The current Covid-19 situation has brought forward something that was already planned for a few years’ time, which is distance, or remote learning. With the emergence of the Coronavirus in 2019, there have been lockdowns in all the major cities in the world, as governments attempt to combat the spread of the virus, and remote learning is now regarded as the best way forward for our children.
The Remote Learning Environment
If your child is going to learn online, you will need to prepare the learning environment, and by spending time thinking about learning space design, you can create an ideal remote learning environment. It is important to note that older students will not be online with their remote teacher for the entire school day, rather they will spend an hour online, while the teacher assigns their work for the day, then the students will come back online about an hour before the learning is over. The student submits their work and receives further assignments for the following day.
Supervising your Child
Of course, the amount of supervision your child will need depends on their age, with young children requiring parental supervision for the entire time the classes run. You should have an online video call with the remote teacher, who can give you some good advice about how to best supervise your child, plus you need all the right learning resources, which can be ordered online. If you are looking for ways to become eco-friendlier, here is a great blog on the topic.
Technical Data
If you are not that familiar with IT in general, you will need some instruction on how to set up your video connection. The school would send you a link to the website where you can download the distance learning software that enables the remote teacher to have an audio-visual connection with all the students. If you need IT learning resources, simply search online where you will find step-by-step instruction on how to install the software. Here is a link to the Australian government website with all the latest Covid-19 information.
One thing you can do to help your child is to teach them how to use Google as a learning resource, and by teaching the child how to self-learn, you are equipping them with a very valuable tool that will stand them in good stead throughout their life. The Google search engine is an amazing learning tool, you simply type in what you wish to know and in less than a second, you have thousands of search results, and when your child knows how to source reliable information, they are empowered.
While nothing is certain at the moment, it is looking increasingly like schools will be delivering their curriculum to remotely located students, as this removes the risk of Coronavirus infection. If you prepare the right materials, you can supervise your child while they are learning remotely.