The first experiences of the digital education at II. Ferenc Rákóczi Primary School Berettyóújfalu
I logged in! I clicked. I got it. I filled it out. I uploaded. I sent it.Can you see? You see? Yes! Like!
When digital education was announced the both the parents and teachers stopped breathing for a moment. But only for a moment, as we all had two days: for the school to transform to the new system, for the parents to organize home learning circumstances. The teachers knew that the practice based on personal contact so far would not applicable in this new situation. We had to move from the role transferring and developing of knowledge towards the role of supporting and motivating learning overnight. We had to rethink what is achievable under the new conditions, what is less important, what can be left out. The most important thing was to establish a relationship not only with the students but also with the parents. In addition according to age characteristics and the degree of independence, we also had to think through the daily lives of families. A parent at home is not an educator, he or she has other responsibilities, and there are those who do these after 8 hours at work. There were and there are difficulties. The conditions for online contact are not available in all families, and a phone, no matter how smart, is still scarce for more children, especially if they are with their father or mother during the day as they work. Where there is neither internet access nor device, the traditional paper-based task, task description remained the only way that had to be delivered. The task will have to be understood at home, you cannot ask a question, you have to try to solve it on your own. That’s why we considered it is important not to go overboard, not to want to teach everything we teach at school under other circumstances. Let’s think very differently than previously, both in terms of methods and the amount and nature of the tasks. Already in the first week, with the help of the Internet, an extremely rich repository of resources was revealed to educators, as a number of previously paid services provided a free helping hand in addition to the methodological recommendations, so that the joint work could start as soon as possible. The teachers helped each other by handing over the materials they had previously created. Everyone threw themselves into sorting, making their own materials. The conversation in the virtual teacher’s room was still in full swing late at night. The tasks have arrived, the contact has been made. The most frequent short messages of the first few days were: I logged in! I clicked. I got it. I filled it out. I uploaded. I sent it.Can you see? You see? Yes! Like! But our support is not just needed for learning. We also provided useful knowledge for the families, which helped to develop lifestyle habits and overcome difficulties. A psychologist and a social helper also support us in this process. Students like not doing their tasks in the rhythm of a tight lesson, break, and lesson. They also like the tasks they can do with their family.” It is good everywhere, but it is the best at home.” It is now also necessity that families and we need to turn into meaningful and useful activities. To educate and teach that we cannot meet personally, but feel that the school, though digitally or on paper, but with them and for them. We thank the parents, educators, local governments, the professional service and the family helper for their help in our work!
Enikő Ráczné Vetési
The head of institution