Distance education

Event
  • 26.04.2021

Conversations on Teaching during COVID-19 Webinar Series

At the end of 2020, the OECD, UNESCO and the Teacher Task Force launched a campaign to hear from teachers around the world about their experience of teaching during the pandemic. We asked them to send in videos describing how they adapted to the crisis, and many wonderful and fascinating insights were shared. These are now publicly available in the Global Teaching InSights platform. 

To build on this extraordinary work by teachers, we are hosting a series of interactive virtual Conversations on Teaching During Covid-19. Each conversation will bring together a panel of teachers around a common theme to talk more about the challenges they faced and how they have responded in innovative ways.

If you are a teacher or school leader, we invite you join us in these conversations and take part in a deeper discussion on the innovations we saw from teachers around the world. 

Each conversation will be hosted on Zoom Meeting and will be fully interactive, with all participants encouraged to join the discussion.

  • 8 April - Conversation 1: Learning continuity and innovative pedagogy (hosted by UNESCO). Watch the meeting recording.
  • 15 April - Conversation 2: Social-emotional support in a time of crisis (hosted by UNESCO). Watch the meeting recording.
  • 22 April - Conversation 3: Building a stronger profession together (hosted by the OECD). 

Find out more about the starring teachers:

Conversation 1: Learning continuity and innovative pedagogy (Watch the meeting recording)

  • Thomas Harefa from Indonesia shares how he has brought the students back to the center of the teaching practice through self-paced learning
  • Sandeepa Chavan from Ghana shares her experience on making learning fun and enjoyable.
  • Amit Bansal from India shares how he used coding to teach mathematics and geometrics.
  • Seenu Atoll School from the Maldives promotes a creative reading programme for early childhood education.

 

Conversation 2: Social-emotional support in a time of crisis (Watch the meeting recording)

  • Marina Watt  from Hong Kong (China) shares how she created “affirmation cards” that help students focus to positive thinking. 
  • Nana Gulic  from Croatia shares how she developed resources to help students verbalize their emotions and shared them in an online platform.
  • Noemi Baysa  from the Philippines develops a global citizen project
  • Daniel Antonio Jiménez  from Colombia had his students create music with homemade instruments, involving their families as well.

 

Conversation 3: Building a stronger profession together

 

Closing Webinar:  Rethinking the classroom after COVID-19: Insights and innovations from teachers (Register to participate or watch on YouTube)

  • Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills, OECD
  • Borhene Chakroun, Director of the Division of Policies and Lifelong Learning, UNESCO
  • Catherine Gregory, Director of Teaching and Learning / Head of English at Cheadle Hume School in the United Kingdom
  • Fernando Mesquita, Educational Leader at a school in Brazil
  • Filipa Matos, History and Citizenship Teacher in Portugal
  • Eirene Christa Luturmas, Elementary School Teacher in Indonesia
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Report
  • pdf
  • 22.10.2020

COVID-19 and Education in Emergencies

Armed conflicts, forced displacement, climate change induced disasters and protracted crises have disrupted the education of 75 million children and youth globally. And that number is growing in an...
Interactive resource / Website
  • pdf
  • 06.10.2020

Distance Learning Guide

The idea behind the Distance Learning Guide was to investigate and promote distance learning solutions that can be used in a wide range of situations, from high-income school systems to low resourced...

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News
  • 27.03.2020

Teacher Task Force calls to support 63 million teachers touched by the COVID-19 crisis

Around 63 million primary and secondary teachers around the world are affected by school closures in 165 countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

They are on the frontlines of the response to ensure that learning continues for nearly 1.5 billion students, a number that is predicted to rise

Everywhere, together with school leaders, they have been rapidly mobilising and innovating to facilitate quality distance learning for students in confinement, with or without the use of digital technologies. They are playing a key role also in communicating measures that prevent the spread of the virus, ensuring that children are safe and supported.

This unprecedented situation is putting teachers, students and families under stress.

In some cases, teachers who may already be exposed to the virus themselves are trying to manage the anxiety of being told to work in situations where the COVID-19 risk is spreading. Others are dealing with the stress of of delivering quality learning with tools for which they have received little or no training or support. In many countries, contract teachers, substitute teachers and education support personnel risk seeing their contracts broken and their livelihoods disappear.

The Teacher Task Force, an international alliance working for teachers and teaching, has issued a Call for Action on Teachers to ensure that teachers are protected, supported and recognised during the crisis. Leadership and financial and material resources for teachers are necessary to make sure that quality teaching and learning can continue at a distance during the crisis, and that recovery is rapid.

