[sgm]

Enter 2020, I thought it will be like a 20-20 cricket match, this year will go smoother than all the previous years but the script seems a bit different now.

First, news of Covid-19 in Wuhan was doing the rounds and we thought it is somewhere far away as our stock market was booming. Then came March, and the virus spread to our country also. In a matter of weeks, we were in lockdown. At the beginning of March, even before the lockdown was enforced, schools were closed and kids waiting to wish happy vacation missed a chance to meet their friends. Everyone was locked up inside, kids missed playing outside. We stay in an individual house, so playing on the terrace became a norm, started terrace gardening and kids enjoyed it. Screen time was under control and we were looking forward to a new school year. It was a very difficult time of 3 months for kids without any social interaction. As adults, we are at least doing WFH, talking to our colleagues, going out for essentials, etc. Kids have been looking forward to connecting with their teachers and classmates virtually.

I am a father of kids studying in class 1 and 5. They go to one of the sought after and reputed schools in Bangalore. We were happy how the school had planned everything in advance for online schooling and kept us parents informed at various stages. We had to get the new gadgets or upgrade to new ones and kids felt thrilled. I even got a separate internet connection so that bandwidth won’t suffer and also as a backup connection. With the start of the online classes by the school, kids were excited, streamlined their life on their own. They looked forward to logging in for the next session and finish their work which they did with almost no assistance. The school took great pains in training the teachers and setting up the required infrastructure. The school used MS Teams and kids could talk/chat with friends and teachers and they got some sort of fun times and noisy class environment back. The interactive learning has its own advantages where a teacher can gauge how a child is responding. It was a great system that worked smoothly.

Now I feel saddened by the government's decision to stop the online learning session in Karnataka. During this pandemic, we are living in an uncertain period. We do not know when regular schooling can resume. Online schooling felt like heaven, safe sitting at the comforts of home, was there any other option? We, as parents and school worked responsibly in making this happen. Children were learning and had something to look forward to on a daily basis.

No system is perfect. I understand that many schools and families may find it a burden to switch to online methods. So other arrangements which are possible based on the available resources should be done. Here comes a shocker, the Govt. Of Karnataka (GoK) is banning online schooling for kids of class 1 to class 5 , a blanket ban. First, for a few days, GoK allowed recorded video but you can imagine the effort parents have to put in with this method. A child may not always follow a video and I would say mostly he/she is going to need help from the parents, fast forward a few more days, even recorded videos are banned now. Why ban it for everyone?

Now GoK is planning to use broadcast pre-recorded video. I’m at a loss of words. I have many questions? How does one size fit all? Do different schools follow different syllabi? How will the state syllabus apply to kids from CBSE/ICSE schools? If this is the question of equality of private vs govt schools, why do we have private hospitals? When we as parents have paid the fee to schools, why are the schools being banned from teaching our kids? When the whole country is allowing some form for interactive learning or recorded videos from schools, how can Karnataka alone ban online schooling?

What about BYJU’s Learning App? We can’t fix our country in a day. I have done my schooling in Kerala and I know that the govt schools maintain very high standards and many are good enough to compete with many of the private schools. So if some Governments have failed in setting the required standard, why private schools are being punished?

FB and Twitter forums are actively discussing this and it has reached the right officials and minister of education but nothing seems to help the education department in understanding the fact that interactive learning is way better than the one way broadcast communication. This echos the fact that govt also is taking one-sided decisions and not considering the good sides of well though online teaching.

How can govt come up with a reasonable solution? I do not think that it is safe to go back to school for a couple of months looking at the present situation, or may not even happen this academic year. I would like to hear comments from others. Please pour in your thoughts.

[Rajeevraj]

I think this is a topic that can be argued both ways with lot of relevant points for that. (Keeping aside the actual ban or the government decision and focusing on the pros and cons of online education.

Supporting the decision

• Only the premier schools will have the needed setup to deliver quality online classes. This will be a small percent. Rest will not be able to do it or try to do it for namesake by throwing in a zoom link without any other controls.
  
