Teachers offering active online teaching?

[Porseb]

Just doing a poll.

By online, I mean posting a video lesson, delivering a class via Google Classroom or Zoom or similar.

Versus passive teaching ie uploading work on a website or by email.

I'm trying to workout where my DC's school stands in this. Very traditional grammar and so far, teaching online has been passive. I know friends with children in independent schools or international schools abroad where teachers are actively delivering lessons online.

Live teaching in a classroom has huge advantages.

Live online teaching less so. Don't forget state classes are normally 32. We know zoom takes longer to communicate on, so that's not much live feedback per child, if any.
Consider the children who can't make the live lesson. They are then further behind, they feel even more out of the social group and life becomes even more difficult.

@MrsFogi

Don't forget that even to record audio lessons requires tech. Grammar schools often have better tech because they get more money via PTA etc. Most state school teachers are working on their own personal laptops. Mine doesn't do audio recording. I used my phone to video but it wasn't great.

SEN Indy here with online daily lessons. Not working well for us at all. Wish they were pre-recorded or downloadable work. We are struggling with our ancient laptop which 3 of us need to use (often at the same time) and live lessons that don’t always move at an appropriate pace to accommodate different needs. Also drowning in paper based work that has been sent. A small forest must have been felled to create it all and there is no east way to send it back.
Frustrated but I guess everyone is doing their best in very difficult unprecedented circumstances.

Late to this thread, but ‘passive teaching’? I am not doing video lessons (both LEA and union advice) but my teaching has most definitely not been ‘passive’ the last few weeks.

Independent school full day of live active online lessons and clubs afterwards.

I am using recorded powerpoints with "inking" and narration. Followed by a Quiz in MS Forms. I mark and then feedback. I am available in MS Teams to answer questions "live" in a webchat. My timetable remains the same as pre-lockdown.

This is Independent Secondary. I am exhausted. Still worried that I will be seen as not doing enough, however. I can not do live video lessons as I am in sole charge of my 5 year old during the working week. How am I possibly supposed to do live video lessons?

Pay for private education, get a vastly different offering. Don't pay, get something different

Well- what did you think we were paying for?

I also take issue with the "passive/active" distinction here. As the other teachers on the thread will well know, an "active" lesson is one where the teacher usually does as little as possible. The onus is on the child. A "passive" lesson is one where the teacher stands at the front and lectures and the kids usually zone out. The "passive" lessons are ones that you would be hauled over the coals for if someone came to observe you.

"How do you know the children are learning?"
"How can you show they have made progress?" etc.

This thread seems to imply that active lessons are the teacher doing an all-singing-all-dancing live lesson on camera. Given the problems with feedback from microphones, most of the kids have to mute them. You can't fire questions around the room. So these lessons really turn into lectures.....which the kids just zone out of.

Teachers really do know what is the best for the kids they teach.

DS is at a state school and is following his usual timetable with live online lessons via Teams. It's an absolute ballache tbh. There's no time during the day to get organised, breaks are spent getting ready for the next lesson, no time for social contact, exercise, going outside. He is expected to spend all day isolated on his computer and logged into lessons, and then do homework after that.

He gets nagged at for not completing work on time, but he can't find half of it as work is set on a random combination of Teams, Show My Homework or email. Each teacher does it differently.

He's completely overwhelmed and it's a very negative experience. We're all utterly fed up and no one at the school has considered the student experience in this, in the context of a pandemic and being stuck at home with no friends and no idea when it's going to end.

DH is a teacher and at his school they're emailing work home, putting some videos online but have been told not to chase students for uncompleted work. SMT are resolute that live lessons aren't appropriate and that the students have enough to cope with atm.

Live lessons for Y9 at private. Mixture of live and passive at 6th form college. The latter is better but I do appreciate the routine that my Y9 has. Its full days but with some lessons dropped and shorter lessons. It couldn't go on for too long like this though. It's tiring for teachers and kids and differentiation doesn't seem possible teaching this way.

59BonnesVacances

Yes, I agree with your points. The teachers that aren't having to do much are the creative subjects and PE and those are the things I'd like my child to be encouraged to do and given time to do. After all, it's what we adults are being encouraged to do during lockdown. I'm not sure why the SMT arent realising the benefit those teachers could add to kids in lockdown.

Just a little side note grammar schools don't often have more money than state. We have other advantages but that isn't one of them. I live teach (but record the lesson) for year 12 so they can access it whenever

@Hercwasonaroll it's not great that some children can't make the zoom classes. I totally empathise.

But surely you are not saying that those who can make it shouldn't just so those that can't (or won't) don't get further behind?

