Abstract:
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Singapore has resulted in the adoption of home-based learning (similar to remote or distance learning\' worldwide) due to periodic school closures in Singapore. The media and academia have diverse views on the effectiveness of this alternative mode of education. This study draws data from teachers\' interviews and students\' focus group discussions of an ongoing large-scale baseline study on mother tongue education to reveal teachers\' and students\' perceptions of home-based learning. Findings showed that the participating teachers generally mimicked physical lessons online during home-based learning, and they faced difficulties in monitoring students\' tasks online. Though students enjoyed the freedom of doing their learning tasks at their own pace, they were concerned with the lack of teachers\' support and the social-emotional support from peers. With the feedback and reflections from teachers and students, it was observed that despite the availability of technology and online infrastructure, teachers need readiness for transiting between physical teaching and online instruction, whereas students need readiness for self-directed learning. From students\' feedback, it was also noted that parents need readiness for educational technology and support for their children. To better prepare teachers, students, and parents for home-based learning, it is recommended that the developers provide more dedicated resources that take into consideration the different characteristics (e.g. orthography) of each language subject. Parents should also assume a greater role in monitoring their children\'s learning on behalf of the teachers for better effect in home-based learning.
摘要:
由于新加坡定期关闭学校,新加坡爆发的COVID-19大流行导致采用家庭学习(类似于全球远程或远程学习)。媒体和学术界对这种替代教育模式的有效性有不同的看法。这项研究从正在进行的大规模母语教育基线研究的教师访谈和学生焦点小组讨论中得出数据,以揭示教师和学生对家庭学习的看法。研究结果表明,参与教师通常在家庭学习期间在线模仿体育课,他们面临着在网上监控学生任务的困难。尽管学生享有按照自己的节奏完成学习任务的自由,他们担心缺乏教师的支持和同龄人的社会情感支持。随着老师和学生的反馈和反思,据观察,尽管有技术和在线基础设施,教师需要准备好在物理教学和在线教学之间过渡,而学生需要做好自我导向学习的准备。从学生的反馈,还指出,父母需要为教育技术和对子女的支持做好准备。为了更好地培养教师,学生,和父母在家学习,建议开发人员提供更多的专用资源,以考虑每种语言主题的不同特征(例如拼字法)。家长也应该承担更大的作用,在监督他们的孩子的学习代表教师更好的效果,在家庭为基础的学习。