Kanji Akahori, professor emeritus at Tokyo Institute of Technology who specializes in educational technology, shared his thoughts on a set of proposals The Yomiuri Shimbun has compiled on building a society that is resilient to infectious diseases. Below is his response.
The gap in learning opportunities has widened among children as some students had the advantage of being taught online while their elementary, junior high and high schools were closed amid the coronavirus outbreak. To guarantee children's continued education even if we face another emergency situation, all local governments and schools have no choice but to accelerate efforts to improve conditions for teaching classes online.
The government plans to provide one tablet to every student at elementary and junior high schools nationwide by the end of this fiscal year. However, it will take time to deliver them to all students.
As the Yomiuri Shimbun proposals call for, the government should prepare for a second wave of infections by allowing people to make use of their personal computers and smartphones for online teaching. Schools can take various steps, such as lending their devices and routers to students whose households are not fully equipped, or letting such students come to school while making sure that they can avoid the "Three Cs" (closed spaces, crowded places and close-contact settings).
What is essential in online teaching is maintaining interactions between teachers and students, as well as among children. Many children can move forward on their own if they are able to interact with each other. Teachers are urged to motivate students by clarifying the purpose of what they are studying so that they can work at home on their own.
The school closures amid the coronavirus epidemic have also exposed some limits in online teaching. Many teachers have pointed out that it is difficult for them to pay attention to all the students on their screens, in contrast to when they are in the classroom. Thus, children who are not highly motivated are at risk of being left behind.
Some children have suffered physical and mental health problems because they became stressed out when their daily routines were disrupted amid the school closures. Many teachers regret that they had failed to provide sufficient care to such students.
Considering their ages, online teaching alone is not enough for first and second graders at elementary schools in particular. It is essential for this group of children to move their body and experience seeing and touching real things in order to gain experiential knowledge.
It is difficult for younger elementary school students to develop the concept of what living creatures are and accumulate such knowledge if they just look at the images of animals and plants. When these children learn numbers, they can better understand them if they do so while counting marbles and doing other actions.
Even if we face another outbreak, it is hoped that local governments will not jump into suspending all operations at schools but continue face-to-face teaching as much as possible through such measures as shortening class hours and setting different days or times for children to go to school.
At the same time, local governments are urged to prepare for online teaching so they can use this approach if schools cannot provide the sufficient amount of classes. It is most important in teaching to strike a balance between online and face-to-face approaches.
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