Teachers, Parents, Students, and COVID

The COVID pandemic has put teachers in the limelight. Many teachers just want to get back to the classroom to teach students. Many teachers were fearful of returning to school due to concerns about getting coronavirus. Others struggled to adapt to teaching online. Some teachers quit over frustration in dealing with school administrations. Many parents struggled to adjust to online school from home. There were some really good memes from parents expressing their newfound respect for teachers’ patience in dealing with their kids all day. Students struggled to focus and keep up. Some students stopped going to school altogether. The COVID pandemic has created significant challenges for teachers, parents, students, and learning. Video calls with teachers could be extremely helpful in helping students catch up or simply help with an issue that would have arisen before the pandemic like homework questions or test preparation. The benefits of one-on-one instruction are well documented. When a student is struggling with a concept due to a gap in understanding, it takes someone to be able to identify what the gap is and explain it in a way that the student can understand. Teachers are uniquely qualified to do exactly that. The ability for students to meet with a teacher one-on-one via on-demand video calls addresses both struggles that existed before the pandemic and struggles created by the pandemic. Below are some use cases when on-demand video calls with a teacher could be useful.

Homework

It is 7pm and a student is struggling with algebra homework. The student knows that opportunity to have a chance at passing the upcoming test is slipping away, day by day, class by class, homework problem by homework problem. The student’s single parent just got home from working a double shift, so the student feels bad asking for help and just cannot seem to remember what the teacher talked about in class. It made sense when the teacher was going through it in class. But now it does not make any sense. If only the student had the ability to meet with a teacher one-on-one and get tutored. The teacher could figure out the gap in understanding, explain the material, and go through a couple homework problems with the student to ensure the gap is resolved. This is an example when an on-demand video call with a teacher could make the difference in the student losing hope in passing the upcoming test and put the student on a trajectory to excel on the upcoming test.

Test Preparation

The Chemistry mid-term is tomorrow, and a student feels comfortable with the material except for different kinds of bonds. The student is struggling with this concept and cannot get the practice problems correct. It has been years since both parents took Chemistry and they are in no position to try and figure it out. The student watches several Kahn Academy videos, and they are great at explaining bonds, but the student still has a few questions after watching the videos, and there is no way to ask questions and get answers right away. This would be a great opportunity to have a one-on-one conversation with a teacher via an on-demand video call. The student could ask questions and ensure the practice problems make sense. This will allow the student to maximize performance on the test.

COVID-Related

Your 3rd-grader has struggled with focusing while doing on-line school during COVID and seems so far behind that you are not sure how to help or even where to start helping. You and your 3rd-grader also feel like the teacher has been impatient and unfair, so approaching the teacher is not really an option. The ability to connect with a grade-school teacher on-demand and have a video call would allow you and your child to meet with a teacher to come up with a plan to get back on track, identify the general obstacle that your child faces, discuss possible solutions to maintaining focus, and/or work on specific homework problems. The discussion could be a boost in confidence for you and your child, and it could help to avoid further setbacks.