The Task Force is calling on governments, education providers and funders – public and private – and all relevant partners to:

  • Preserve employment and wages: This crisis cannot be a pretext to lower standards and norms, or push aside labour rights. The salaries and benefits of the entire teaching and education support staff must be preserved.
  • Prioritise teachers’ and learners’ health, safety and well-being: Teachers need socio-emotional support to face the extra pressure being put on them to deliver learning in a time of crisis as well as provide support to their students in these anxious circumstances.
  • Include teachers in developing COVID-19 education responses : Teachers will have a crucial role in the recovery phase when schools reopen. They must be included at all steps of education policy-making and planning.
  • Provide adequate professional support and training: Little attention has been given to providing teachers with adequate training on how to ensure that learning continues. We must move swiftly to ensure that teachers receive the necessary professional support.
  • Put equity at the heart of education responses: Greater support and flexibility will be needed for teachers who work in remote areas or with low-income or minority communities, to ensure that disadvantaged children are not left behind.
  • Include teachers in aid responses: The Teacher Task Force urges financing institutions to help governments support education systems, particularly the teaching workforce’s professional development. Such support is particularly urgent in some of the world’s poorest countries, which are already struggling to meet education needs because of critical shortages of trained teachers.

For more information, download the call in English, French, Spanish and Arabic.

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News
  • 24.04.2020

COVID-19 highlights the digital divide in distance learning

As the world has raced to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, 191 countries have closed schools, from pre-primary to tertiary level, affecting at least 1.5 billion - or more than 9 out of 10 - students worldwide.

To minimize the disruption, many governments and institutions have turned to distance education to maintain teaching and learning. Online learning allows teachers to maintain a classroom-like environment for students, to send assignments and receive completed work to be assessed. It also permits teachers to maintain daily communication with students, checking not only their educational progress but also their well-being.

Yet, according to recent figures compiled by the Teacher Task Force, based on data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the International Telecommunication Union, almost half of the world’s students face significant barriers to online learning. Globally, some 826 million – 50 per cent – do not have access to a household computer, while 43 per cent – about 706 million – do not have access to internet at home. In low-income countries, rates of access are even lower. In sub-Saharan Africa, 89 per cent of learners do not have access to household computers and 82 per cent lack Internet access.

Mobile phones have demonstrated great potential for connecting learners with information and one another, but about 56 million learners worldwide live in remote locations not served by mobile networks, with almost half of them living in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some countries have turned to more traditional media to ensure access to those affected by this digital divide. In Peru, the Ministry of Education uses an online education platform, “Aprendo en casa”, to develop programmes accessible via television and radio for students with no internet and computer/mobile phone access. Countries were able to share their experience in distance education learning strategies during UNESCO’s fifth COVID-19 Education Response Webinar.

Moreover, an estimated 63 million primary and secondary teachers worldwide have been affected by the unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even for teachers in countries with reliable information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure and household connectivity, the rapid transition to online learning has been challenging. For teachers in regions where ICT and other distance methodologies are not available, such as Cameroon, where only 20-25% of teachers have access to a computer, the transition has been difficult or impossible.

Teacher education is a particular challenge in low-income countries. Across sub-Saharan Africa, just 64 per cent of primary and 50 per cent of secondary teachers, have met the national minimum training requirements to teach. In many countries, training seldom covers ICT skills adequately.

In addition, there are not enough teachers in low-income countries, resulting in large classes in which teachers struggle to give personalized instruction to each child. Compared to the international benchmark of 1 teacher per 28 pupils in primary education, there is only 1 trained teacher per 56 pupils in low-income countries, and 1 per 60 in sub-Saharan Africa.

To ensure teachers receive appropriate support during this crisis, the Teacher Task Force joined UNESCO’s Global Education Coalition, and recently released a Call for Action to support teachers affected by the pandemic.

Infographic: COVID-19: a global crisis for teaching and learning

COVID-19 Education Response webinars:

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Blog
  • 04.06.2020

No electricity, no Internet, no online learning: Lara’s story

Shanghai, January 2020

I woke up one morning in the Chinese New Year holidays to find we were not going to return to school on February 3 as expected. Instead, we were told to prepare to teach online. As the pandemic spreads all over the world education has to reinvent itself rapidly. Teachers from all over the world have come together on social media to support each other and share experiences during these difficult times. But as I become more conversant with online teaching, my mind is still not at ease. I am one of the privileged ones lucky enough to have access to a huge number of resources. But how about those who are not so lucky? My thoughts were with the people in my home country, Mozambique, and other developing countries where the vast majority of the population has no access to electricity, let alone online learning.

 

Lara, a 13-year-old eighth grader, starts her day by helping the family with chores around the shack where they live instead of heading to school as she used to do before the terrifying pandemic. Lara and her family live in Manhiça, in the province of Maputo, Mozambique. She attends the Filipe Nyussi School in Maluana. Neither of Lara’s parents has completed primary education. Her father is the sole income provider and he earns about $45 per month, which he needs to manage carefully between food for the family and education for Lara and her seven brothers and sisters.

Despite the difficulties, Lara’s father says his dream is to see his daughter complete her education. He beams with pride as he describes Lara as a smart, passionate, and dedicated student. Sadly, he also expresses a lot of concern about the uncertain future.

