School shutdowns because of COVID-19 has caused learning to be on hold for some and distraction for other children. Everyone is jumping into online learning to ensure learning doesn’t stop even while at home.
However, there are challenges relating to the design and development of online learning, and if care is not taken, it can amount the whole effort of the teachers, parents, and children into nothing.
It is important to know the do’s and don’ts of online learning instead of jumping into it and ending up frustrating both parents, teachers, and children.
Here are some mistakes and how to correct them:
1. Lack of Structure: At school, the day is totally planned out. Learning from home often means making up your own routine. For some, the flexibility is liberating but children who struggle with focus tend to not concentrate.
Correction: Understand the expectation of your child while learning to create a suitable and sustainable learning timetable, also use checklist for focus.
2. Exploiting too much at a time: Over loading children with more studies just as they do during normal school time may not yield the same result while learning at home.
Correction: Take learning one step at a time, streamline their learning, make it short and focused.
3. Late feedback: At school, the teacher can refocus students with a hand on the shoulder or a quiet reminder. Classmates asking or answering a question can bring attention back to the lesson or activity.
Correction: Provide immediate positive feedback, determine what type of activities work best for your child.
4. Not Enough Sleep: When children don’t get enough sleep, it impairs their ability to maintain full focus and makes it more difficult to pay attention.
Correction: Ensure your child gets enough sleep time, this keeps their mind sound and helps them learn efficiently.
5. No Breaks: Staying in one place all day can make it hard to stay focused during distance learning. Children get built-in breaks during regular school – recess, gym, music, or art class, etc. And for many kids, these mini breaks make it easier to focus when it is time to sit back down and do academic work.
Correction: Encourage movement – children need to move around frequently as it helps with their brain metabolism which keeps them active while learning.
6. Introducing too many app at a time: Using too many app at a time during online learning confuses at times
Correction: Make use of one app at a time, take each app features at a time. While introducing new app ensure teachers, parents and children and trained properly on how to use the app to avoid frustration while learning.
7. Boring lessons: Read from the screen all through, sitting and stirring at a position while learning every day at times makes children lose focus during online learning.
Correction: Make learning interactive, not only sending notes to children to read through sometimes having teachers facetime with children makes their learning focused. Involve activities like moving around to get materials to aid their learning, playing educational games on the topics they are learning, using puzzles, and activity books also helps keep children focus.
With creative thinking, effort by teachers and families as partners, children will continue to build their knowledge and skills, and build confidence and a love for learning no matter the learning procedure.
Remember, when it comes to online learning, creating a good study environment, mixing learning with fun goes a long way in making your child’s study journey a smooth one.
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