Sir Douglas takes to online teaching like a house on fire

POLOKWANE- Mitchell House teacher, Douglas Friedemann, is breezing into the new era of virtual teaching.

Douglas, who has been a teacher at the school for six years, teaches life sciences and has over the last 11 year had to pleasure of teaching both in the public and private sector.

Mitchell House has laid the foundation for online teaching, since the expectation is that learners from as early as the junior grades will be able to operate on Google Classroom, produce their own media, and conduct research on the internet. He admits that he hasn’t always been technologically inclined. He joked about the adjustment he has had to make in teaching as information and communications technology “has taken over”: “I used a spreadsheet as my markbook, which was on one of the two Apple computers in the typing room”.

He added that it hasn’t been easy developing methods that work and to put the onus on the students to prepare work and do the assignments on their own. “I have really enjoyed putting material together and the release from the busy minutiae of the school day. It has been an extremely full day, every day, but also very productive. I have, however, been privileged in not having young children at home and having the technology to conduct my lessons on has allowed me to focus fully,” he added.

Most learners, he said, have risen to the occasion but some still struggle to stay afloat. The biggest challenge that some face is that they don’t have the means to maintain connectivity. This new way of teaching is welcomed and he has found that with time, his methods and techniques have improved.

“It does, however, mean being behind a desk and computer most of the day. That is not good for me as I am accustomed to being able to be on my feet,” he said. One thing he surely misses, he says, is the relationship that he has with his class and the luxury of contact time with learners.

 reporter04@nmgroup.co.za