Despite teachers not being able to carry out their duties in a classroom during this lockdown, Alberton High School teachers have made efforts to still get their work done.
In light of the lockdown, teachers across the country were concerned about how they would complete the syllabus in time for learners to sit for mid-year examination.
This was when Alberton High School’s staff gathered to come up with alternative ways of doing things.
Teachers opted to get work to their learners through the school’s D6 Communicator application which is downloaded on Google’s Play store. This is an app which directs communication from all schools to learners.
Through the app, the school will be able to upload worksheets and short messages.
This way, parents and guardians will be able to receive notifications on any work which has been uploaded on the app.
Technological age
Oscar von Platen, a teacher at the school, has also set up Google Classroom and WhatsApp groups for learners to get work done during the lockdown period.
He said his biggest worry was matric learners because they should have completed at least 90 per cent of their syllabus before the mid-year examination.
“I have created a safe platform on WhatsApp for my classes. This is an easy way to immediately share resources with my learners that I receive from other teacher platforms.
“Learners can ask questions and that helps for everyone to see as it can help them too,” said von Platen.
He told the RECORD that he uses this platform to also alert learners on new uploads on the Google Classroom he has set up.
“One staff member, Shené Barkley, suggested that we use Google Classroom, an interactive platform that teachers can use to upload work easily and accessible to learners. Learners can chat with you by replying or asking questions relating to the work,” he said.
He said another teacher, Jodi Broadhurst, also uses the Zoom App to do online classroom teaching where she live streams a lesson and learners can participate in the lessons.
Equipping learners
Von Platen advised learners to use this time to thoroughly revise the first term’s work which will assist them to better understand upcoming exams.
“During this time, learners should be following a routine of doing work during the hours when they would be in the classroom.
“They should utilise revision programmes on DSTV 317. Siyavula and Vodacom have amazing and free online resources that can assist with revision and to help continue with the rest of the syllabus,” he said.
