“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” William Pollard, Physics Professor, and Episcopal priest.
Covid-19 swept across the world shutting down almost all businesses and schools were not spared. With social distancing and lockdown enforced, Jakarta, a city notorious for her suffocating traffic jams and congestion saw the roads cleared and the bustling office and malls closed. Walk into any school, you will find eerily empty buildings, devoid of students and teachers, with only a few diligent cleaners wiping down the school with detergent and disinfectant. The classroom-style education as we are so accustomed is suddenly halted due to social distancing measures.
We learn in times of disruptions like this, that the true heart of education is not defined by buildings and classrooms. It is in the perseverance of students who strive for learning and the teachers dedicated to their students’ education. It is this persistence that encourages innovation and resilience during times of disruption as people develop new ways to address needs.
We are thankful for the advances in technology, early planning, innovation, creativity, and persistence of our teachers and educators. Learning does not need to stop and goes beyond dropping an email of instructions to parents. With technology, we can accommodate online tutorials, seminars, and other interactive activities between students and teachers. For younger children, the key to success in e-learning is the positive support and encouragement from parents at home.
In the chaos, there is an opportunity for renewal. The Coronavirus has changed the way we leverage on technology to conduct teaching and will leave a lasting impact on our mindset and approach to education after this pandemic has passed. Even more importantly than innovative learning methods, we have a renewed appreciation for the simple act of meeting our students in person. We love our students and yearn for the day where we can gather and meet again freely in school. We miss giving our students face to face encouragement, a pat on the back for a job well done, and the simple joy of kicking the soccer ball with our ‘Barracuda soccer girls’ or scoring a three-pointer with our ‘Ravens Boys’. Till then, the learning must continue in online in e-learning. May God bless you and protect your families.
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him (Psalm 37:7)
Ichthus Schools is a Christian based school offering an international curriculum from Cambridge International. Ichthus has since implemented e-learning when the government called for social distancing to commence. The preparation to go on the e-learning platform started weeks before. Teacher training, preparation, and conversion of classroom programs into e-formats, e-learning schedules, and upgrading of internet access from teacher’s homes were necessary to ensure a smooth transition to e-learning mode. Contact time for core-subjects teaching was carefully planned with enough circuit breakers and time out from computer facing time. Starting the day off right with daily devotion is an important discipline and routine in our daily class schedule.
For more information, visit the official Ichthus School Website.