Classroom Lessons via Zoom

[jjx111]

AIBU to expect the teachers at my daughter’s rs primary school to offer at least some lessons via Zoom? The feedback I have been given is that that they aren’t offering it due to a) safeguarding issues, and b) it would add to the teachers workload. Well, surely if we parents consent for our child to sign in for these lessons then no safeguarding issue. Plus, at present, we parents are doing at least 60% of the teachers work for them via homeschooling. (I appreciate that they are setting work for the children, but this is part of the planning they would do anyway).

Our LEA have a no Zoom policy so what can teachers do about that?

Safeguarding isn’t just a case of consenting. What about the children who appear half dressed? What about the other family members who may suddenly appear in shot? Or the ones that are hiding in their bedrooms?

And safeguarding is not just for the children. On zoom, you can record the meeting and distribute it anywhere you like. Older children will be quite capable of editing the video if they want to cause some mischief. And what about teachers with young children who may suddenly appear on screens?

Zoom isn't secure enough.

I don't think most people would actually expect a full programme of zoom lessons all day is required but just something more than emailing over a worksheet now and then would be acceptable. The children need some sort of support during this from their schools, many parents are unable to offer their children this (rightly or wrongly).

I think it is wrong to expect that everything can be run smoothly remotely, there are interuptions/distractions as well as not as many staff able to work but I think it is clear that there are schools not providing enough. Can you honestly say you would be happy working to those standards I have previously mentioned, a generic worksheet pack for each year group now and then?

My children's (independent) school set up online face-face teaching from the first week of lockdown....though not zoom.
It is perfectly do-able, but we do have much smaller classes and absolutely understand that the teachers child may at any point need their parent!
So far very few complaints....and our school day has continued as normal except from our house.

@Aragog but you are finding alternative ways, I think there are many parents who would love to have some options other than trying to find their own worksheets to give their children or just completing worksheet after work sheet.

I did a training course via zoom (or was in teams - can remember which now as have used both for small group meetings with adults) - with a trainer and about 10 staff. It just was not the same at all from a learner point of view. The trainer felt it wasn't the same at all from the teaching point of view. It just doesn't replicate normal teaching. There is limited feedback opportunities especially where either video or audio is muted. There is no way for the trainer to actually monitor exactly what's happening, if the learner has 'got it' etc.

To be honest from a learners POV I'd have preferred a prepared video to watch, time to respond and do the work and then the chance to submit what was done with any questions I had afterwards.

The face to face via video call but was somewhat pointless tbh.

I can see how they would work for small groups for meetings but as a teaching format it wasn't a good experience tbh.

@MrsTolerance my teens would totally agree with you - they do not want Zoom(not that the school are allowed to provide it!), they much prefer Loom video.

Change of name - but despite the alternatives provided we still have had the odd parent complain: too much, too little, etc and one parent even complained publicly (tagging local media etc) on our school social media there was nothing provided. This was blatantly untrue as other parents quickly told them, and school responded with links and advise to our provision and the fact that their daughter had actually accessed the provision already.

So I am somewhat wary of what I read daily on MN.

Whatever we do isn't right.
We can't please everyone.
And MNetters seem to have an obsession with zoom lessons for some reason.

Changeofname79

I explained why Zoom (other than safeguarding reasons) is totally unworkable for whole class learning. It really is a non starter.

I provided physical resource packs for each child for this term. I upload weekly plans with a short 10 min video teaching new content via Google Classroom . I am available daily to be contacted by students who have questions. Kids 'hand in' their work and I mark and return.

From a teacher's point of view, I really like this approach and I have had no complaints from parents who also like the way they can schedule the work to fit their own lives. I have a good enough engagement rate (over 1/2) but probably only about 1/3 actually submit work despite encouragement from me to do so.

@Saoirse7 sounds like a great plan. But I think the problem is that either schools haven't got a plan or they are failing to communicate their plan with parents...maybe they don;t think they need to know.

NeverTwerkNaked I was reading this and wasn't going to respond but your post has really pissed me off. I feel really bad that I am neglecting my children - the key worker children get lots of attention, my girls have a quick check that they know what they are doing and leave them too it while I produce resources, provide feedback and also try and do some training to help me get the most out of the online platform. Like many teachers I didn't know anything about Google classroom until 18th March. So no, I am not prioritising my children's education over my class!!

As for zoom lessons, apart from the safeguarding aspect please could someone explain how that would work in many households like mine where I could be expected to present a lesson via zoom at the same time as my children are meant to be in zoom lessons themselves. We don't have the equipment to all be on at the same time (I don't have a laptop from school and use my own) and don't have space in the house to all be on zoom without disturbing each other.

