When Janine Brown couldn’t answer her daughter’s question about her maths homework, she suggested instant messaging the teacher for help. He replied immediately, enabling her daughter to complete the task. Brown was impressed – it felt like one-to-one tutoring, but Daisy was attending school online via her Microsoft Surface, studying from the family’s kitchen table.
Before the school closures, it was impossible to imagine children decamping from classrooms to embark on online learning, and harder still to picture parents as proxy teachers. Yet for Brown and other parents, this is the new normal. Technology is making it possible; allowing teaching to continue uninterrupted, enhancing students’ creativity, productivity and collaboration, and enabling parents to engage with their children’s learning journey.
Brown works as a support staff member at her daughter’s school, and considers the school’s remote-learning provision the silver lining to the cloud that is the current crisis. “Daisy joins her form group every morning via video link, then follows her normal timetable – it’s working fantastically,” she says. “It’s lovely to hear her classmates chatting away and helping one another with their work.”
Distance learning isn’t new. But the pandemic has drastically accelerated the development of online education, and technology is at the forefront of this modern educational reform. Microsoft Teams – used in 175 countries by 183,000 institutions – is equipping students with a learning environment that is accessible, inclusive and collaborative.
For parents thrust into the role of home educator, it’s natural to feel anxious. But supporting your child’s online education doesn’t mean replicating the school environment. Melanie Dalpra from Reading, whose daughter, Maia, is in year 11, says: “Even Maia’s school isn’t trying to replicate it – she has three 45-minute online lessons and the rest of her day is given to independent study.
“I think that’s a really good model – don’t let Covid-19 push your child out of the centre of their education.”
Safeguarding is also a key consideration for parents. As education moves online and children rely on technology tools for learning, parents need peace of mind that the devices they use are equipped with world-class security measures. Microsoft offers tools for every task with security built in, from chip to cloud.
A particular advantage of Windows 10 Pro is its inbuilt security solution, including streamlined security updates, safe searches and no retargeting of students with online adverts – features parents may already be familiar with through the tools they use at work. Microsoft 365 allows users to move seamlessly and securely from one device to another without complexity.
For home-learning to be effective, Ciaran O’Halloran, head of drama at Our Lady and St Patrick’s college in Knock, Belfast, recommends focusing on healthy routines rather than slavishly following the school timetable. “A lot of the things that happen in school happen in order to manage hundreds of people effectively,” he says. “We spend a lot of time organising and socialising children so they can function in the school environment but without that, parents can be much more responsive.”
Parents who want to support their child’s online learning do not need in-depth knowledge of the topics their child is studying, either. “I certainly don’t know everything and my kids know that,” laughs Dalpra. “You’re not an encyclopaedia; we look things up together and they’re learning to ask for help, which is a really useful life skill.”
With so little time to prepare for online learning, many households find themselves sharing limited resources. But Microsoft apps have the advantage of being accessible on all devices – meaning students can begin work in one place and move to another device seamlessly as required, reducing pressure on the main family device.
“Microsoft apps don’t necessarily require children to work within them,” says O’Halloran. “A screenshot of task instructions on Teams can be viewed on a phone.”
Equipping young learners with tools that enhance productivity and enable collaboration in this way – at the same time as encouraging them to flex their creativity – is key to developing the cognitive and problem-solving skills that will benefit them throughout life.
For some children, online learning offers unexpected respite from the challenges of going to school. Dalpra, whose three children have Asperger syndrome, ADHD and dyspraxia respectively, says quarantine can create opportunities to reconsider your child’s needs. “One of the advantages of online learning is that you can control sensory stimulus and adapt learning materials to suit the needs of individual learners,” she says.
An inclusive learning experience is vital for all young people. Giving your child access to tools that include special features to address a range of individual needs is essential, especially for those with specific learning needs. Free accessibility tools – such as Immersive Reader – are built in to all Microsoft products to help empower students of all abilities to learn without stigma and at their own pace. Immersive Reader provides a full-screen reading experience, designed to increase readability of text – students can change spacing, read text aloud, and sound out words by syllable.
It’s difficult to imagine schools reverting to business as usual, and the new educational landscape will surely continue posing challenges for parents. But whatever the future holds, the technology is on their side. For parents worried about how to adapt and survive, Dalpra has a pearl of wisdom: “Children develop if they’re in a nourishing environment, and just feeling heard can transform a child’s education.”
Five tips to support online education
1. Put mental health and wellbeing above academic progress. If learning isn’t going well, play a board game or go for a walk together and revisit the task later. The Do Not Disturb function in Teams can also help with children’s concentration.
2. Have fun. This is a difficult time for children, but learning should be enjoyable.
3. Encourage your child to ask teachers for help – not all children are used to doing so.
4. Stick to a daily routine but allow time for play, relaxation and boredom.
5. Remember that you’re dealing with a person, not just a student. Show your child that you’re still learning too, and approach it together.
Interested in finding out more about how to support your child’s online learning experience? Register here to attend a webinar designed for parents on this topic, taking place on 4 June 2020 at 5.30pm.
