Shaken by external factors
That’s the way I’ve seen the teaching / learning community these days. The former – used to facilitating online tasks to students or not -and the latter, forced to manage their studying habits differently.
The reason? The swine flu that has broken out in the world and that has been seriously affecting the Argentine life styles this Winter.
Teachers and learners have been made to change their working habits. Those ELT professionals with some expertise in the use of internet tools to assist their lessons have faced no difficulty dealing with these circumstances, heading for more than interesting outcomes and reflections.
Education authorities decided to suspend lessons all over Argentina without previous planning. There was no time to react : Personally, I’m sure I would have arranged a proper course of action by exploiting internet tools if I had been given notice of such measure, but that has to do with our Government policy…and that’s another story.
I saw teachers and schools in Buenos Aires and many other places react with a sort of serious plan, involving families.
Consequently, different subjects were dealt with beautifully.
Under all these events, on thinking whether turning English Studio into a temporally virtual learning center ONLY, I found myself doubting whether I might have been able to support my young learners (and their parents) desperately asking questions on how to tackle this task or the other. Probably I deprived them of their chance to become really autonomous learners! After all it’s me the one who always complains about their teacher dependency !
I missed the emergency factor for various reasons. However, the virtual features will keep ON within my classes
I can’t help wondering whether the teaching community is really up to the necessary standards, as “sending” homework via internet does not mean becoming the teachers students need nowadays.
An online teacher should have really more than one thing up his sleeve!
Most of my posts have referred to the gap between teachers offer and students demand . I hope this external “thing” described here has served to narrow it.
there is nothing in the world I enjoy more than learning. In fact, i’d rather be learning now!
Learning is the best part of teaching. I agree.
Very interesting.
I had started two wikis, days after the authorities’ decision trying to encourage a more independent learning.
My students were working in several projects that required Internet contacts.
And finally,( I’m a nightmare, LOL) I contacted them in Facebook and sent homework for everybody !!!!
I’ll know the result next 3rd of August…
” before the authorities’ decision”…sorry
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