What is it like as a teacher with distance learning?

What is distance learning like during the coronavirus crisis from a teacher's perspective? What hurdles are there to overcome and how are the pupils doing without the daily interaction in the classroom? Roland F.* explains how primary school teachers are dealing with the exceptional situation.

"I am 47 years old, teach a 4th primary class in the canton of Zurich and work 80 per cent as a class teacher. When the corona crisis got worse and the school closure came overnight, I felt emotionally empty. I asked myself, can I support my students enough in distance learning? I quickly researched online services for distance learning. I came across schabi.ch (school on screen), which I was already familiar with. Schabi.ch offers me various options: I can provide my students with weekly plans, assign them tasks and upload documents and videos. I release the tasks to be completed to the class on a daily basis. The stumbling block is that not all students have a printer - so I sent the tasks or individual PDFs home by post. I then receive the completed task sheets from the children's parents as a photo via WhatsApp.

Another problem is that some of the children don't have access to computers or Wi-Fi. As our school is not yet digitally advanced, there is also no way we can borrow equipment. In the worst case scenario, the pupils solve their tasks on their own mobile phones, which is suboptimal.

There were framework conditions from the primary school authorities as to how much time the children had to invest in school each day.

The distance learning programme is generally well received by both children and parents, everyone is clear about what needs to be done. The exchange of information works well. Data protection is a problem, especially with regard to video sessions and recording the children, but a quick solution was needed in this emergency situation. I also make weekly phone calls to each of the pupils, and often to their parents too. The parents are very cooperative and grateful.

There were framework conditions from the primary school authorities regarding how much time the children had to invest in school each day and we were free to decide whether we wanted to organise our lessons in analogue or digital form. My fellow teachers also still work with Microsoft Teams. However, I find this tool unsuitable for fourth-graders.

The inequality of opportunity is great

However, distance learning also harbours fundamental risks, as the inequality of opportunity is huge. There are children in my class who have good support at home, others are left behind. I'm particularly worried about these children. Of course, there are also pupils who basically do nothing. And others sometimes don't read the assignments properly and don't make any progress. It's a question of attention and the individual child. If nothing works, I intensify contact with the parents.

The performance gap was already there in the regular lessons and now it is widening even further. It's unfortunate that I don't have face-to-face lessons with my class at the moment. They can call me at any time if they have questions, but the families are really on their own. The workload of the pupils varies greatly: it is regulated that the children spend around two hours a day at school. Some are finished after 30 minutes, others need half a day. At the moment, it's mainly repetition. But new learning content needs to be taught, as this semester is being treated as a full school year despite coronavirus.

Half of school is social and not cognitive.

However, I also see an opportunity in these times, namely the digitalisation of schools. Of course, learning platforms need to evolve, but schools are moving in a good digital direction. There are still security gaps, but it's amazing how well it still works. The school can become paperless. There will be tools where parent information or the homework schedule will only be made available online.

However, nothing will change in terms of face-to-face teaching, which is still the be-all and end-all of primary school. But perhaps certain tasks can simply be completed online in future. For us teachers, digitalisation will certainly require more work at the beginning, but I'm motivated.

My hope for the time after corona is that the children will be happy to go back to school. That they appreciate being in class, that they miss it and that distance learning wasn't their favourite. Half of school is social and not cognitive."

*First and last names are known to the editors

Corona chaos or opportunity?

How are you dealing with the current state of emergency at home? What are you struggling with, what is working well and what do you wish for the time after Corona? We would be delighted if you would get in touch with us and share your story with us: online@fritzundfraenzi.ch

What is it like as a teacher with distance learning?

What is it like as a teacher with distance learning?

Corona chaos or opportunity?

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