I’m Swati Reddy, a school teacher from bangalore.
Like many others, I too switched to online teaching during the pandemic. And today, it’s been a year that I am with a renowned online school in India.
It’s the perfect time to apprise you of the findings of my online teaching experience. And I decided to pen down an incredible student experience through this write-up!
Like many Indian teachers, initially, I was only aware of some aspects of online schooling. But in the past year, I could feel the immense power of online learning that can surpass any traditional school.
What amazed me, even more, is its feasibility to provide practical solutions for our Indian schooling voids. Because online schooling sets the students free from location, time, and schedule restraints.
Benefits of Online Learning for School Students
Online learning allows you to have loads of self-paced quality learning time. And this blessing of self-regulated learning can do wonders with all types of learners.
Let me address your apprehensions about the effectiveness of online learning in India, through a real-life example
Tanya – My grade three student
As typical as it might sound, one of my students ‘Tanya’ was labeled as a ‘SLOW LEARNER’.
Her mom chose an online school to arrange for a less intimidating environment for her. Because she was falling behind in a crowd of 25 odd students at her previous school. A personalized study plan was one of the last hopes for her. And someone told her that the virtual classes at K8 School are conducted with only 15 kids at a time.
For obvious reasons, this could help this student. And down the line, this piece of advice practically worked for her.
During an ice-breaking session, her previous knowledge revealed her struggles. As she mostly taught using ‘memory level teaching’ similar to the age-old parroting technique. For concepts, she mumbled facts (after recalling) without any understanding. And needless to state, all this was done just to pass primary classes with some borderline grades.
It was sad to see a student struggling with her recalling powers.
But this was it! And it had to be corrected!
If you ask me, the likes of Tanya are not students with learning gaps. Instead, these are cases of our teaching gaps.
We addressed Tanya’s unique learning needs
At K8 School, we are trained to categorize students as learners with different styles and intelligence types.
So for us, there is nothing like a bright or dull student.
Three of us teachers are dedicated resources, responsible for grade three. And post a mutual discussion, we all were on the same page about this new student ‘Tanya’. We decided to initiate a remedial action plan. And the very same day, we started chalking out a personalized study plan for her. Our lesson plan preparations had the basic objective of clarifying concepts to her. And since I was taking care of Science, I did the same for the topic, ‘sources of light’.
Virtual schooling strategies were our powerful tools!
Particularly with this student, previous knowledge was not up to the mark. But we still had to use her mental associations to build on some concrete knowledge.
We started sorting content (like videos, presentations, and pictures, etc.) from the online repository. And we looked for some extra gamification tools. As we wanted to add on these in her asynchronous learning duration.
With each piece of information, she could see a balloon on the screen. And a revision question flashed upon bursting this one. The idea was to strengthen understanding of concepts like natural source of light (sun), reflected light (moon) and light travel and speed. And we created a game-based learning environment to build on her conceptual understanding.
It worked for this visual learner, Tanya!
In the following virtual Science class, Tanya was an active participant!
And a student who was not aware of concepts, beautifully reiterated the concept of light transmission.
The very same day her mother called me. And she told me how she was falling in love with our digital learning resources. Besides, she was happy about being heard in a class of barely 15 students. We succeeded in creating a positive learning environment. And she thrived effortlessly without stepping out of her comfort zone.
With days, and months passing by her zeal to learn grew in leaps and bounds.
And she passed grade three with pretty satisfactory grades.
Tanya’s family happily continued with K8 School & She is one of our most active students in grade four
Online school in India, is still an underrated prospect. Because several parents choose to connect it with the haphazard unplanned pandemic schooling.
In reality, virtual schooling is any day more fruitful and student-centric.
PROVIDED IT IS CAREFULLY PLANNED & MINDFULLY STRUCTURED!
The good news is that we need not wait for our traditional schools to get their blended learning models at this level.
Because India now has a Cognia accredited 100% online school of its own.
K8 School perfectly understands each student type and the ideal handling. And it materializes the dream of quality education for each student.
It is a platform that carefully creates a customized study plan for each student. And Tanya’s example is just one of the many real online schooling success stories.
Before I wrap up let me quickly sum up the advantages of Online Learning for you!
- Focus on inculcating high-order thinking skills (like critical thinking and problem-solving).
- Offers a mix of resources to engage all types of learners.
- Individualized schooling and personal attention by online teachers.
- Less demanding for parents as most of the topics are covered in virtual classes.
- Reduced academic pressure and small batch sizes (maximum 15 students).
- Access to researched online content 24/7/365.
- 100% threat-free and positive learning environment.
- Stringent monitoring of the student’s progress.
- Periodic assessments and parent interactions.
- AI (Artificial Intelligence) supported learning platform.
Now that you’ve heard it all from the horse’s mouth, it’s time to make a wise move!
Gift your child a future-ready schooling experience through K8 School, India’s first accredited online school!
Thanks for reading!
