By Dr Michelle Attard Tonna, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Education
As an educator whose primary role is to train teachers and equip them with skills on how they can learn from their own work environments, I think such a question does not remain relevant anymore. This is because after one month of school shutdown, many teachers have undergone a huge learning curve and they are reporting changes in the way they view their role and in the way they use technology to complement their practices and their pedagogies.
It is not that the online classroom is replacing the physical one, but that the physical classroom has changed and we have all experienced benefits, during these last four weeks, that we would consider integrating in our normal lifestyle once this becomes possible.
One of the huge benefits of online learning is the possibility for teachers to represent their teaching in multi-modal ways, and support books and handouts with images, videos, visualisations and other media. Although this was already possible in traditional classrooms, online learning prioritises its need, both for students and teachers, as there is a constant effort from participants to interact and understand each other, and ensure that they are being understood. Teachers and students also put in a lot of effort in building relationships, establishing connections with their peers and creating a rapport based on trust, because this is essential when people are not meeting in person.
Another benefit is the opportunity for students to work at a pace which is consistent with their learning, and for teachers to differentiate instruction and target different learning needs. In a physical classroom, with, let’s say, 22 students, a teacher must work with everyone simultaneously, develop individual plans and differentiate instruction. This is one of the main issues in today’s classrooms and a challenge which many teachers have to face.
In an online learning environment, since time constraints are different from those of a physical classroom and students are trained to become more independent and access resources according to their needs, teachers can target learners’ needs more adequately. Moreover, students tend to be more thoughtful and contemplative in their online interactions than in a face-to-face classroom. When students are required to write down their conversations or questions, they gain time to think, to reflect, word their ideas carefully, and send their reply after contemplating. This format provides for a reflective pace.
Online learning can also present a number of challenges. Good communication between teacher and students and among students themselves is of utmost importance. There should be regular doses of encouragement and feedback on assignments / homework, and this is often transformed into individual emails, adding strain and huge amounts of time commitment on the teacher. While individual email conversations between the teacher and the students can enrich the online learning experience, these conversations usually take place within the contact hours of a physical classroom, and most often in front of an audience of students who can benefit from the guidance being provided. It is thus important for teachers to learn smart ways of communicating with their students by providing generic answers in the classroom virtual learning environment, and restricting emails to confidential, personal issues that students may have or to address students’ individual needs.
The current experience, albeit quite limited, has shown teachers what they can achieve through an online learning environment. One of the valuable lessons they are learning is that rather than trying to recreate the face-to-face learning environment to whatever degree possible, by, for example, providing regular real time whole-group class sessions which may not work with students of a younger age, they should instead try to capitalise on the unique benefits that the online environment can offer students. Online learning opens up new channels of learning and teachers do not regard it as a replacement to the face-to-face learning scenario, but as an enhancement to the physical classroom setting.
Disclaimer: Opinions and thoughts expressed within this article do not necessarily reflect those of the University of Malta.
