Online learning : How to Make the Most of It
Over the last 15 months, the topic that has truly dominated all aspects of our lives is the pandemic. But one thing that we don’t realise is the effect it has on our children. While we are trying to survive a world we already know that has been uprooted after years of experience, for children, their world is changing before they can even get a genuine grasp on its structure. One of the most important parts of our lives that shapes in a way we don’t realise to this day, is school. Its very design is created to carve you, to help you exist in this world as the most well-adjusted and best version of yourself.
The Pandemic Effect
As we are continuously reminded, we are living in astonishing times. School still exists, but it enforces itself on kids in ways that are not the same as before. A huge part of what makes the generic schooling experience a must-have is the fact that you are required to recognise how your behaviour and non-conformity can affect others around you, and you can decide for yourself how you would like to be perceived, and what kind of impact you would like to make upon the world.
Taking the interaction with other kids of your own age group away from school and shifting to an online space is clearly changing things, in both positive and negative ways. And we have essentially no say on when this will end, or whether it will continue. The best we can do is make the most of this situation, and make online learning as comfortable as possible for our children, so they can learn survival in both traditional and non-traditional ways.
Assert Boundaries
In this unique situation of online schooling, children are now using the devices that they use during their recreational time to attend their classes. While this can be convenient for a lot of reasons, one reason for its inconvenience is the fact that children start associating their schooling with their recreation, causing them to wish to engage in recreational activities such as watching videos and movies, or gaming during school hours.
An efficient way to prevent this from happening is to punctuate the school hours and recreational hours with breaks. Make your child take a good amount of breaks while doing school work and also be sure to emphasise that a certain time is meant only for recreation and vice versa.
Teach your children that there can be different kinds of learning that can take place by enrolling them to online classes for their hobbies and other crafts they might want to pick up as well.
Integrate Some Tradition
While the digital landscape and its various conveniences may seem captivating and easy to get lost in, we must ground ourselves to reality and delve in a little bit of what has made us human for so long. This may be particularly difficult in a time where you can’t really leave the house, and everything is integrated online. We must teach ourselves to engage in certain activities that can only take place offline. A good example of this is teaching your children how to cook, or perhaps watering plants. Other options are learning some craft and some rare arts which interest them. Teach kids that they can survive without their technological devices.
Listen and Understand
It is important to note that online schooling may not be as easily adaptable to all as it is to some children. Some children may need human interaction and more attention and time to understand what is being taught to them. So an important part of letting your child learn from online sources is understanding that they may not do as well as you expect them to, and that is completely okay. Do not expect them to gain as much as they would, as a session in person. Listen to your child and try to help them, but don’t pressurize them
Make sure to integrate more than just academics in their online learning endeavours and try to pick an extracurricular hobby that can challenge your child in a way that is a break from the usual online academics. Examples of online hobby classes for your kids include zumba, yoga, dancing, keyboard, and much more.
Listen to your kid and their preferences, and once again, do not pressure them if they can not go through with it, as living through a life-altering pandemic and learning through a pandemic are not exactly easy!