Anyone else got 'tech' worries about home working?

[TeenPlusTwenties]

My DD doesn't do online stuff well, she struggles to type, and gets overwhelmed by too much info on a screen. So I'm a bit anxious as to how all the work being set online is going to go. Actually it's not the set online, it's the needing to get it marked.

I think we have a number of choices:

A) Take this as an opportunity to force DD to get better at typing.
But she is stressed to the roof at the moment and I really don't think that will work.

B) Print everything out, let her do it all on paper, scan it in and send it back as an image. Possibly a right pain for the teachers, and I don't want to add to their workload.

C) Let her do it all on paper, and then I try to type it word for word (dire spellings and grammar and all) for sending back. Seems like a lot of effort.

[Malmontar]

I'd let her do it on paper if you have the printing facilities. If you want to save money get a HP printer with a free instant ink trial. We just got one from Curry's with a free 9 month trial as our DD is similar.
Also, take it easy. She can slowly get better. There's great free touch typing courses, she doesn't have to type everything immediately but it will make her life easier in the future.

[ooopsupsideyourhead]

Are you WFH or available to assist?

If the latter, what about she types some (because, yes, this is a good chance to improve) and she dictates for you to type for some?

If you can’t assist then I would suggest she types some (same reason) and used text to speech for the rest - this takes some getting used to, but could be really helpful in the long term too. No specialist equipment required, most laptops have microphones built in and Google Docs allows speech to text. Can copy and paste in to school noodle or whatever if required.

The print/scan is a pain, and will need the same at the other end for teachers to mark it. You could loose quality over time, and teachers may not have a scanner at home.

[ooopsupsideyourhead]

If you don’t have a microphone built in, could also use a smart phone for speech to text :)

[ExpletiveDelighted]

Yes, mine sometimes dictates into the notes function on her phone then emails it to her school email.

[TeenPlusTwenties]

Those are good ideas, and we might try them if needed. Certainly I think some typing could be good but I really want her to keep handwriting as well as she needs to keep up strength in her hands, and he speech isn't very clear either...

We might find some teachers are happy with scanning and some aren't and that will help us see which way to go.

Or maybe I could find some paid work for someone to transcribe and email back to us?

[ooopsupsideyourhead]

If you want to keep up strength in her hands functions that address more than a pencil grip will do a better job. How old is she? Does she struggle so much with written work that her writing becomes illegible? Might she qualify for exams access arrangements (such as a scribe, or laptop) in the future?

Some ideas off the top of my head are cooking (chopping, grating, kneading, cake/biscuit decorating, using spoons to weigh out ingredients slowly), craft work (scissors, hammering... , using a screwdriver, sewing, knitting, crocheting), playing a musical instrument, applying makeup (use YouTube tutorials), elaborate hair styles (YouTube again), Lego, puzzles, learning to juggle... all of these sound a lot more fun than writing to me!

Hope it’s ok to have gone off on a tangent here, but as a teacher, yep, school work is important. But not if it’s going to cause difficulty and stress for everyone! This is going to go on for a long time, we should be taking a much more holistic view of the child than simply giving academic tasks to complete!

[TeenPlusTwenties]

Hi oops She's y10 already. We tried typing at school early in secondary but she found it hard to learn and generally more of a hinderance than a help. Her handwriting does deteriorate over longer exams, so English Lit especially will be a problem as she gets extra time, but it stays more or less legible to most teachers.

Most of your other general ideas are great but are almost entirely things she struggles with and so avoids. We do do the cooking though as she is doing Food Tech.

[ooopsupsideyourhead]

Well, I hope you get to spend plenty of time in the kitchen over the next few weeks then, it will be nice to do something like that together

[BrieAndChilli]

Otter is a good transcribing tool.

[SansaSnark]

As a secondary teacher, I have been happily accepting work however children are able to send it to me- including written notes that are photographed. I know that some children are accessing work via their smartphones, so this is the only way they can really submit work.

As long as I can read the work from the photo (not always the case), I have been emailing back feedback, without "marking" on the page, if that makes sense?

Hopefully your daughter's teachers will be able to do something similar for you.

[TeenPlusTwenties]

Thank you Sansa .

[TeenPlusTwenties]

The English teacher has just sent a general message saying OK to send photos, so that's good.

[KoalasandRabbit]

I have a DS who is struggling massively with the tech - I'm typing it out, some teachers are not accepting it and only he can e-mail but he's not capable of that and also school have not given him any of his passwords.Me typing it out is the only way I can get him to work as he's ASD. The school have sent an e-mail out today saying we must only use their method, if we can't the child should do nothing, parents shouldn't replace with something else. I'm going to have to ignore that otherwise as he can't access 50% of what they are sending through due to SN and I want him learning. He's happy to learn but needs methods adapting so I'm finding alternatives online he will work with.

[TeenPlusTwenties]

Koala What a ridiculously inflexible approach!

We might find that DD goes 'off spec' and ends up doing Seneca online for subjects where that's available rather than the workbooks and essays etc. Seneca is better than nothing.

[Piggywaspushed]

I prefer photos to be honest! I want them to keep going in their exercise books and to annotate texts.

Yesterday , someone sent me a picture of a computer screen with Bitesize on it! Someone else sent me a picture of their telly with a production of Macbeth on it!!