In all my years as a librarian, I never foresaw a situation where pupils would be learning from the comfort of their homes with the staff still expected to deliver per usual. The change was abrupt and intrusive. It was a definite switch from interactive learning to more or less passive learning from my perspective. It was a new, scary, necessary change where technology played a big factor in how smooth and sustainable the transition would be.
Kenya being a third world country, my job as a librarian is still viewed from the traditional lens of being a books and document conservationist. It is presumed to be less of a technical role. With long-distance learning being introduced, we were willing to go up the mountain and ensure that the pupils did not become jaded.
Several factors had to be put into consideration, among them being access to the children and how to sustain the program for the remainder of the school year. We were able to pinpoint issues that arose along the way once the program kicked in. It was more of a trial and error situation. Something crops up, we address it immediately and hope it’s sorted.
There were more successes than hitches once we took off. Our online classes were all-inclusive. A variety of applications such as Zoom, GoogleClassroom, Seesaw, and WhatsApp were incorporated to support the process. The teaching staff was trained to be able to use all these platforms because they each helped play a holistic role in the final delivery. The applications would be used to teach, assign homework, grade, and leave feedback for the students and also allowed them to submit assignments. Therefore, we had to ensure that all of them worked cohesively.
Pros and Cons
The online classes had to be short and precise. Naturally, children have a very short concentration span which is manageable in a face to face situation. In the library, I could monitor each child and what they were doing; the feel of the teacher's presence kept them alert. In an online class environment, more effort needs to be put to engage the students. Reprimanding children online is not as weighty as face to face, leading them to disobey directions given.
Parents also had to learn how to handle the different education applications being used on their phones, laptops, or tablets. We provided a simple orientation for those who were not tech-savvy, to show them the ropes on downloading and usage. Not all of our parents could afford the appropriate gadget and some were very hesitant to share theirs with the children.
Our main channel of communication was the WhatsApp Platform for assignments, links to information, and lesson recordings. Every parent was asked to join their children's class WhatsApp group.
Consistency in class attendance was also another challenge we experienced. There were various reasons for this. With the Internet being expensive in Kenya, affordability is an issue. There is also the aspect of Internet instability.
Supervision of the learners was a parent's responsibility. Working parents would leave for work very early thinking the kids would be responsible enough to wake up and join the class only to be called later by the teacher that their child did not attend class.
Cybersecurity remains a very big challenge to date. The biggest hitch we experienced was when a hacker sent obscene material to an ongoing class. The class had to end abruptly so that the situation could be remedied. We had to explain to the parents what happened and the school's IT staff was asked to set up stronger protection walls. The fear of such an incident occurring again is ever-present. We have to protect these young minds and at times we feel like we let them down, even though not on purpose.
I enjoyed the kindergarten classes. The little ones were so eager to learn they would show up for the classes in their regular uniforms. They would get excited about seeing each other on the laptop screens. This was the biggest motivation for us. For most of the older pupils, the excitement came from being able to use sophisticated gadgets.
The 2020 syllabus continued as normal. This meant that the institution was able to keep afloat due to the income generated and the staff was on the payroll, though half pay.
The setup allowed the staff to actively engage with the parents, something that we rarely did pre-COVID since this was a combined effort between both parties. Some parents even had a chance to experience the class atmosphere with their children.
Conclusion
The online mode of learning that we initially thought was a hindrance, is slowly being embraced as an alternative just in case. I don’t think it will be put on the back burner any time soon as both parents and staff have experienced the benefits it has brought into the learning process. All's well that ends well.