Due to the pandemic, schools in Mozambique have closed. Lara’s daily routine has changed dramatically. She must stay at home while her father walks to school to collect school assignments. When he gets home after work, Lara completes the assignments and later submits them for the teachers to review and grade. Occasionally, her father has had to pick up assignments twice, paying up to 160 meticais (about USD 2.40).

Lara is very eager to learn. She is frustrated that while she would spend four  hours a day learning when she could go to school, her current routine only allows her to study for one hour a day. The family agrees that the current level of education is extremely weak, but unfortunately there is little they can do. They complain about the additional costs for the printed material.

Lara and her family have no access to electricity and consequently have no TV or Internet access at home. This type of situation is very common throughout the country. For this reason, schools have resorted to providing written material prepared by the teachers for students to study at home. Many other children in rural areas, especially girls, face similar challenges. While school is meant to be free, many have complained about the fees for the printed material. In addition, not going to school exposes young girls like Lara to hidden risks of premature marriages and/or pregnancies.

Private schools in urban areas are investing in online schooling for their pupils. However, the level of investment is not standardized and not consistent among schools. Some private schools are moving faster with online platforms and online classes to better meet the needs of their students. Nevertheless, they also rely on parents’ willingness or financial ability to invest in access to technology such as Internet connectivity, computers, and mobile devices.

Studies have shown that the quality of education in Mozambique lags behind that of its neighboring countries and the level of school retention for young girls in the country is still a challenge. On top of that, the country also struggles to provide proper training for its teachers.

Online education is not a feasible option in a country where most people have no access to the Internet. While teachers from all over the world get together in social media to collaborate and give education a face-lift, some teachers and schools in less privileged countries are forgotten.

Nadya Faquir

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This piece is part of the Teacher Task Force’s #TeachersVoices campaign, created to bring forward the experiences of teachers working every day to ensure their students continue to benefit from a quality education despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To participate, go to our dedicated webpage.

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Blog
  • 02.06.2020

Using technology to teach the remote classroom due to Covid-19

In Brazil, where I teach primary and secondary school, 82% of students are in public schools. Due to regional social differences, some of us have to deal with adverse situations. But all regions face related problems and connect in different ways.

I work in a community of extreme poverty, with few resources. Together with teacher colleagues, I have mapped out the best way to work with these students, in view of their social and economic reality. Infrastructure and connectivity resources are lacking, but most families have mobile devices, such as cell phones.

We conducted and made available a study guide to be carried out at home with printed curricular guidelines so that parents could withdraw their children from school at alternate times, so as not to create agglomerations that would pose a danger due to Covid-19. The guidelines included information about the platforms that would be used, such as WhatsApp and social networks, including a Facebook group that we already had for all the classes in the school.

So, in addition to the printed guidelines sent to homes, I started using WhatsApp and Facebook with my classes to disseminate short videos. The videos give them guidance to carry out activities, such as work on various topics from digital literacy to computational thinking and problem-solving skills, but also socio-emotional skills, such as creativity, self-management and self-care.

I proposed to the students some reflections and suggestions for hands-on activities. For example, we made a mechanical hand. I made a sequence of short videos, talking about creativity, telling the story of Leonardo da Vinci and also of sustainability , and the three Rs (recycle, reduce and reuse). Another video talked about the importance of the mechanical hand for industry, saving lives and giving quality of life to people who have lost limbs. Finally, I encouraged them to create a robotic hand using cardboard, string and glue, with a hashtag to post a photo on the Facebook group when the work was done.

WhatsApp also works as a channel to clear up doubts, so I organized daily schedules for my students to let them know when I am available to remedy difficulties and clarify points. This has been effective in helping students to continue their studies.

In addition to my work as a teacher, I write two columns on education in major media. I have used this moment to write to teachers and educational managers about using technology to teach, pointing out information about tools such as Google Classroom, Zoom, Blackboard, Century Tech, and EkStep, among others. I have also written about planning, about designing and applying activities, about assessment and hybrid teaching. I have also provided guidance for class recordings, on topics such as voice intonation, didactic sequence, time, cell phone handling, sound and light, as the vast majority have prepared classes without interactions, only with forums.

I help parents and family with tips and suggestions on how to organize the home study routine (offering practical examples) and how to increase the repertoire of activities. I show them the importance of creating lists of books, films and virtual places, such as museums. I also offer guidance on how to help students to understand whether they have managed to reach all the learning objectives, with such questions as:

  • Does the exercise that I got wrong have to do with the content of the previous learning?
  • Was there any factor that took my attention away from studies?
  • Did I understand the question?
  • Did I answer what was asked?
  • Did I study the whole topic?

This is a period of new learning for all, in which it is necessary to learn from each other, to listen and find ways to overcome difficulties.

 

Débora Garofalo is a technology teacher in the public education network and a technology manager at the São Paulo State Education Secretariat. She is an education columnist, a winner of national awards and was in the top 10 of the Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Prize 2019.

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This piece is part of the Teacher Task Force’s #TeachersVoices campaign, created to bring forward the experiences of teachers working every day to ensure their students continue to benefit from a quality education despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To participate, go to our dedicated webpage.

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