Why are teachers not teaching live lessons online

[Shouldistayorshouldimove]

This is not a teacher bashing thread.

Talking online with another mum in my son’s class today, both ourDCs are in p1 (Scotland). She is outraged that teachers next term will be posting work online rather than actually teaching using Zoom etc. Her argument is that universities are doing it so why aren’t teachers? And how is she supposed to work from home and educate her children?

Personally I don’t think teaching a bunch of 5 year olds a live lesson using Zoom is going to be all that effective and would probably require quite a lot of supervision anyway. AIBU to think that tasks posted online are quite sufficient given the circumstances? So as not to drip feed, I am also working from home with 2DCs.

@MsTSwift I don't expect you'd lend yourself to understand fully but essentially yes to a point. When you can ensure teachers protection and that rogue teenagers will be behave let us all know alright?

mrst the kids from the most deprived homes dont have adequate laptops or wifi . Stop now.

mrstswift mostly because, as explained upthread, teenagers can and will manipulate the images / sound etc. Also many teachers are in school looking after key workers kids, or their own, or might be ill. It's very difficult to teach into a vacuum. We don't lecture for 45 mins, it's interactive, so difficult to do much pre recorded that kids would actually listen to. Time is better spent creating and posting assignments, tasks, links etc for students to do as and when, and marking what comes back. And please don't assume all private schools have shitloads of tech and are doing live lessons. We're not.

@MsTSwift we do record and upload lessons per our timetable in term time, as well as being available for marking, answering questions, etc just like we would normally, we are working, but remotely. The OP was asking about live lessons, which is completely different!

A lot of this seems to be motivated more by the idea that teachers mustn't 'get away' with not working enough. There are loads and loads and loads of freely available short educational videos aimed at kids - asking teachers to record their own is like insisting that each teacher write their own textbook; what's the point of each individual making their own with lower production values? What a teacher does that a video never could is all in the interaction, so if it's just a pre-recorded video then what's gained by it being their actual teacher doing it? It just feels like people want teachers to show more visibly that they're working, not that they actually care what the product of that is.

For a huge amount of children and young teens laptops aren't something they have at home, and you'd be astonished at how few teenagers have access to internet and smartphones in some areas.

Just because some children have those luxuries doesn't mean everyone does and teaching via webcam or webinar would exclude a huge proportion of children across the UK.

I work in Education and can say that teachers aren't all sat about twiddling their thumbs; they're working incredibly hard to provide resources to as many children as possible. I don't think Zoom lessons are in any way appropriate because as pp's have suggested they lend themselves to manipulation and possible safeguarding issues.

If you look at the guidelines the Government actually suspended the curriculum in the UK. Teachers according to the guidelines and unions should not be replacing school with an online version. All they have asked teachers to do is to make work available for students. Schools have been turned into childcare facilities for children of key workers and vulnerable children. As a teacher I am setting work that is reasonable for children to do at home. Anything that was in the curriculum for the time we have left will all need to be taught properly when we are back in school. I also teach plenty of students who do not have any access to the internet. This is one of the main reasons the curriculum was suspended as it could not be fair to all children.

Teaching in primary school is not lecturing. Primary teachers do not stand in front of a class and ‘deliver’ stuff. It is an interactive process. What the hell would be the point if every primary teacher videoing themselves saying the same stuff?
The new BBC TV materials coming soon might do some of this. Schools could direct pupils towards them. Maybe the DFE could commission some online ‘lessons’. But none of it will be anything like a teacher and a classroom of children.
Other professions (NHS workers excepted) are not being expected by the nation to entirely change their way of working with no notice or guidance.

I think they are missing a trick. Encouraged by unions to say “it’s all too hard - safeguarding” and doing the bare minimum when families are crying out for more support. Look at supers school. And my friends and sisters school. Amazing. It can be done. Not at either dds schools yet we all supposed to laud the teachers as living saints. Not seeing it sorry.

@MsTSwift kids from deprived homes are very unlikely to be able to access live lessons. My school is sending out physical paper packs to many students who can't access the work online: what hope would those students have of finding a quiet space with a device and internet access for 5 specific hours a day?

So she doesn’t understand how she is meant to educate her own child and work from home? But as a teacher I am meant to educate my own child, and work from home by teaching others on zoom? While also entertaining my pre-schooler?

Just she think we teachers are robots who don’t have all the same stuff going on at home?!

Every kid works on different stuff in my kids‘ class. Don’t see how it would work. They’re doing differentiated work . It’s a composite mixed ability class. Teacher doesn’t just stand there giving a Ted Talk!

Every most of these kids have phones. So because the most deprived don’t you propose providing no support for anyone? It all sounds like excuses to me. In the private sector we have to work round this teachers saying “it’s all too hard” and throwing their hand up. Not good enough.

Yyy agree LisaSimpson.

@MsTSwift many of us are doing that, or using some of the fabulous video clips out there.
My remote learning lessons typically consist of a couple of you tube clips, my voice Over on a powerpoint, starter questions, mid powerpoint questions and then exam style questions to finish. I have around 300 student doing this, i have to set all this up, answer questions the kids send me, then mark it ( much slower for me on online platforms rather than paper) then communicate with of year if any kids don’t do anything.
The whole process is currently much more time consuming for me than regular in school teaching.
I won’t be doing zoom, or any thing showing me as a person because of the potential of a rogue student altering it and uploading it.

So how does an online lesson work in the private sector? For 8 year olds, say. I’m interested.

Another one of these threads? This is really just the gift that keeps on giving.

Let me get my drink

I run a business in the private sector, mrst but I still manage common sense and a bit of empathy.

Some of you clearly have no idea how teaching works, particularly in a primary school! Can you Imagine sitting your child down to watch a teacher explaining something for an hour? And expect them to concentrate, and actually learn?
For example, teaching a phonics lessonnto a group of 5 year olds is very interactive and fast paced. It may include songs, teacher modelling, children writing responses on whiteboards, playing games linked to the sounds being taught, childrennresponding to quick fire questions. How does that work on a video?

Haven't they read the latest news about Zoom? There have been a number of incidents in Singapore and some lewd material shown.

Potential safeguarding nightmare!

RosiePosy — what you describe is no different to my child’s state primary, then, just that they read the teacher’s input rather than hear a voice. The docs are put on to google classroom every day.

Tried it. Opportunity abused by the student. Abusive interruption by A. N. Other. Lesson aborted. Won’t be doing that again on zoom.

My husband is a teacher. He's at home with our kids while I'm still working. I would pay good money to see the reactions of parents to him doing zoom lessons while in charge of the online learning set for our own children and our very lively border collie... 😂

@MsTSwift

Big difference between not teaching live lessons online and there being no support at all! I am setting rigorous work daily, replying to emails and remote marking every day for the 300 students I teach. As well as writing reports for them all. As well as remote timetabling for September. As well as making resources, planning etc. I take huge offence to there being ‘no support’ just because I’m not teaching live lessons all day. I have my own 8yo to home educate and a pre-schooler to entertain too.

mrst and " every most of these kids" don't have phones. Do you know how the most deprived live?