LETTER: We continue to hope that Covid-19 and online learning would make their exit soon. For the past year, we have been dealing with much uncertainty, hence persistently treating online learning as something temporary, just like Covid-19.
The only thing certain now is that education has "permanently" moved online. While Covid-19 may be banished from existence given time with vaccine research, the impact of the pandemic on education is almost irreversible.
While teachers are progressively improving their online teaching skills, parents' anxiety continues to escalate. How do parents, yet again, endure this Google Meet, Quizizz and incessant WhatsApp group turbulence saga?
To make learning at home, or PdPR, work, three major parties play significant roles: the teacher, student, and parents and/or guardians. In a the traditional setting, all matters pertaining to teaching and learning are directly between the teacher and student within the school compound.
However, when the learning environment shifts to homes, students no longer have direct access to their teachers. The intermediary is technology that needs to be managed by the authorities of the home, namely parents and/or guardians.
All parties need to acknowledge that each plays a critical role in making online learning a success. Teachers are content providers and learning facilitators, while parents are learning managers. Providing sufficient infrastructure for accessing learning content, activities and assessment falls on the shoulders of parents and/or guardians.
This includes devices, connectivity, books, stationery, and learning space. Parents need to also be in charge of the child(ren)'s "attendance".
In the past year, academic research on challenges of online learning revealed (mis)communication being central to most problems that occur. Overcoming this challenge is imperative.
For instance, group communication via messaging applications must be conducted professionally and respectfully by all parties, using formal language to avoid misinterpretations. Instructions from the teachers and questions from parents must be clear.
Learning platforms and applications chosen must be easy to use, manageable and reliable, and meet learning objectives. These are fundamentals that are to be established to ensure the online learning experience is pleasant and impactful for the students.
It is obvious that with this new modus operandi, disparity in access to education becomes more widespread than ever. However, there is no easy solution to this complex situation. I would like to suggest that students who are disadvantaged in terms of technological access be allowed to attend school at least some days in a week if not every day, with strict standard operating procedures put in place so that they would not be marginalised in getting quality education.
This, I strongly believe is doable should the Education Ministry be willing to go the extra mile in safeguarding our Falsafah Pendidikan Kebangsaan to nurture balanced and harmonious citizens, that is, insan sejahtera. No children can be left behind in this mission.
Education is not about simplifying authorities' responsibilities, but rather walking on ember so that our children will not be deprived of access to education and hopefully become better than us in leading the way towards a brighter tomorrow.
DR ROSEMALIZA MOHD KAMALLUDEEN
Assistant Professor, Instructional Technology
Kulliyyah of Education, International Islamic University Malaysia
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times