that nobody ever thinks that way, and you probably don’t either. Right now, it feels odd to prepare this write-up while sitting at home, especially in light of all those events that brought humanity to this situation. School children have been joking with their friends and telling each other how they might have to stay at home until May. Indeed, being a high school student when the COVID-19 disease is wreaking havoc all over the world is a unique experience in itself. Teachers and parents of students emphasize grades, standardized tests, classes, and activities so that youngsters can choose to study at the college of their dreams. Nevertheless, it seems that none of it matters this year.
1. About distance learning: The authorities of educational institutions couldn’t help but cancel every measure of student progress. It’s safe to say that students will have nothing more than a blank slot in their records for the school year of 2019-20. However, many schools implemented a new form of schooling that they call “distance learning.” It’s an initiative through which teachers will post worksheets textbook readings, reviews, and notes for completion every day and submitted in file format.
2. It has been around for some time: Generally, for high school students, teachers post work that would take around 45 minutes for a student to finish. It’s quite interesting to see how schools are adopting technological advancements. Even two years ago, if teachers resorted to emails and websites to teach a course, then those educators would have ended up being a laughing stock for the school boards. Today, however, educational institutions stick to this approach even without a pandemic.
3. The problem: While it would feel nice to wake up later in the morning every day and complete schoolwork at your own leisurely pace, experts believe that distance learning would never be able to replace or negate the importance of going to school physically. Teachers already informed their pupils that the work they are doing at home won’t help them enhance their grades. Even then, diligent students never avoid completing their assignments. The ultimate purpose that distance learning serves is to showcase the fact that attending a school isn’t about getting good grades. It’s about taking the initiative to become better versions of their characteristics and bolster their own knowledge base. However, distance learning isn’t achieving what it’s expected to.
4. Not for all: Distance learning allows students to review previous topics for students who need to review the material to prepare for tests, but it doesn’t work for everyone. Some pupils who know everything about that topic wouldn’t want to waste time reviewing it. Instead of allocating that time-window for reviewing, teachers should focus on expanding and developing the unit. They should assign optional readings that don’t come from an age-old textbook.
5. Unnecessary: Currently, proficient educators believe that distance learning isn’t mandatory, especially in its present format. The objective of distance learning is to prevent students from avoiding their studies. Understandably, the cause is noble and well thought out, but teenagers preferably want to laze around or recuperate from the mental stress that accompanies constant studying.
Advice to schools
In the end, teachers should avoid covering old material. Instead, both school boards and faculties should utilize every online resource available. In most cases, schools develop curricula based on final examinations and other tests. Now that schools postponed or canceled those examinations, teachers should consider bestowing knowledge of valuable life skills upon their pupils. Distance learning is gaining a lot of popularity but it doesn’t impart value as of yet. Teachers should avoid preparing their students only for examinations by shifting their focus on things that pupils actually want to learn.
