Covid-19: A new era in learning

As the cornavirus continues to surge through the country, many schools have adapted to technology-delivered instruction as government has yet to outline its official plans for the remainder of the school year.

Before the Covid-19 lockdown on March 26, President Cyril Ramaphosa ordered schools to go on early recess which started on March 18, as part of social distancing measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.

With lockdown extended to the end of April, schools will have been closed for over six weeks, severely impacting learning time.

Interviews with local private schools revealed how students and staff are coping with the changes.

Ashton College marketing manager Jeannie Habig said teaching staff had worked through the school break preparing lessons, making slideshows and video recordings under a revised term timetable.

Habig said they had trained senior college staff and students on Microsoft Teams, an interactive classroom model.

“The senior college completed their final two weeks of the academic term online before the Easter holiday on March 27.

“On April 14, the official start of second term, the academic programme at Ashton resumed online. Zoom and Class Dojo were introduced for the foundation phase (Grade R to Grade 3) while junior primary pupils were instructed by their teachers through WhatsApp.

Crawford North Coast executive head Vernon David said prior to the start of the new term, the staff underwent extensive online training.

“The pre-primary, preparatory and college teachers have embraced the challenge and approached the transition with enthusiasm, showcasing innovative and creative teaching strategies and our preparatory school continue to deliver on the new inquiry-based ‘Primary Years Programme’.

“Our teachers have live-streamed lessons, practical demonstrations, posted notes, presentations, assignments and homework via their online MS Teams classrooms.”

Curro Mount Richmore executive head Bryn Thomas said the school was also using MS Teams.

“Teachers and pupils are able to see each other every morning to brief on the day’s work, ask questions and share news,” said Thomas.

Reddam Ballito principal Catherine Raw said: “The transition to an online teaching programme has been both exhausting and exhilarating but rewarding as staff are able to make contact with their students and see them in real time on Google Hangouts Meet.

“The reality is that this may be our new normal for some weeks, not just a temporary emergency arrangement. Our focus has been to assist our students to become familiar with the world of online education and to support them socially and emotionally.”

For public schools, however, the transition online has not been easy. The first challenge has been making sure each student has access to an internet-connected device.

Umhlali preparatory principal Sandra Wiggle said the school was navigating uncharted territory. At the start of this week the school transitioned to Google Classroom.

“We conducted a survey to determine which households are unable to connect to Google Classroom. Two households were unreachable while five households had poor connectivity. We are investigating ways in which we can connect with these families. In the meantime, our teachers are sending instruction to these families via WhatsApp and email. We have as yet not received any plan or directive from the education department,” said Wiggle.

Basic Education department spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga said completion of the 2020 academic year was possible.

“We have a plan in place to rescue lost time. One of our plans might be to do away with the coming school holidays to recover the lost time,” said Mhlanga.

Other possibilities being considered include earlier starts to the school day, evening and weekend classes and scrapping “nonessential” parts of the curriculum in certain subjects.

Mhlanga said that although there was “no guarantee” that schools would reopen immediately following the extended lockdown period, the department remained committed to salvaging the curriculum and matric exams.

“A committee is also looking at whether the writing of the June exams by pupils in grades 1-12 should go ahead or be postponed,” said Mhlanga.

Amid fears that school pupils in rural areas would have difficulty accessing learning materials online the SABC announced it would broadcast revision lessons for matric pupils on its various radio stations.

The public broadcaster has also dedicated three channels to education and includes two studios where the broadcast of the virtual classrooms will take place.

The series will provide curriculum support lessons to pupils in Grades 10, 11 and 12 and Early Childhood Development (ECD).

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