Keeping order at a distance, that's how you do it

Tekst Lisanne van Sadelhoff - Redactie Onderwijsblad - 23 april 2020 - 5 Minuten om te lezen

Picture: type tank

Michiel Lucassen, technology teacher and founder of the educational platform VernieuwenderWijs, can laugh about it. That suddenly VMBO and HAVO students can be seen via the webcam wearing fancy dress. Or with crazy headgear on. "Yes, it's different for everyone, and you have to see the fun in it," he says. But, there is a limit. "As a teacher you have to prevent them from running off with you and disrupting things. Or that they drop out."

Lucassen realizes that this is not easy. "If you only 'send' as a teacher, online and for an hour, you give them way too much space. A student can easily play games and 'follow' the lesson at the same time. Or look up answers on Google." According to Lucassen, it would then become "unnecessarily complicated" if a teacher from a distance continues to do the same as for the class. "Education has changed, temporarily. Teachers have to respond to that."

Plan, plan, plan

Clear planning is more important than ever, says Lucassen. "Make sure you show them often enough, you can share your screen via Zoom or Google Classroom. Show them what you expect from them, what the learning objective is. Especially when everything is digital, you have to make things concrete."

It is also good to respond (even more than you already did) to and invest in the relationship with your students, says Martijn Hermsen, ICT and digital literacy education advisor. "Only in this way can you reach good agreements with each other, and you can control the online situation."

Show what you expect from them, what the learning objective is. Especially when everything is digital, you have to make things concrete

For example, the teacher can choose not only to teach the whole group, but also occasionally one-on-one, or small groups of five. "In this way you also prevent students from running off with your lesson, if they are not thirty strong." Win-win, so.

Lucassen sometimes sees teachers coming online a little earlier than the lesson actually starts. Switch on a little earlier, so that the students can tell their story. Also an option to work on the band: take a chat hour twice a week. Does not have to be about school, there is no obligation or assignment, but simply: being together for a while.

It's about the focus

According to Hermsen, good online education is mainly about focus. "You can say that students are not allowed to use a telephone, but you actually have no influence on that from home. So make sure that devices part of the learning situation." This can be done by having the students take a Kahoot quiz on their iPad or phone during class, or have them fill out a poll every now and then on their phone - what do they think of this statement? Another option: let them discuss the subject matter via Whatsapp, or ask questions via chat.

You can say that students are not allowed to use a telephone, but you actually have no influence on that from home

You can also ask yourself per class and per day, says Lucassen, whether it is really useful and meaningful to teach live and in class for a group of thirty children. "The question is whether distance learning is suitable for that form." What he thinks works better is to record the lesson in advance, and then let the students choose a moment to watch it.

Differentiate

So a certain form of differentiation. "In any case, differentiation is good in this day and age," says Hermsen. "Let students direct their own learning process. One student wants to be taken more by the hand, and the other wants more freedom. By letting students decide for themselves, you only get students in your live lessons who really need need explanation."

Let students direct their own learning process

Then it is important to keep a finger on the pulse of every child – including children without an explanation. How? “Simply by having schoolwork turned in,” says Hermsen. "Give them assignments that they really have to work on themselves, which cannot be found on Google. Tests in between with multiple choice questions are fun, but as a teacher you have no idea whether they really made those tests independently. So use tests so that students gain insight into their learning process, and use assignments to check that they understand and can apply the knowledge."

Stick behind the door

And students don't hand in their assignments, are they too chained in class after a few warnings? Then, according to Lucassen, it is always a good idea to approach the mentor (by e-mail or telephone). "Indicate that it doesn't work, so that the mentor can contact the home front. Because that home front is now closest and most often to the student."

Go to the mentor if students continue to chain so that they can contact the home front

Hermsen adds that, after repeated warnings, it works to temporarily remove a child from the online learning environment, or to temporarily set the account to inactive. "For children that is really a punishment, that really hurts physically, because of course, even if they are not really at school: they want to belong, eventually. Participate. Don't miss anything. So you can, in a healthy way, using peer pressure."

Join 'now'

But don't be too strict either, because it is unreasonable to expect that you can continue with another new chapter, which - of course - has nothing to do with corona. Lucassen: "I don't think that works. When students think back to this period, later on, they won't say: 'Oh, in those days I learned that with mathematics, and that with French'. Unless you link your teaching material to this bizarre period and situation." Then you have them, expects the technology teacher. "And the great thing is: every subject can respond to this."