Identifying students’ online learning needs amid a pandemic

SUSAN RAPHAEL

In the current scenario of COVID-19 and embracing the new normal of education; we educators will come across various learning difficulties during the sessions and they may go unnoticed in online sessions. As persons dealing with these issues we must be proactively identifying them and give necessary remediation in order to mitigate the issues.

Unlike identifying issues in a regular classroom the situation is definitely different in the current scenario, during online sessions it is a challenge to pinpoint issues the students may face. It is imperative that both teachers and parents with an unbiased mind observe them and make necessary notes. Make sure that you give them enough practice or different aids to help the student achieve the learning objectives.

Here are some pointers that will help in observation.

• Does not follow group instruction on screen
• Has Sloppy or illegible handwriting
• Has Consistent and repeated spelling errors
• Has Poor note taking abilities
• Has letter reversals
• Has difficulty decoding words and understand
• Has trouble in focus attention
• Has Difficulties in learning another language
• Misses words while reading
• Has Difficulty in comprehension

These are just some of the issues that we may come across. Make sure that we keep a note of the observations, and give at least 20 to 30 days to help learn through teacher intervention, if the problem persists that’s when we make the referral to check if there are other learning issues that needs to be identified. With that we can work out a plan of assessment and session to help the parent’s teachers and students understand the issue in detail and make necessary amendments.

Along with being a good observer a teacher must radiate effectiveness and be understanding. Making lessons accessible for the learners will be crucial in the current situation, with this in mind teachers should focus and Be a SMART- Sensitive Mindful Accepting Resourceful Transforming TEACHER .

• Share the teaching materials prior to the actual lesson. This will help the student be comfortable to the topic introduced through the lesson.
• Include multisensory approaches, such as visual; auditory, kinesthetic, tactile, modes to reach a wider range of students in class. This will aid fast learning.
• Make students doodle on the teacher’s page and let creativity flow.
• Timetable within the timetable- include a detailed timetable with water breaks, toilet breaks, look away from screen time, switch seat time (therapy ball)
• Have some fun time whilst learning

The pandemic has taught us many important lessons. Adapting teaching and the way we promote learning is one such important lesson. We have to live with Covid 19, we need to work around the current situation, let us be each other’s support. Let’s overcome the barriers we feel are hindering learning. There are plenty of ways to make a class session innovative and engaging

Susan Raphael is a certified Special Education Consultant (RCI) and Counsellor . Has an MSc in Counselling Psychology.