• The efficiency of delivering online education for kids under 10 years is questionable. Lot of screen time and small kids do not have the attention span to sit and focus on an online class.
  
• The infra needed. Getting additional devices (especially folks with 2 or more kids), internet infrastructure and bandwidth, suitable place at home is all a challenge. In today's situation, even if the school set up is good, many parents would struggle for the home set up.
  
• Long screen times are not suitable for young kids as per experts. (This I believe is the cornerstone of the decision).

Against the decision

• Kids are bored, been locked up for 3 months now and need some structure back into their lives. Even a virtual connect with their friends has cheered them up and made them happy.
  
• Without the possibility of going out, kids are anyway hooked to screens most of the time. So better than random stuff, better that it is something useful.
  
• Decision is not a consistent one across the country, with online classes happening in many other places, will cause a disparity.
  
• At this point, there is no clarity on the reopening, how long can this stalemate continue?
  
• In every domain including education, digital learning is already a part, need to look to adopt it keeping the control parameters in mind.

I am personally for online classes maybe from class 2 or 3. Not a full 8-3 regular school timing, but 2-3 hours a day even 3-4 days a week I think will help kids ease into this academic year while we wait for the Covid situation to improve. The key challenge is to figure out how to extend this across the spectrum to all kids.

[srishiva]

Did the govt propose downloading pre-recorded videos ? I thought it was the decision of schools.
One of my kids in class 9 is attending online classes on google classrooms. Looks like a nice platform. My other kid in class 4 is enjoying the break

Maybe if some schools can conduct and some others cant, it will be bad for some students. Also, I am not sure that all schools even class 6 and up are able to conduct online classes currently.

[anandhsub]

My kid's only in LKG and the school had started 2 hours of online classes last week.

2 hours ( 2 1 hour sessions with a 30 min break) was a bit too much for the attention span of a 3.5 yr old and hence parents requested it to be cut down to 1- 1hr 20 mins. ( 2 30 or 40 min sessions) which they wanted to try this week.

Not much happened in these sessions but I liked that it brought about some semblance of a daily routine after sleeping/eating at odd hours last 3 months. I think should have continued with at least 1 hr of classes. A pity that it has been banned.

[kittigadu]

I support the decision as I am dead against online schooling for the primary age. Heck, they can't even stand a semi boring movie, forget concentrating on a computer screen. I just feel that the schools themselves are not creative enough to think of anything else for these young kids. I strongly believe that for kids under 5th, the association of schools, govt etc should have come together and supported the concept of creating short and fun to watch educational videos covering the basics of their syllabus and giving the kids time to report back on what they have learned from them.

I learned a lot about science just by watching a vernacular UGC kids education program aired on Doordarshan some 30 years ago. The concept was simple. A kid has a small science problem, like unable to pull water from the well with just a bucket and rope. the older kids comes along and these 2 ponder upon how to make the job easy and just then the maternal uncle passes by and asks what the issue was. Upon hearing their problem, he teaches them about a concept called pulley and explains the science behind it... The format is the same every day but the problems were new. I enjoyed that show when I was in 4th-5th class. I looked forward to watching it every day. Just after the show, there was another program that showed how to make fun stuff out of junk at home. I remember, me and my sister made a train using cycle tube and those old big size batteries used in radios back then.

Something like that has to keep the kids engaged and educated. A teacher on the other end of the wire just wouldn't cut it.

Regards,
Krishna.

[AtheK]

My son who is 6 years and is going through recorded session is very disinterested, he just likes one subject and hardly pays any attention to the rest of the class, add to it some recorded sessions are one hour long.

Now school was planning to start interactive classes daily for 90 mins, so add this to the already existing screen time of watching pre recorded videos. We are looking at almost 4.5 hrs of screen time for a 6 year old kid in 1st standard.

To add to all this misery my boy has specs and we hate the time he has to spend in front of TV and now another 90 mins, you ask me i would love to scrape this year altogether, send us the syllabus, I would make sure he learns everything and is ready for 2nd class. I don't mind the fees I have already paid for, his eyes are much more important for me. I am all for this decision.

