As the dawn of a new reality breaks, we perhaps may wonder what the future might look like in schools for our children. With the announcement of the phased reopening of schools, the new ‘back to school’ will have an entirely different feel than the excitement that usually blusters with new shoes and pencil cases and the fresh start of September.
As many schools, and our own company, have digitally transformed, how much of this kind of learning will be around to stay and what might the future of learning look like?
Until, as a global community, we have faded this virus well and truly into the background, many parents and students will have much anxiety due to being around others- being social- and back to school by its very nature means just that.
It’s incredibly challenging for teenagers, perhaps the most social of all of us, to be away from their friends. How social distancing can be managed and maintained in the months and maybe years ahead, will be challenging for all ages- teens to early years.
Parents will, naturally, want to keep their children safe and so may choose not to send their children back to school. There may be a large amount of absenteeism with classes half empty and schools continuing to upload work for absent pupils. Teachers will have an enormously challenging role of getting teaching online and offline right for each individual child. An enormous challenge with a class of 20-30 students.
As we have seen in the most recent weeks, local schools are managing online learning very differently. Some are conducting live lessons all day, some are mixing live introductions with set work, and others are uploading learning tasks to platforms such as Google classroom.
Most parents, who are working from home have had to be both a teacher and a parent. The fact is that students are not getting the individualised support or guidance that they may get in a classroom situation or from a tutor who can personalise and tailor learning experiences based on what a student needs or doesn’t understand.
Students who may usually ask a friend or look at what others are doing in class to truly know if they are on the right track may find themselves a little out at sea. Certainly students with any kind of learning need have struggled to manage their own workloads and make sense of the presented material. This can often end in learning anxiety and parental frustration too. The message we are getting from parents is that they need a qualified and experienced teacher to teach, guide, and support and to have a well trained, expert eye on their child’s learning.
I personally think that the future of education could change dramatically. Education has had a huge disruption and in its place, online platforms- the big 3, Zoom, Google Hangouts and Microsoft Teams have shown that learning can be delivered, especially through 1:1 support.
Perhaps we could begin to think of the future of education as being a ‘blended learning experience’ with a mix of platform-based learning, live lessons and some time in schools. Ensuring that our children are safe, happy, learning, and feeling supported is what every parent will want in the coming months.
by Karen Ormerod -Company Director
Get your child the support they need and book our online, live lessons with hours to suit you. 1:1 with qualified teachers to help your child navigate their education journey.
