Pre-recorded class sessions

WESTERN BUREAU:

There are mixed opinions in the education sector regarding reports of some teachers recording their lessons to post online for their students to access, or the educators leaving those videos to play during their online classes while they multitask at other activities.

Trelawny-based teacher Sandra* is an advocate of the practice, arguing that recording lessons for online classes allow educators to catch up on other necessary activities they could not otherwise accomplish, and that it helps students who lack consistent internet connectivity.

“When using the online platform, it leaves room for flexibility. That is something we are grateful for when working from home, because we all have other duties and it is a bit more challenging and time-consuming when we are working online, because we have to create materials for our classes,” Sandra told The Gleaner.

“Not everybody has access online, so if we have lab sessions, every class you would end up reteaching. With a video, it is there at all times, and so most times the same lab sessions are actually recorded. Also, if I have to participate in a meeting, I would record my lesson just to ensure that students do not miss out at all; so to me, it is positive.”

Another educator from St James agrees that using video recordings is beneficial, but suggests that consideration should be given for students to ask questions.

“Professors send videotapes to their students, or the lessons are taped and then you can retrieve it at your convenience. It is a good idea, but then I am looking at how to deal with the question-and-answer part of it,” the educator explained, like the others, requesting not to be named because of the controversy of the topic.

“After I teach my class, I go back over the material, video the same lesson, and I send it to my students. It benefits both the parents and the students, plus there is a question-and-answer section that comes up during the class, and it comes out in the video where a child asks a question and I answer.”

This approach appears to be a reversal of reports from last year April that public sector teachers were rejecting requests for lessons to be recorded and posted online, in order to facilitate students who missed important concepts during the online sessions or were unable to log in.

LACKS CREDIBILITY

But Carol*, an educator at a Kingston-based institution, does not agree with that method, believing that it lacks credibility.

“I go face to face and teach my children, so I have not heard of any such practice. But if there is such a practice, I would not condone it any at all,” said Carol. “At my school, we have to work with integrity, so none of my colleagues would know about that or practise that.”

Education Minister Fayval Williams is also frowning on such reports, noting that teachers who record themselves for class are robbing students using Zoom or Google Classroom of the necessary two-way interaction they must have with their instructors.

“I have not heard about that situation, and it has not been brought to my attention. If it is happening, obviously that is not what we want from our teachers, because the Zoom platform is to facilitate two-way interactive online learning,” Williams told The Gleaner.

The Ministry of Education has been grappling with the issue of learning loss among Jamaican youth since the COVID-19 pandemic’s onset in March 2020 resulted in the suspension of physical classes. That concern was compounded by the revelation last year May that 120,000 students had not engaged in online classes or any other mode of learning during the past academic year.

NEGATIVE IMPACT ON STUDENTS

As to the effectiveness of the pre-recorded online videos lessons, high school student Junior* believes that such an approach does not let him or his peers properly understand or ask questions about the material being taught.

“When the teachers are not having class, normally they will leave something for the class to do. But it does not leave room for questions, because the teacher is not present for class,” Junior complained.

“It impacts us negatively because there are some things you do not understand and you cannot talk to anybody in order to ask about it. If the teachers come to the next class, we will tell them that we did not understand everything from the activity that they posted,” Junior added.

Last month, it was reported that 40 per cent of students were not engaged in any kind of learning during the first week of the current school term, with approximately 15,000 students from 290 schools not accounted for. At that time, it was estimated that it would take some $3.9 billion over a two-year period to address the challenges caused in the education sector by the pandemic.

Presently, the Ministry of Education is engaging in a programme that will see its representatives reaching out to students directly at their homes.

In the meantime, Minister Williams is recommending that teachers who may be facing challenges with engaging in online classes address the matter with their administrators.

“If there are issues that the teacher is having, then the right thing to do is to report to the principal so that other arrangements can be made, and to ensure that there is a teacher that facilitates the teaching and learning. We want our children to be involved in a very interactive two-way teaching and learning experience,” said Williams.

(* Names changed to protect identities)

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com