Ways to keep students learning if schools are closed

I doubt even a single day passes at any school with every pupil in attendance, but what would happen if the majority of pupils, or even all of them, were unable to get to their school for long periods of time? After leaving university I worked as an English teacher in parts of Asia, and during the monsoon season schools I taught at were sometimes closed for weeks at a time, often because of power outages, but mainly due to the roads becoming too difficult to negotiate. Of course my pupils` education was severely compromised because of this. Makeshift study centres were set up in the town hall, and we did the best we could with what little resources we had; but the end result was that most pupils ended up missing large amounts of school time.

Perish the thought that such a major disruption might occur in the UK, but it is certainly not impossible. Persistent inclement weather caused by global warming, protracted teacher strikes, and of course the possibility of lockdowns to combat the spread of the corona virus - these are all possible events that could lead to lengthy school closures. What contingency plans could be put in place to allow lessons to continue, and to ensure the education of students is not disrupted for long periods of time?

The most likely solution would be to use online resources. Video communication packages, such as Skype, would permit teachers to conduct lessons from any location, communicating and transmitting in real time a video feed, in effect conducting a lesson, to any number of students logged into the service. This method of teaching may well become more prevalent in the future, and already many universities offer up a lot of their lectures on sites like YouTube. The internet itself is an obvious learning resource, with just Wikipedia containing such a repository of information as to make the library of Alexandria appear as a mere brochure.

As long as pupils still have access to their syllabus, they will know what specific topics they have to study. Even if a teacher isn`t physically present, while delivering video lessons they will be able to direct their students to relevant web pages. The internet can sometimes be too vast, and a child typing a topic into a search engine may be greeted by many millions of results, and not know which links are best to follow. With the guidance of their teacher they could be directed to the most relevant pages for their syllabus. Of course it is always good to explore, to seek out new avenues of learning, and children should be encouraged to follow their interests.  

Cloud tools are another resource that could be utilised to mitigate the disruption caused by protracted school closures. Teachers could even check who is in attendance, using such facilities as `google meet` to conduct a class registration, checking a list of logged in accounts to make sure each pupil is present. Google classroom lets teachers upload lesson documents, permits pupils to submit completed homework, and then allows teachers to check the assignments, and submit and corrections and comments to each student. Edpuzzle is an easy to use video platform, allowing teachers to create interactive video lessons, chat to students in real time, and monitor which parts of the lessons pupils are spending most of their time consulting.

The number one learning resource we have though is one another. We go through our lives learning from our partners, our friends and family. We are all repositories of knowledge, with each and every one of us being in the position to impart our wisdom to those around us. If a large group of the student population were required to be homeschooled for a period of time, they will always have the adults around them to learn from. Every child has been learning from its parents since the day they were born - and with our parents always a generation ahead of us, we can benefit from their experience and understanding. Older brothers and sisters will also be able to share their wisdom, something younger siblings will have benefited from already; and there may be extended family members and friends to help bring regular lessons into the home.