22 March 2020 Week - more than a million students joined remote learning across United Arab Emirates with hundreds of teachers, parents and institutions scrambling to go virtual with two-week notice. While there have been some downs, there have been some ups too. Here's a list of some observations for all stakeholders as we enter a new era of teaching and learning
Teachers
Teachers should share files with students before class to help keep flow of class during the class time - especially slides because if they change, students are not able to either keep up or bored because the slides are not changing fast enough
Teachers should tell students to mute their mics otherwise everyone is talking, there is background noise, and all this is very distracting to the students doing the work
If teachers are taking technical help from IT, they should mute their mics and webcams
Teachers should give a heads up to students that there may be network disruptions in which case, students should wait for teacher to reenter rooms, or reenter themselves
Teachers please think about screen time when setting up your lessons.
Don’t structure 100% “live” classes at all times.
Don't structure 100% "live" classes at all times. This might be attractive but isn’t always productive. Instead, think about 10 minute “live” instructional segments at the beginning, followed by activities that students can do outside of the device and check back with them every 5-10 minutes.
If teachers are taking screen shots, video recordings, please ensure to inform students and guardians (if under 18). Moreover, when sharing, especially on social media, practice best practice in privacy and protection for all by ensuring to edit out student photos, names, details
Allow for activities do be completed beyond a normal class time – remember students suffer from “screen time” overload and lose concentration.
you are pulling off nothing short of a miracle
At the end of each day pat yourselves on the back – you are pulling off nothing short of a miracle and don't forget that! Your mental health is just as important, your attitude
Students
As a rule students should not have their webcams on, this takes up more bandwidth, makes everything slow and causes distraction
Students should not take photos, videos or screenshots of other students or teacher on their screen
Maintain normal school day routine from home
Students should maintain normal school day routine from home. This means, they should wake up early, get dressed, have breakfast and log into their class at least 10 minutes ahead of class.
Older students should avoid urge to make fun of teachers, posting videos of online lessons on social media and disturbing the remote classes. Your teachers have risen to a challenge they did not choose to take up but are trying their best to help you and ensure continuity of your learning
Dont' make fun of your teachers! They are trying to ensure your learning continues!
Parents
Parents helping students from home should keep their involvement to their own children, and encourage their children to interact with teachers online
Parents should control urge to jump in and begin communicating with teachers – this confuses teachers and pushes them into a corner.
please use the regular channels to voice feedback, questions, etc to teachers
Remember, teachers are doing their best to help your child(ren) learn and remote learning is an extension of a normal school day in the virtual space. If you have concerns, please use the regular channels to voice them to the appropriate authorities
Parents also staying home should avoid coming into the “video” feed of students. With very young children, parents should at least dress appropriately.
Parents should help children maintain discipline, mute mics and stop webcam feeds to help the teacher
Management
Please thank your teachers regularly. They are doing something that typically takes faculty years to master, through long hours of training and workshop and practice.
Please support your teachers and listen to their feedback
Please listen to parents’ feedback
Please establish proper netiquette policies to support students and teachers
Please think about SCREEN TIME when expecting teachers to conduct all classes for six to eight-hour long school days.
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