Learning Opportunities in the Eyes of Pandemic
By: Jerlito M. Taylo
Teacher III/ Google Educator Certified Level 1
School ICT/LR Coordinator
The challenges of pandemic concentrated on how people will battle the survival to be always healthy, having boost immune system and how to make and earn a living in these trying times. But on the good side of this situation, this opened doors to various opportunities to learning experiences that teachers do not know that they will excel and even discovered more their hidden technical skills.
From the usual set up of face-to-face teaching inside the classroom, there is a sudden change that teachers need to address to fulfill their teaching duties. Conducting online classes is a new thing for most of the teachers. The system required teachers to underwent series of trainings to master the skill. The use of messenger has been amplified and utilized in all aspect for this was the common communication platform available in different households.
Google apps for education services played vital role during these times. The use of Google Meet services suddenly became popular among the education sectors. From the creation of link in the Google Calendar, sharing presentations, sharing multimedia with your audience, muting and unmuting microphones during sessions and turning the camera on and off are among the memorable yet fruitful experiences of teachers in this new normal set-up.
The physical classroom with four walls and a blackboard has been replaced with a virtual system, Google Classroom. This apps from Google were also new to a lot of teachers in the public sector and required them to have series of trainings. The creation of classroom codes, posting of assignments, class works, and examinations were just some of the newest trends and experiences of teachers in managing their own Google Classrooms.
Teachers’ inner talents in making illustrations and images were launched and changed from traditional drawings and sketches into digital arts and images. Through the different programs and apps available for free online for DepEd employees, teachers showed an array of their skills in making funny, effective, and clear illustrations. Their skills in making lay-outs for the instructional materials and printed art publication have been unleashed through canva.com and making animations for cartoon explainer. Truly numerous opportunities for learning sprouted during this pandemic.
Finally, all teachers were trained how to become an effective writer of modules and supplemental learning materials. Since there will be limited time for teachers and learners to meet online and have classes, teachers adjusted their skills in teaching through writing of activities and modules. Learners will need to feel that their teachers are just in front of them even by just simply reading the notes and instructions in the printed module. Clear and effective illustrations and careful lay-out of the material were done by the teachers.
These are just some of the journeys of the teachers that in spite of pandemic, they are continuously learning and exploring their abilities and capabilities to be always competitive and on-top of the call for 21st Century Learning and Teaching.