[srini1785]

My son "Graduated" to 6th std just this year and he is exempt. At least for now. Its 2.5 hrs of class from 8.00-10.30 and homework till late in evening. I don't know what this will lead to. I have stated this in many threads in this forum that i am not a fan of such Online classes as against the actual class room setting. I also hear from the ministry of home affairs that there is lot of rumbling on phone calls and whatsapp groups about why at all we should pay full term fees for only short sessions and that too "online". The digital divide is truly a factor in education and i hear that there was a lot of complaints from rural areas regarding internet connectivity and this had led to this order.

The world that we knew is collapsing fast around us.

[sgm]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

I think this is a topic that can be argued both ways with lot of relevant points for that. (Keeping aside the actual ban or the government decision and focusing on the pros and cons of online education.

This is not an easy problem to solve, we can argue from both sides, but what I would like to see is a middle ground. For parents and schools, who prepared for the online schooling, the effort may not see any light.

Originally Posted by anandhsub

My kid's only in LKG and the school had started 2 hours of online classes last week.

2 hours ( 2 1 hour sessions with a 30 min break) was a bit too much for the attention span of a 3.5 yr old and hence parents requested it to be cut down to 1- 1hr 20 mins. ( 2 30 or 40 min sessions) which they wanted to try this week.

1 hour sessions are too long. 30 minutes sessions followed by breaks and activity is a good balance.

Originally Posted by kittigadu

I support the decision as I am dead against online schooling for the primary age. Heck, they can't even stand a semi boring movie, forget concentrating on a computer screen.

The onus should be on the schools to make it interesting. Kids attention span is short, so a one way medium is bound to fail. An interactive session win here as there is a check if the kid is able to follow. The pace used by the schools is really good for my kids. My kids followed Montessori system for 3 years and we have really appreciated how they were introduced to new concepts, though it is a bit different from class 1 onwards. The same stuff is repeated over and over for so many weeks and some times months, so it gets imprinted in their mind. As a parent I would never have the patience to repeat the same stuff for weeks altogether. You need well trained teachers who put the kids through the right activity to get the concept clear.

Originally Posted by AtheK

Now school was planning to start interactive classes daily for 90 mins, so add this to the already existing screen time of watching pre recorded videos. We are looking at almost 4.5 hrs of screen time for a 6 year old kid in 1st standard.

For small kids, 1hour a day would be the best, split it into 30minutes each.

Originally Posted by srini1785

I also hear from the ministry of home affairs that there is lot of rumbling on phone calls and whatsapp groups about why at all we should pay full term fees for only short sessions and that too "online". The digital divide is truly a factor in education and i hear that there was a lot of complaints from rural areas regarding internet connectivity and this had led to this order.

The world that we knew is collapsing fast around us.

Yes, there is digital divide and it is really a sad truth, but this gap can't be fixed overnight. We, as a country should take proactive steps and this divide between urban and rural should blur.
Teachers also have a family and the schools should pay them in full whether is is short session or online class, so I hope those who are in a position to pay the fee, would do so.We have even paid the bus fee for the year and I hope it has atleast a helped a few in the transport section of the school.

[sagarpadaki]

My neighbor has a different problem. Both parents are working and need to go to office everyday. When schools were open, they used to drop the kid to the school and the mother used to pick her up in the evening. Now they are in a fix on how to handle this School From Home concept! They lock their daughter in home and go to office. They give the key to another neighbor who is a home maker and have requested her to periodically check on their daughter. This is going to have detrimental effects on the child's mind! Home locked for 7 hours!

They have invested in a new PC and internet connection. But there are internet downtime and power cuts which definitely affect the classes.

This concept works only if there is parent at home with the child. That too not guaranteed. Not possible for cases where both parents are working! It is a disaster. I do not understand how the schools did not think about this aspect before proposing this. Sad state of affairs.

[anandhsub]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

This concept works only if there is parent at home with the child. That too not guaranteed. Not possible for cases where both parents are working! It is a disaster. I do not understand how the schools did not think about this aspect before proposing this. Sad state of affairs.

Yup. in fact at my kid's school they had made it mandatory for at least one parent to be present along with the kid during the school hours.

