H online learning
register and sometimes I have at most 18 online.”
Another concern, she said, has been assessing work done by the children online.
“If there is work posted or a test I have no proof that they are the ones doing it. You really do not know unless you are having [live] discussions to see how they express themselves,” she said.
“They are free to use the Internet, and when you give them a question all they have to do is it and write the answer, so I will find that two students who lives miles away and don’t communicate end up with the same answers (using the same words) and it is not something that you had a discussion with them using those words,” the teacher said.
Another educator, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, said less than 50 per cent of students have online access in northern Clarendon.
“... They are not learning as they should as connectivity is very poor in the area,” she said. “Sometimes it is only one student that joins the online class. The submission of assignments is also poor. Some parents are not encouraging their children to attend classes separately from the connectivity issues,” she added.
Principal of Belair High in Mandeville Lawrence Rowe
Google said online learning is still new to some students.
“The educational development of the students has been significantly impacted due to the closure of schools…. What I feel is happening is that although we are engaging some of these students online, this medium is new to the students and also new to the teachers,” said Rowe.
Some educators suggest that students repeat the year because many are “lost”.
“It may have benefits for some students, but I believe it is a disadvantage for them to be learning in this way (online), so there is quite a bit of learning loss that they are experiencing as a result of the closure of schools,” said a teacher who asked not to be identified.
“I think they could repeat the year. Some students are lost,” she added.
The use of textbooks for students who have connectivity issues has been a repeated suggestion. However, a St Elizabeth-based teacher said many parents have not purchased the recommended textbooks.
“We try as much as possible to use the textbooks that are given to them. For those who are not online, we send [printed] activities too… Many parents did not bother to buy the textbooks and that is a problem. “Some parents said, ‘school nah keep, a COVID time’. It is sad,” she said.
She is anxiously awaiting the return of face-to-face classes and said some children are only getting “content” to pass exams.
“I wonder if it is really fair to allow these students to move on to another level when they haven’t fully completed their grade level… They are not learning anything other than to get content to pass an exam,” she said.
Principal of Appleton Basic School Elvie Burton said her students have continued to use for learning, but only 60 per cent use the platform.
“It is a great loss because at this time of the year we would be preparing those going off to primary school, but some of them are behind. The teachers are working hard with the online situation that we have.”
For Belair’s Rowe, “it is a significant loss” in terms of educational attainment for students.
“Normally, in particular the students who are doing exit examinations at this time of the year we, would be wrapping up their teaching doing mock examinations and all of these things. The downturn in terms of school closures, loss of Internet connectivity in some cases [have put] students at a significant disadvantage and as such they would have lost quite a bit of teaching and learning time,” said Rowe.