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Coronavirus: How To Keep Teaching If Schools Are Closed
Promoting online learning
Date : 07/09/2023
02 March 2020Coronavirus has already caused the closure of schools across the world and
it may be that even more schools will have to close in the coming months.What can you do to ensure education continues?The key is not to panic and instead consider how you can continue to engage
with students and help them learn, irrespective of external factors.1. Cloud toolsThere are many online tools that allow teachers to engage with students
remotely and that should be incorporated into teaching life so they can be used
quickly and confidently, whatever external circumstances are affecting a
school.For example, Google Meet can be used to check attendance, while Google
Classroom lets you upload resources, set deadlines, allows students to turn in
work they have done and, importantly, lets you mark it and send back the
corrections, allowing you to ensure that they have studied the topic.You can also set exam questions and correct them (good for exam focus)
using platforms such as Edpuzzle. In terms of assessment, Edpuzzle is
especially useful, since you can ask questions throughout and require students
to send answers back to you.Microsoft Office 365 is often available to teachers. It allows you to set
up classes on Teams and to use OneNote to assign classwork to students. When
they complete the assignment, you can mark it on the same document, too.2. Go over familiar
groundIf the disruption is fairly short in length, you can probably focus more on
reinforcing and consolidating previous knowledge and concepts.That way, since they have already studied these topics, students feel more
confident to work independently.Again, using technology tools can help here as you can set quizzes and mark
them, and provide feedback as if in a classroom. Such tools also enable
teachers to spot students who are struggling in certain areas, or those that
could be pushed further – just as you would in the classroom.3. Start exploring
flipped learningHowever, if the disruption is likely to last a long time and you have to
start covering new content on a syllabus, flipped learning is a great way to
do this.First, prioritise which units would need to be taught in class and which
ones could be learned independently. Then choose websites carefully, in which
explanations are well given and examples and exercises are clear. There are
many websites, and especially videos on YouTube, that can help to teach
students and encourage them to gain independence.Tes recently explored whether YouTube could become a key teaching tool
– read more here.Using videos allows you to focus on the practical side of the subject and
give constructive feedback on what they need to do next or how to improve.You will need to direct them to specific sites, though – just saying “learn
about this” won’t work.You can also implement such methods in your usual teaching practice. You’ll
be surprised how well students can react to this.4. Practise using these
tools before they are neededMy final piece of advice would be to try to practise all of the above – for
yourself and, crucially, with students – long before an incident occurs.That way, you will know how things work and students will have been tutored
by you on how to use these tools effectively.Otherwise, if you try to implement all of this from home during a crisis
and the students have never used it, things could prove difficult and you are
likely to have some learners claiming they can’t get the tools to work. Hopefully, large-scale disruptions are rare but, as the past months
have shown, you can never guarantee what might happen – so it is always best to
be prepared.Luis MorenoLuis Moreno is a modern foreign languages teacher (Spanish and French), who
has taught in international schools in the UK and overseas
This resource was uploaded by: Luis