Online Teaching: Learning Together, Growing Apart

Ananya enjoying her classes in bed

It’s 7.30 am on a relatively hectic weekday, and I am preparing breakfast of choice for everyone. Later, as I start making Indian-/Australian-/heart-shaped chapatis (😐 ) for lunch, I realize that Ananya is still in her bed. I find her occupying the whole bed in our room and in deep sleep, with a smile on her face (perhaps dreaming about Ananya Pandey). As I disturb her blissful sleep by calling out “Ippu,” the smile on her face suddenly disappears. She squints at the watch, makes a sad face, and quite reluctantly gets up from the bed. Like many kids, she does everything at a snail/tortoise pace, at this very time of the day, when I ask her to get ready for her online classes at school. While I pack lunch-boxes for me and Vijay, Ananya comes to me (everytime instead of asking Vijay) carrying Vijay’s laptop, and I type in the password and open Microsoft Teams. I keep her breakfast by her side, persuading her to eat with the spoon, so that she doesn’t end up facing Vijay’s wrath for spilling food on his laptop. She eats her breakfast during the first ten minutes of her classes because they are usually spent in greeting the teacher. The next twenty minutes have to be spent by the teacher (talking at the top of their voice) asking the students to keep quiet, so that some meaningful stuff can be explained to them😰 .

Never thought this poem written in 1991 would turn into reality!

On this note, I feel extremely lucky to have long finished my education and for not being a teacher by profession. From the very beginning, I have had a mental block for certain virtual activities, and hence detest doing everything “online,” right from ordering vegetables, household items, to even clothes and cosmetics. I resort to that only in emergency or when the items are unavailable at the stores. I have always preferred shopping at the local grocery shop, to be able to choose fresh vegetables and interact with the vegetable vendors. (Vijay gets amused, and at times annoyed to see me converse with almost anyone with utmost ease). Alas, the lockdown has left me with no choice but to order almost everything online. Moreover, on hearing that schools were planning to start online classes, I actually felt sorry for the kids. Later, after attending a couple of Ananya’s online classes, I felt sorrier for the teachers😬 .

Ananya’s illustration of her online class (pardon the keyboard)

Considering the recent sudden increase in the number of Covid-19 cases post the lockdown, online school classes was one of the few sensible decisions taken by the government. The best part about online teaching is that kids are getting educated at home without having to step out. These online classes are held only for a couple of hours, which has granted the kids adequate time to enjoy other indoor extracurricular activities. Some schools upload PPTs and videos daily, which makes it easier for the kids to study at leisure. These PPTs can be replayed for better understanding. The videos make the otherwise drab topics interesting and easy, and keep the kids, especially the pre-primary ones, motivated and engaged. The commute time to school is saved, and the kids can utilize that time in sleeping some more and in turn, growing more. This is particularly comforting to someone like me, who had an afternoon school and loved rising up at a comfortable hour🙃 .

It is heartening and amusing to see the kids assimilate this new technology like a sponge. A friend Kavita mentioned that her son learnt animation and created his own animation series, whereas his friend learnt web designing and even conducted a workshop for his classmates! On asking my daughter about the best part of online teaching, she said that she is happy having sumptuous meals with an unlimited number of menus of her choice at any time of the day, with either me or MIL at her service😃 . She has become so accustomed to the afternoon nap, post lunch, that it’s going to be difficult for her once the school resumes.

Just like kids, the teachers too have got an opportunity to orient themselves to the online class technology. They are using innovative techniques to teach concepts virtually to students and deserve a big applause for putting in mighty efforts. In a lighter vein, I have heard some of the hilarious discussions of parents happening in the background, during the online classes, when the parents were unaware that they were being heard by everyone. Not to mention having seen people in awkward clothing in the background, creating embarrassing situations for everyone in the online class. 

Happiness after stealing my T-shirt

However, in this form of studying, the children miss meeting and having fun with their friends. After all, bonding with friends and building true meaningful relationships that last a lifetime are so very important. Furthermore, a lack of emotional connect and bonding with the teachers is felt, given the absence of one to one interaction between the students and teachers. The kids are less focused and disciplined owing to the lack of serious school environment and absence of healthy competition. There are no collaborative solutions through discussions with teachers. I personally feel that children better understand concepts when they sit together and discuss with their teachers or friends. The internet connectivity issues can hamper smooth functioning, and long hours of screen time strains the young eyes. There are no memories and no real experiences to share because everything is virtual. I actually miss Ananya calling, “आई, दार उघड, मी आले घरी.” and then listening to her nonstop बडबड about the day’s happenings for nearly an hour.

Not to mention the complete lack of physical activity that has set in; of late, Ananya keeps on stealing my clothes because hers don’t fit anymore, especially in the tummy area. My friend Adwait told me that his son misses the fun of getting drenched in the rains with the schoolbag on the head (even if he keeps a raincoat in his bag), purposely jumping in the puddles, and splashing dirt all over the clothes. Kids also miss sharing their long- and short-break tiffins with their besties. Moreover, the parents being at home, have become overly observant and a bit judgmental about the teaching pattern, style, and speed of the teachers. They expect the teaching to match their child’s learning pace and not with that of the overall class as such. They don’t like their kids being scolded, and some have even reprimanded teachers for calling out their child’s name. Also, some parents cannot afford a laptop/computer and aren’t tech savvy enough; this incurs an additional financial burden in the already difficult Covid-19 situation. Being a doctor parent, I am usually out of the house by 9.30 am, and my daughter has to keep on calling me to send the PPTs, exam links, and Zoom links to her grandmother’s mobile so that she can attend the exams. Coordinating on these matters sometimes becomes a problem for both of us.

Kids use such effects for fun

Healthcare workers and teachers alike, have always been underappreciated and underpaid despite the herculean efforts they put in their professions. I guess the common man thinks that it is the duty of doctors and teachers to work selflessly for others, keeping their livelihood goals secondary. It is definitely not easy for teachers to create PPTs every single day, conduct virtual exams, talk at the top of their voices asking for a patient hearing, adapt to the online technology, make double the effort while explaining the topics to the children who are either busy changing the background for better effects, distracting everyone else, removing students from the meeting, muting the teacher 😬, sending links to other students to start another group chat, and basically indulging in all possible pranks. The teachers surely have to have tremendous patience! I myself was irritated equally as the teacher, when on one occasion, the students unmuted themselves to tell their English teacher, “Miss, we can’t hear you,” a hundred times in less than a minute and gave her varied suggestions as to what was going wrong. Had they been in school, they would have been day dreaming and playing pranks the entire class duration and would not have even realized when the next class had started. But here, they do not want to miss even 10 seconds, and lose the opportunity to irritate the teacher 🙁

Seriously!

It is understandable that kids get bored with this type of teaching. Parents should sit with them, teach, and tell them that they are lucky enough to be able to enjoy the benefits of teaching while being shielded from Covid-19 at home, thanks to technology. I am sure we all will emerge victorious from the Covid-19 crises, with the students finally getting back to school, and me getting to hear my daughter say, “आई, मी आले.”

(With inputs from my school and Ruturang friends)