Pandemic & schools' online education

The outbreak of the pandemic, Covid-19 has exposed the challenges of schools’ online education all across Malaysia. Those issues, if not given enough attention, may get worse and soon become out of hand, just like how an unattended flame turns into a conflagration that destroys anything around it. With online education fast becoming a new norm, its significance will continue to grow in ten to twenty years to come.  In the face of those challenges, we need to identify the root causes and together, work on how to alleviate them.
The first issue - the anxiety over which online platforms to use for online teaching. On the heels of the first time when schools were ordered to close, worry was writ large on every teacher’s face and many were at a loss for what to do. Then, came the news of teachers having to go online. It was every inch a threat, jolting them awake from their comfort zone, which was classroom teaching. Teachers started tinkering with various online platforms such as google meet, google workspace and zoom, but due to the lack of ICT-related knowledge, they had a lot of frustration.  Some persisted on and found the platforms useful, but quite a number gave up and had to be content with offline applications, the likes of Whatapps and Telegram for teaching. However, there are limitations to the choice of going offline for teaching purposes, and among them are first, teaching is confined to only the giving of notes or assignments.  Second, it is difficult to interact with students.
Even in the second year of the pandemic outbreak, when we are almost finishing the month of March, online education for schools has still been in its infancy. We know that teachers are finding it difficult to submit themselves to the call, but at the forefront of education, we must go where the wind blows.
Therefore, I am of the opinion that it is imperative for all teachers, young and old, to attend inhouse trainings that emphasize hands-on experiences. There is no such thing as an old teacher being too superannuated for online education. In this world, we need all kinds of mental conditioning to survive, and naturally the same thing also goes for a teacher with regard to the acquisition of ICT-related skills. Hence, to make a teacher’s mind open to the use of online platforms, inhouse trainings are the only way out. To kickstart, teachers who are more technologically savvy may take the role of trainers, while those less literate in technology take the role of trainees. Trainings on how to use different online platforms must be done on regular basis, so as to familiarize every teacher with them.  Individually, at home, or in cafes, teachers can improve themselves too by watching the Youtube channel or others on how to use them. Yes, everyone has their first moments, but with regular exposure and practice, the fear may gradually diminish, and be replaced by confidence, which will stand teachers in good stead for the future.
Next, more and more parents have found out that teachers are underperforming online. They are appalled upon making the discovery.  Inevitably, the issue has hit headlines and so teachers’ credibility is in question.  Come to think of it, not all teachers are born speakers and entertainers. In a one-hour lesson, they not only have to struggle with giving presentable online lessons, but also how they should react to the unexpected –Internet nuances, poor student attendance, unresponsive students and the list goes on.  Any slight stumble in a voice inflection can give a teacher’s nerve away.    In other words, it is possible for a teacher who can do well in classroom teaching to easily falter online.
To avoid that, teachers should be determined to improve their delivery in online lessons. Online teaching is not the same as classroom teaching and society is expecting more from teachers.  So, before teaching online, it is good for teachers to sit together and devise different things relating to online teaching:  some write lesson plans, some try to solve emotional issues, some deal with teaching aids, and some give pronunciation training.  After some try-outs, such as mock online lessons, everything is sure to look good online. 
“Puan Fatimah, my family is poor.  We cannot afford the Internet and hence I’m unable to go online,” is a nagging problem that every teacher has to face. It is getting increasingly difficult to brush aside the challenge as nothing.
Remember, even though most can afford going online, there are some unable to pay for it.  And those students are not necessarily from the countryside.  Consequently, those wanting to learn have time and again been left out.  Hence, it is wrong to assume that all can do online learning.  It is like cheating oneself by sweeping a live frog under the rug and pretend that it is not there. 
Another problem has also arisen - weak Internet coverages.  Although some families can subscribe to the Internet, once there is no mobile data, especially in the interior, you will be beside yourself with frustration or crack your head like a girl in Sabah, who had to go through a lot of trouble searching for signals, until she found some among a clump of trees and climbed up one to attend her online lessons.
The solution.  At my school, there is a team of teachers, who produce different worksheets for different subjects, and print them out. Having done that, we contact parents and they come to school once in two weeks to collect the worksheets.  Students do the assignments at home and once they have finished, parents can show them the keys and they can grade the assignments all by themselves. My school has been doing this for almost a year and we believe that it is effective for now and the future.
In conclusion, although I have come up with a few suggestions to alleviate online challenges, a few people are not enough to fight them all.  To nip all the challenges in the bud, a collective effort from all teachers in the nation matters more.  Hence, with everyone doing their part, I believe online education for schools can cruise though the difficult pandemic period and develop well in the future.