While there are plenty of resources and platforms to minimise the challenges faced by the pandemic, once we return to a sense of normality, the same issues that schools faced before will be lying in wait – most notably, teacher shortages and the overburden on teacher’s time and workloads. However, taking key learnings from the pandemic and edtech’s response to it, we can apply this way of teaching and learning to future classroom practice to ensure we support teachers more effectively and address the situation head on.
All students should be entitled to, and have access to, a broad and well-rounded education; however, with the current teacher shortages, schools are finding it difficult to maintain a diverse educational offering. Whilst core subjects such as science, English and maths are indisputably essential, it is also important that students can broaden their horizons and expand their learning in other subjects. From the arts to the humanities, they all play a role in developing well-rounded individuals, preventing students from leaving school with a marginal understanding of the world. Without diversity in education, how can we ensure we’re developing a well-informed and skilled generation?
This is where technology is well placed to assist. VLEs provide the opportunity to bridge the gap and can host a variety of courses supported by accredited teachers. This is especially important for those schools impacted by the teacher deficit, helping them to continue providing a range of course choices and extended curriculum to students without having to stretch budgets, or worse, putting additional pressure on existing teaching staff.
Young people learn at different levels and paces. While this comes as no surprise to most, many schools are simply unable to cater to every individual student’s pace as a result of the substantial time constraints due to staff shortages. As we have seen during this pandemic, VLEs can provide students with a certain level of autonomy and authority over their own learning that can help them learn at their own pace.
If a student is falling behind, it’s critical that there is support in place to help them get back to the level they should be. Falling behind can seriously impact a student’s confidence, which can often lead to a further drop in their work. Equally, a student that’s academically ahead of their peers may become disengaged if they feel they aren’t being challenged enough. When presented with teacher shortages, there is little scope for teachers to be able to provide this individualised support without it impacting the class as a whole.
Through the use of a VLE, pupils learning at different paces can utilise the technology to help them progress to the next level or work at a more advanced pace depending on their progress. This also eliminates the issue of students who may lack the confidence to ask for extra support in a classroom environment surrounded by their peers. For teachers, this provides the peace of mind that all their students are fully supported in their learning, wherever they are, in or outside of the classroom. It can also help to prevent disruptive behaviour in class, with those students who are acting out or disengaged being supported on an individual basis, rather than distracting their peers.
It is likely that many of us have even greater respect for teachers and their vast daily responsibilities than we ever did amid the pandemic, and an even greater sympathy for how hard it can be to cater to even a small number of children every day. It is clear how effective VLEs can be in supporting the delivery of lessons, and so we should be doing all we can to ensure that teachers have access to this support once we return to normality. After all, it is important both for the education of young people and the mental well-being of teachers.
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