Learning online
Crisis and critical commitment from parents
QUITE naturally, every parent is somehow interested in their child’s educational achievement. This is simply because they invest quite heavily in educating their child from Year 1 until the university level. Although their investment burden in terms of financial support has been significantly reduced by the government through many education incentives such as free grants, provision of free textbooks and payment of bus fares to eligible students, parents still invest in terms of meeting other needs of their child in order for them to be in school.
Parents’ engagement is often a critical predictor of a successful virtual school experience, due to the increased autonomy and self-motivation required to be successful in an online program. More than ever, there is a need for the active participation of parents in their child online learning.
This will ensure that parents continuously monitor that their child is in touch with schoolwork given online by their teachers. Failing this, many students would lose out on valuable learning and would have an academic shock when school resumes after this pandemic is contained.
According to studies, there is a direct link between parental involvement and student achievement. This may be stated for both face-to-face and virtual courses, but the link between the two is quite evident in the case of online programs. Simply put, virtual schools are more effective when parents participate in their children’s education.
This action of parents will illustrate their commitment to their own child’s learning as well as motivate the child to learn. Parents will also be able to keep a tab on what their children are actually doing. Parents can get involved in a variety of ways.
Daily/weekly monitoring
The physical presence of parents can be very helpful to child’s learning. It is generally understood that all parents of students learning virtually cannot stay at home most of the day to monitor what their children are doing. Therefore, daily and/or weekly monitoring should be a priority for them. Daily checking on the progress of your child, especially at the beginning of their virtual session experience, is critical. The parent’s presence and assistance would possibly enable the child to get involved in online learning. However, as students become more contented and enthusiastic with online lessons, this monitoring can be gradually reduced.
As part of monitoring either daily, twice weekly or weekly, it should include them checking the number of assignments or worksheets that their children are completing, checking for their child’s understanding, and affirming on-task behaviour (as opposed to lots of time spent playing online games, browsing social networking sites, etc.). In instances, children may need assistance with developing a home study timetable for themselves and setting goals. At school, teachers assist with this as learning is systematically organised, but the home learning process can be even more successful if families can serve as coaches for their children in this way, as well.
Online teachers are not a replacement for parenting or discipline. It is the responsibility of parents to enforce regulations and raise your child in accordance with the values of your family. It is not the school systems, principals, or teachers, but you parents are the one in charge of your child’s education. The decisions are therefore yours to make.
Encourage and motivate
For our Fiji setting, online learning for primary and secondary school students is a fairly new concept- a compliment to COVID-19 for making it happen at a faster rate. It would take time for many students to get acclimatised to independent learning as many are unfamiliar with the virtual system. Other social media platforms would be more enticing than the learning platform, so students will present all the reasons not to get hooked to online learning. While this mode of learning is in its teething stage, being a positive encourager is possibly the most important role for the parent in a virtual school setting.
Praise your child’s successes. Be inquisitive on whether they have received feedback from their teachers; what comments the teachers gave; what support you as parents can give to assist your child to achieve more if they are lacking in some components. Surround them with examples of positive things they are accomplishing.
Online learning requires parents to assist their children with lessons, basically functioning as a “learning coach.” Here, parents need to help their child understand the concepts or complete assignments simply by encouraging and not basically giving away answers--for those who are well acquainted with their respective subjects.
For other parents, just moral support would raise the self-esteem of the child. It would be appreciative if parents arrange a talanoa session with their children for at least an hour on a weekly basis. This should be a two-way conversation, where parents provide positive reinforcements and the child discuss the success stories and challenges they face. At the end of the talonoa session, amicable solutions need to be found so that your child continues to progress during home learning.
Be a role model
The best commitment from parents would be when they become role models in their child’s online learning program. They must try to think from a teacher’s perspective, on how they can present themselves while the child is at their learning station. A “near school” environment needs to be created at home.
There should be enthusiasm among parents for their children to learn.
Every child looks up to their parents as their source of inspiration, as this would become very instrumental in enabling them to achieve their desired goals. As a parent, you should ask questions yourself about whether you are working hard enough to empower your child. Are you being persistent despite adversities?
What are the outcomes of your guidance or lack of it? The list here goes on. Times are very difficult for many parents at this present moment. Many parents are inundated by pressing socio-economic issues which is hitting them like tidal waves.
However, despite these trying times, are you as parents able to show courage and determination towards your child’s learning. Year 13 students are on the verge of entering tertiary education in seven months time, and they have significantly missed out on a lot of classroom learning. However, are you as a parent optimistic that your child will quickly adapt to the new measures put up by schools when they open their doors to traditional type teaching or continue as an online mode of education?
As a parent, you reap what you sow, and this is even more apparent with online learning when you (and your family) are in closer proximity with your at-home student. Your child’s outcome this time around will be more of your input.
Seek assistance
Parents must realise that they are not alone in their quest to see their children progress during this extraordinary situation. Thousands of teachers are silently praying that this pandemic ends quickly so that they can return to continue with the work they love to do the best. They are desperately waiting to be reunited with their students and coach them to what they have targeted at the beginning of the year. As such, parents must not hesitate to contact their children’s teachers if they feel that their children need professional guidance. In today’s technologically advanced era, communication is made very easy. A teacher is always a phone call away to assist. However, the first step needs to be taken by the learners or their parents. This is simply because the teacher wouldn’t know the problem a child is encountering in terms of learning unless the teacher is made aware of it. Having conversing with teachers will solve a lot of learning issues at home.
Consequently, there are peers who might be in close vicinity of your child who may be able to provide assistance. They can be contacted through any of the social media platforms and virtual peer discussions conducted to understand certain difficult concepts. As parents, while observing all COVID-19 protocols, if you are able to arrange such discussion forums, it will greatly assist your child in their learning.
From the perspective of an online school, the more hands-on parents are, the more successful the student will be in their education pursuant. Students would be spending their entire learning time at home and the input of parents will give a direction in which the child would progress.
Final words
The methods that I have articulated above are not the only way parents can get involved in their child’s online learning program. If parents are determined to see that their children succeed in these challenging times, they will find every ways and means to assist them in their online studies. COVID-19 has put parents in the shoes of a teacher- the only difference is that the teacher would give educational instruction, but supervision would come from parents.
I am strongly urging parents to realise the significant responsibility that is now bestowed on them and use all methods possible to get their children actively involved in online learning. This may not be the case for some schools which are facing connectivity issues, but many schools have ventured into online learning to get students involved in revision work.
You can’t change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust your sails to always reach your destination. In other words you can’t change the direction of the wind, but you can change the way you face it and deal with it.