DAY 47 – DAS CIRCUIT BREAKER NEWS – Online Teaching – Part 1

DAY 47 – Online Teaching! Part 1 #CircuitBreaker #EmbraceDyslexia

OUR RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT TEAM SHARES THEIR ONLINE TEACHING EXPERIENCES

SITI NADIAH

The idea of online teaching was pretty exciting at first as it was new territory for us. I had some doubts about its efficacy but after experiencing it for about 2 months now, I feel that it provides adequate support for our students. Granted, I’ve had to adjust my expectations quite a bit as the environment is not as controlled as that of our typical classrooms. Firstly, it can be difficult to listen to each other with the background noises from our homes and it is not so easy to coordinate the students’ “mutedness” since they can control that on their own. Secondly, it is much harder to conduct differentiated lessons as I can’t exactly multi-task online as I would do in a physical lesson. However, one good thing that has come up from conducting online lessons is my willingness to try new EdTech tools. I’ve discovered some amazing tools that I really like and will probably continue using in future.

HARVIN KAUR DHILLON

Preparing for and conducting lessons online has been rather exhausting. Technological issues continue to crop up, disrupting the flow of lessons. Nevertheless, it has been encouraging to see a majority of students and parents get on board with the new medium. I have also been heartened by the way many of my students have adapted and continue to engage and learn.

SOFIA BINTE ABDOLLAH

When DAS first implemented home-based learning, I was still trying to adjust to this new working format. It has been a totally different ball game for teaching. I was constantly changing my protocol based on what works and what does not work. It is a constant process of learning and re-establishing routines – which can be very frustrating.

However, it gave me a chance to creatively leverage on technology to arrive at a win-win situation, for both the students and teacher. The students got the hang of this online learning experience right after the first few weeks. I have incorporated online virtual elements into my lesson planning and lesson execution. The students enjoyed it. They had fun and at the same time, were able to grasp what they had learnt for the day. That is what matters the most.

Responses from the students.

I felt that the students took to the new way of teaching rather quickly. They were largely on task and managed to complete their work with minimal problems. This was because the students were no strangers to the use of technology in class.

Tan Yu Han Tenaya, one of my students, said, “I like it that even when Mdm Sofia could not be in school, we could still continue learning with her. It was interesting that we could also use Google Meet and Google Jamboard to make our lesson more fun and lively.”

However, another student, Ho Ai Shu Aiki reflected, “I still prefer having face-to-face interaction. I miss the personal touch when Mdm Sofia teaches us in class.

There is also a limit to what technology can do. As an educational therapist, I missed being able to touch base with my students. We can give instructions and feedback using technology but we do not really experience the warmth of speaking to them directly.

In conclusion, with this experience to remote teaching, I can finally have a grasp of home-based learning in the future. When more people get into a rhythm and become more comfortable with this home-based learning experience, it will get better. I also think there are a lot of opportunities for us to learn, innovate and become more efficient during this period. It has forced us to try new things and build a better functioning pedagogy that works for us and the students.
While it has been stressful, it is also a new chance that I have never had before and that gives me a very positive feeling about the future of our education.

By 

Siti Nadirah, Educational Therapist & Resource Developer, Queenstown Learning Centre

Harvin Kaur Dhillon Educational Therapist & Resource Developer, Yishun Learning Centre

Sofia Binte Abdollah, Educational Therapist & Resource Developer, Tampines Learning Centre

DAS English Language & Literacy Division

Read the article here

DONT FORGET TO Join us for the UNITE SPLD 2020 CONFERENCE ONLINE!

Since the start of the COVID-19 situation, DAS has had to respond to delivering our remediation classes as well as all of our training online!  We decided to go ahead with our Preschool Seminar as an online webinar and since then in March we have become quite adept at doing things online.  So preparations have been going well for this next online experience and we look forward to having you as a participant at UNITE SPLD.

DAS has been overwhelmed with the support of our local and international colleagues and we appreciate their continued support of our SpLD community.

We look forward to delivering you a “different” conference this year, we will not let the virus stop us from learning!

Ticket sales will be available on 27 April 2020 @ $75 each.  DAS Parents get a discount – call our hotline:  6444 5700 (Office Hours)

REGISTER NOW! tinyurl.com/UNITESPLD2020