As we are entering into a new era where social isolation has become the norm, the disruption to our lives has been sudden and drastic. The education sector has witnessed a dramatic change too, moving from real-world classrooms to a virtual setting. As schools rapidly scramble to adjust to the digital classroom, we explore how online learning can be made truly powerful.
Ensuring Real Learning
Online teaching can be used as a way to re-craft mainstream teaching. A mix of synchronous and asynchronous modes of teaching can be instituted. Notably, the time is ripe for the teacher to play the role of a facilitator in a largely student-led model.
We, at The Orbis School- one of the best CBSE schools in Pune ensure that all elements of a school’s timetable should ideally be addressed, but in cognizance of the fact that online lessons would have a different format. For efficient transaction and immersion, it is a good idea for the student to be assigned pre-class work.
Keeping the focus on formative, rather than summative, assessment is also a hallmark of online teaching. The test or assignment should not offer judgments; it should rather inform teaching processes. Focusing on developing deep learning, the test should be a tool for the teacher to assess how far each student has progressed and where a student needs help.
Moreover, assigning students relevant and engaging tasks as a part of a unit plan that focus on concept-based learning is key to student success. These plans encourage and support self-paced learning that is more personalized.
Finally, for a student to be engaged in class, appropriate guidelines should be in place. For example, simple “class rules” such as raising one’s hand and allowing the teacher’s acknowledgement before unmuting and other basic tenets can go a long way in ensuring decorum in the online class. Such rules can also be in place to facilitate peer-to-peer communication.
Taking Care of Holistic Learning
We believe that the holistic approach to student development must also be addressed by the online model. It is thus important to timetable, not just scholastic engagement, but equally importantly, co-scholastic and pastoral engagements as well. Especially in the current context, engaging students in art and movement is the need of the hour not just to enhance and enrich the student’s academic performance.
The current situation may be embraced as an opportunity to re-assess how learning is facilitated in traditional schools. At The Orbis School - Top CBSE schools in Pune, weaving technology in curriculum delivery has remained a pillar in the traditional school. While the current jump to online instruction may be temporary, the school will continue to use technology, as it always has, in the teaching and learning processes.
- Editorial Team
The Orbis Schools