In my village, we have clubbed together and bought, begged, borrowed laptops and equipment to enable the more deprived state kids to fulfill educational requirements during this time.

I would say only about 10% are still at it. The main reason being they have just given up and realised that online gaming is far more interesting.

I feel their parents frustration, I really do. And my child loves online gaming and his gaming communities.

There is no chance during school hours though, be it live or otherwise.

Should he be penalised if others don't show up? I do hope not.

When children are off sick should the real classroom stop and wait till they all return? How many kids would it take to be all off sick in one day before the class is stopped?

@HealingCalmingSoothing

It wouldn't me a minority unable to attend a zoom class though. If my children were school age, they wouldn't be able to because we don't have enough devices. We aren't deprived or struggling either. If I did a zoom lesson approximately 5 students out of 30 would be able to attend the lesson. If I put a video link this enables far more students to access at their time of choice. Why is this so difficult to understand?

Your village sounds lovely to support each other like that. However we have lots of children living in poverty. We can't suddenly provide a lapotop per child and a stable Internet connection.

To the poster up thread that complains no time during the day to get organised, having to use the time between lessons etc.

My son complained of exactly that when he started senior school. It took him about a good week or so to learn of a new way of getting organised, to learn some flexibility and resilience. It was a good skill to learn.

There's also no evidence a zoom class is any better. It might make you feel better that your child's teacher is there in the moment. It might be nice for them to see their peers. However nothing says they will learn anything more than from a video. The real life classroom connection is lost.

Also @HealingCalmingSoothing please tell me how I can do zoom lessons with 2 pre school children of my own?

Wow, I’m reading and realising that my dcs are not being very well supported at all. Yr7 is being set daily projects/ work which he submits. Yr6 have a couple of maths games to play and a weekly worksheet which takes them about 10 minutes. Then parent led projects to undertake (thanks for that whilst I’m wfh full time too). One class teacher for their year is constantly online praising how her classmates are doing. Nothing from our teacher - not even help with the work.

State school
Full timetable with comprehensive resources supplied including presentations, videos, recommendations for further reading
Teachers available immediately during the timetabled lesson and via email the rest of the time.
I can't fault them for the provision as my Ds's have been extremely well supported and taught.

That's videos by relevant people to the subject, not the teachers.

Well you’re either out to bash private schools or bash teachers. Both of which are doing the best they can and some better than others on both counts (as always).

Quite honestly the only thing that will make a difference at the end of this is how well kids have been able to adjust and learn new life skills associated with independent learning. I’d rather mine learned to think for, organise and motivate themselves a bit more than be spoon fed everything on zoom.

People can get jealous all they like about other people having more zoom lessons than them but frankly the best schools are the ones who will be making the time to properly keep communication open and encourage self learning, self motivation and self evaluation, skills which will take them far further than this week’s science lesson.

@Hercwasonaroll sorry but I'm not qualified to train teachers. I wouldnt know where to start on that one.

I also can't remember saying that you should be doing that?

it's not great that some children can't make the zoom classes. I totally empathise.

But surely you are not saying that those who can make it shouldn't just so those that can't (or won't) don't get further behind?

Here you've heavily implied you expect live teaching.

No comment on the rest of the problems with live teaching I see.

It's easy to see solutions from a relatively wealthy background. I used to be the same. Now I realise that some seemingly easy solutions actually have the perverse effect of disadvantaging students further.

Microsoft teams here will full timetable Plus pastoral and teacher option to have camera on or off but all lessons are recorded both for safeguarding and so that if the pupils can’t access at the time they can watch later.

To the poster up thread that complains no time during the day to get organised, having to use the time between lessons etc

Not me but my child was having the same issues. The problem is not the child's ability to get organised, the problem is they've lost that time of walking between classes and having a teacher in front of them who allows a few minutes for their next class to settle down and get their books out. When the same timetable is taught live online, teacher 1 finishes and if they go over by 2 minutes, there's barely time to grab your next subjects books from beside you before teacher 2 starts the next lesson. Fortunately my DDs school shortened every lesson understanding how intense and touring this method of teaching and learning is.

I'm also witnessing my DD have to spend a long time on email management. Teachers have not had the privilege of an INSET day and training in the technoligy, so teachers are using the system in different ways and not understanding how this looks from the pupils viewpoint. Homework is easily missed in amongst 30 emails per day. I am not criticising the school though. This is new to every school and they will be doing the best they can with short notice.

Yes, a knock on effect might be some children becoming better at self-learning. But it depends how motivated they are. If they're not GCSE year or A level, many just won't have that motivation if they're not natural self-starters. I have one of each so very much see those characteristics as innate.