Not sure how sustainable that would have been

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

My neighbor has a different problem. ...

One more aspect of the same problem. Some schools have issued a warning to parents not to be present during online sessions and try to prompt the students with answers.

[sushantr5]

I will tell how the schooling is being handled in Germany. My son is in third grade.

1. As soon as schools are shut due to Coronavirus. The students started to get homework details every week. Schedule what to read everyday and home work for kids related to that.

2. Necessary links and videos shared through email. Teacher made some videos and shared with kids. Teacher shares online resources, interesting learning videos, activity videos.

3. Strength of a class is 20. But it is divided in 2 groups of 10 each. Teacher has once in a week video call with kids. Kids enjoy that video call really well. It is not regular teaching in video class. They chat, share, have fun in the video call.

4. Children drop their workbook every Friday in the school. Teacher checks them over the weekend. Calls parent regarding progress. Shares the feedback with kids. Teacher keeps calling son during the week as well.

5. Grade 1,4 and later grades schooling started in May itself but alternate weeks for Groups. School makes sure there are only 10 students in a class, so it is started in Groups. Group 1 this week and Group 2 next week, like this alternate week turn of each group. Grade 1 started early because it is base for kids, Grade 4 is important year to decide next course of education of Kids so it is started.

6. Grade 2 and 3 has started this week.


I do not know actual experience in India but I feel that most of the India the education pattern never came out of textbook learning. Even in this internet era we are sticking to this pattern. Kids have to stick to schedule on online meetings and concentrate to boring teachers.

There are no shortage of interesting learning videos on YouTube. Sharing such interesting contents and bringing in little variety and experience to Kids life will be helpful instead on strict online sessions. I doubt kids can concentrate over the screen. So basically kid will be wasting his time sitting in front of monitor.

[BRV]

When the schools were asked to close due to the Pandemic, I had a feeling this online classes might start any time and the debate starts with some logical and illogical statements.

It started in my home. My kid will join 1 standard. The school informed us of online summer camp (one hour) for a week in April. Well took out my personal laptop lying around and installed the necessary apps and voila ready for the class.

Day 1 - It was Chaos. Kids were shouting, running around, parents were speaking. Everything was happening except no body were listening to the teachers. 30 Min gone by and finally some sense prevailed and things were calming down, then started the break for 5 Min which didn't resume and class is finished. My kid was running around with joy (didn't understand why, later realized that she was happy to see around her friends and teachers)
Whether the class was good? Yes from Kids perspective. Of course they love to do what they love

Day 2: Less Chaos. It took 15 min for everyone to settle down and the routine started.

Day 3: In 5 min everyone settled and class started. I was working next to kid. All of sudden she closed the app and shutdown the laptop. I was like When inquired she said its boring.
Kids don't like the routine. Especially online wherein the interaction is one way they hardly have patience for it.
Interactive classes keep them concentrate and busy

Day 4 and 5 - I had keep my work aside and sit next to her explain throughout the hour and do the crafting activities (though she was not interested out of compulsion she was sitting)

End of the summer camp I felt relieved as if I was in the summer camp and finished successfully.

Yes, online classes for young is challenging if they are not Interactive.
They can concentrate for 15-20 min and then out. Classes should be tailored for the young. Not all kids have the same grasping power or concentration. Hence need break of 15-20 min after each class so at least parents can help them

One observation, there is a neighbor kid who is a year elder and they play together. Once when she came home when online class was going on and she joined the class. Both were sitting in the class and trust me both the kids were glued to the class and were listening attentively (which was not the case when my kid alone was attending).

Feedback was shared to the school and waiting to see if they consider the points.

[Kosfactor]

The only positive side of online schooling is that the teachers get to keep their job and part of their salaries. Not every school is generous to keep paying salaries during this lockdown to the already less attractive yet very essential profession - teaching.

[raksrules]

I am in Mumbai and my kid is in Sr. Kg. and since today due that order which came in, their school stopped the online sessions. Till now it was happening one hour daily and they were gradually increasing it. There was discipline established due to this but now it is all gone for a toss. I am someone who want these classes to continue.