Sorry I should add ... I mean keyworker children have loads of attention from me when I am in.

Sultanarama,

I totally get this. However, for all the guidance put out by the government they completely alluded to put in place any form of guidance for schools to follow. It's hard for schools to know what to do. It can be dependent on how competent the SLT are. It is seldom down to the individual teacher who largely are bending over backwards. I think that's why teachers are so angry at the threads calling us work shy wasters when most of it is out of our control.

State schools seem to have a no zoom policy, and teams is expensive.
properly (!!!) used, zoom is as safe as any other internet based medium, so not quite sure what the panic in the state schools is about. i suspect it is to keep parents’ demands in check (1 teacher, 30+ kids -> exploding demands)

(my sons goes to a private school - all day zoom lessons , properly and safely set up)

The main issues are:

1 - safeguarding
2 - access to a screen
3 - young children at home
4 - workload for teachers
5 - workload for students
6 - protection of vulnerable students

1 - this has to be approached individually by schools. Zoom is probably not the right platform. Some schools are more vulnerable to students doing silly things than others. We started by saying no bedrooms but that didn’t work as the bedroom is the obvious place for teenagers to work uninterrupted. We also started by saying cameras off but have now gone to cameras on so that we can all interact with each other. It works for our school but I can see that it might not for others.

2 - access to a screen. Online lessons will not work in deprived areas. However most students would have access to internet for short periods of time which is why short videos and then a worksheet based on that might work. Students without printers should be able to collect worksheets from school (a socially distancing policy would have to be implemented) and there is government financial help for this.

3 - young children at home. Providing

Online lessons certainly give the illusion of value for money. For many secondary school subjects at least, it really is just that, an illusion. They are so far from being a substitute for real lessons that they're not worth it for some families depending on the age and number of of children, the number of devices etc

@Saoirse7 your approach sounds great. If everyone was getting this I believe there would be few complaints. There are also people who have said zoom works for some so its not completely unworkable for all. It's not the only way though and yours sounds workable for everyone. We would have been happy with that.

@Aragog people are always so quick to complain which is really sad. Especially during these times.

Stupid phone posted it before I had finished or checked it over. I didn’t even want to post it - I was reading it back over.

Basically I think that full online lessons are impossible for most schools but surely there is a way that students can get something to keep them moving forward.

I’m really worried about the increasing social gap. The impact on women’s jobs and careers (because they are usually the ones trying to administer remote learning).
I believe we should be doing our absolute best to get all students back into school even if it’s just 1 day a week to see staff, have well being checked, to collect work, to get feedback.
My children are ok. They are fed, have IT, I can google things I don’t know etc. But the 1000s of children across the country without this are falling down the gap.

@wendyhaverford for secondary, I tend to agree. for primary, zoom and other online platforms are essential (you can’t really sit most 6 year old down with some worksheets to figure out new stuff)

@StripyHorse So no, I am not prioritising my children's education over my class!

Our school initially told the kids (Year 12) only to email the teachers under exceptional circumstances, because they would not appreciate being hassled - there were busy enough. Then, the school told the parents that teachers would not be responding to emails in a timely fashion because they were too busy looking after their own kids amongst other things.

It felt a bit odd that whilst we were all working, responding to our clients, minimising disruption and working around our kid's needs, the teachers were somehow exempt from focusing on their jobs...maybe it was the way it was written but it felt like the school were listing all the other things that took priority over their jobs and our kids were at the bottom of their list.

When my ds submitted a poor piece of work - his teacher questioned his effort levels and was surprised to learn that my ds had not understood the task and did not feel comfortable clarifying by email because he had been encouraged not to by his form teacher. I told his teacher how he felt and she did a great job at reassuring him.

The school have now changed their messaging - after I suspect learning than rather than being inundated with emails - kids are very reluctant to email their teachers and need to be encouraged to do so.

@myself2020 But can a 6 year old independently operate zoom, knowing the etiquette needed not to talk over the other 29 kids, and to mute when not speaking? And do they know when to ask for help? I find your view interesting as I would have thought that it was more useful for middle years students to have lessons on zoom, not the youngest.

Kiwi09. That’s exactly where I’m coming from. I don’t expect all lessons to be on Zoom, but just one or two per week, even as a social exercise would be good (although help with subjective conjunctions would be good too. Lol)

and our school day has continued as normal except from our house.

do you know how many parents complain when this is the case? It's great for SAH parents, but for people who are working full time, it's not always possible to reschedule their working day around the kids schooling!

Secondary is one thing, they are independent. Primary school children cannot be left in a room all day even with an online class.

I agree it can't really work for primary in the same way as secondary but several posters have mentioned that they set the work on google classroom and provide pre recorded videos. This would then allow for more flexibility for parents.