The pandemic, with its unwelcome arrival in 2020 opened the Pandora’s Box in all realms of life. In the beginning, along with the anxieties and uncertainties associated with almost everything in life, many teachers and educators were anxious about moving to the online space. There were concerns about the mode and method of instruction, student engagement, conduct of group activities and of assessments. There were concerns about translation of all pen-and-paper lessons into the online design. Furthermore, student involvement and engagement in extracurricular activities and of Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) which is central to a student’s holistic development was also challenged. However, at ABWA, the movement to the online space was quick, effective and smooth for students and teachers alike.
Tech Training of Teachers: At ABWA, we recognized at the outset that we had to address the teaching paradox that online teaching brought ; of “digital immigrants[ Term coined by Marc Prensky to refer to those born before or not exposed to the widespread use and presence of digital technology at an early stage]” teaching “digital natives[ Term used to refer to those exposed to technology from childhood ]” (Prensky, 2001). This was resolved in the way of regular training sessions on the use of technology in the virtual classroom by the school’s Technology Coordinator and Integrator. There were guided sessions on the use of basic and advanced technological tools which equipped the team to bridge the digital gap and focus on the teaching-learning process. Furthermore, the professional development focussed on adapting the lesson plans and assessments to the online format.
Use of Google Classroom and other digital tools: Students and teachers explored Google Classroom extensively this year and it has been extremely beneficial to the students for all the teaching material, notes, resources and even assessments are organized and stored in one place. Furthermore, Google Classroom also provided a space for setting assignments, homework and allowed for discussion between the teachers and students. Other digital tools like the live Google Docs allowed teachers to see students’ work online and provide immediate feedback. Given the strong collaborative work culture that ABWA fosters, there was peer teaching amongst teachers to learn the new tools. Some teachers used the graphics tablet for teaching and annotating, a device which mimics writing on the Whiteboard. Teachers have also used interactive tools like FlipGrid, Kahoot, Quizlet, Padlet, Trello, Mentimeter, NearPod and many more tools to make learning engaging, exciting and student-friendly.
Virtual Group Activities: With inquiry-based learning and collaborative learning being some of the core learning-teaching strategies for all IB learners, it was imperative to continue with group activities. In a physical classroom, it could be easily achieved by putting students in groups to work together with a case study, research question or any other activity. In the virtual space, we have been successfully reproducing the group activities by using the break out rooms feature in Zoom which helps students to be in smaller groups. These small break out room exercises also helped the students with socialization and in building friendships.
Reduction of Screen Time: Mental health and emotional well-being is at the heart of ABWA’s culture and therefore the screen-time was considerably reduced, very early in the virtual academic year. The reduction of screen-time by reducing the school hours was essential to avoid burn out and screen fatigue. However, it must be mentioned that the reduction of screen time did not compromise the teaching-learning content. On the contrary, especially in the higher grades, some of us were able to complete more work in the last academic year due to the absence of the distractions in a physical classroom environment.
Inter-cultural Exchange: In order to give the students a more immersive experience in the foreign languages, we were able to invite guest speakers from México and New Zealand to engage with our students learning Spanish and French. Furthermore, we also had a cultural exchange with a school in México promoting multilingualism, international mindedness and inter-cultural understanding. It is the virtual learning space and the pandemic that allowed the teachers to think differently to make learning meaningful and interesting.
CAS and Extracurricular Activities online: Extracurricular activities are at the very heart of the IB Diploma Programme in the form of Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS). Despite the pandemic and the restrictions in movements, the students have managed to engage themselves in a variety of extra-curricular activities. Students were encouraged to continue with their CAS Experiences and these stay-at-home experiences included signing up for creative courses online like courses in python and web development, blog-writing, art and photography, music, cooking and baking, organic farming and gardening. The absence of outdoor sports was well balanced by various online physical activities like home workouts, yoga, zumba and dance lessons. Furthermore, there was continuation in online volunteering activities in collaboration with several NGOs which included blog writing, designing of creatives for the NGOs to raise awareness about the cause they support, online buddy programme which involved teaching Mathematics, English, Science, Art etc. to students from less privileged backgrounds.
Creation of many resources aimed at Self-Directed Learning: The exposure to a vast range of online tools also equipped teachers to create many learning resources for students to support self-directed learning, differentiated learning and in designing “Flipped Classrooms” which always places the student at the core of the learning process and gives the students complete agency in their learning process.
The teaching and learning culture at ABWA is dynamic and collaboration, exchange of ideas, building inquiry, preparedness to learn and teach and adaptability are some key elements that characterize our teaching and learning community in line with IBDP’s objective to cultivate knowledgeable and caring students who can develop physically, emotionally and intellectually.
Work from home was quite common even in the pre-pandemic time in other sectors. In the world of education, even the thought of work or study from home was an impossibility for students and teachers. However, the pandemic has opened a realm of possibilities in the virtual teaching and learning space and has paved a way for a more dynamic and hybrid learning in the future.
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