From this Monday on, living rooms and children’s rooms are classrooms: Because schools will remain closed due to the corona pandemic, children and young people are learning at home – on the computer or on the laptop. So that this works better this time than during the lockdown in the spring of last year, the District Office has more than tripled the server capacities. The schools are also better equipped and prepared for distance learning.
Instead of using Mebis, the often overloaded internet platform made available by the Ministry of Education, schools in the district rely on programs that allow video conferences, as many company employees are now familiar with from their everyday work. The “Big Blue Button” is probably the most common in elementary and secondary schools. Similar to the programs of major software manufacturers, it offers the possibility to see all students in a class on the screen. According to Uli Rödl from the district’s media center, Big Blue Button also contains features for teaching, such as whiteboards or survey tools.
About 25 elementary and secondary schools and a handful of high schools use Big Blue Button. So that the screens do not stay black, the district has acquired server capacity – considerably more than last year. As of Tuesday, the schools will have the power of 13 servers at their disposal, last there were four. This could cost the district around 26,000 euros this year. Rödl is happy about the extended server performance, because the way it was last year you couldn’t start now, he says and does the math: With the help of a server, 250 students can be taught video conferences at the same time. In the past few months, schools had four servers available – far too few for comprehensive digital teaching. Now you have to see how long the expanded capacities will last. In any case, Rödl has an option for a further increase.
The Graßlfing elementary school is not one of the district schools that use Big Blue Button to address digital lessons. Headmistress Cathrin Theiß trusts MS Teams. “This way we can all start safely in the morning without being kicked out,” is how she sums up her experiences from last year. Familiarization with the possibilities of the software, which began last school year, took the teachers a lot of time and effort. And it is not yet finished, because with each new first class the handling of the program has to be practiced again. And not just with the boys and girls. Parents also need to know how to get into the program and use certain functions, after all, this cannot be expected from first graders. But they have lessons via video conference just like the older children.
It’s not easy, but elementary school teachers are very imaginative, says Theiss. She cites learning letters as an example. These could be written on the board and replicated. But there are other options for teaching on the computer. First graders could also lay out the letters with building blocks or with chestnuts. The teacher can see on the screen whether this has been done correctly. In addition, there are of course the usual learning materials. They are sent by email or can be picked up at school. Theiss also sees her school prepared for differentiated teaching. There is an additional platform on which children who find it easy to find tasks while the other students work on it. And the equipment with devices does not stand in the way of digital teaching. All of the students had a computer or laptop, says Theiss. Children who do not have such a device were provided by the school. The Rector is also expecting 20 more laptops. They have been ordered but not yet delivered, she says.
So far everything seems well prepared. But Theiss still has one concern. “We ask a lot from the teachers,” she says as the head of a school and also as the district spokeswoman for the headmasters. Because distance teaching is much more work than face-to-face teaching. In addition, the past year with all the new requirements and constant changes between lessons at school or at home also cost a lot of energy. Tisza is therefore concerned that many teachers could get sick. Because the virus is still widespread in the population.
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