After Boris Johnson declared another lockdown last weekend and proceeded to cancel the A-Levels and GSCE’s that were due in the summer schools have had to revert back to the online, socially distanced teaching that was seen after it was introduced in March of last year.
Schools are once again closed to students, with the exceptions of vulnerable students and the children of critical and key workers, this has resulted in schools once again relying on online teaching resources, such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Classroom and many more. There are many trials and tribulations that have come with online lessons and learning, some being issues such as students not having the resources at home to effectively access resources distributed online, only serving to widen a gap that has always been a glaring issue, another is a lack of motivation from students due to the lack of structure that comes as a consequence of the lack of a rigid school structure; these issues are all contributing factors to the struggles that students are facing. However, there have been some positives to online teaching and learning.
Some students find it easier to work in their own time without the constant stress of being in school and are thriving in an online learning environment, likewise the access to the internet and resources for those that can access it has made a wide variety of information and learning platforms available for students that can contribute to work and learning. This is beneficial because of the deeper understanding of certain subjects and topics with access to a wide variety of information.
Overall, while online teaching and learning is necessary in order to help bring an end to the pandemic and there are many benefits, there are also negative aspects for some too.
