Doha: Parents and teachers have confirmed that blended learning stream is helping greatly in streamlining the educational process, expecting better results compared to the distance learning which was implemented after COVID-19 outbreak.
However, they said that the new learning system entails more work for them as they have to devote extra time to students.
Speaking to The Peninsula, a number of parents and teachers said that the new method of learning has connected students and teacher in a better way because of in-person interaction, which is not possible in distance learning.
The parents also said that their children have started taking learning and homework more seriously under blended system compared to online teaching. Under the blended system, they have to face teachers which keeps them motivated for taking their studies seriously.
The blended learning or hybrid learning which combines classroom teaching with distance learning was introduced by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education for the first semester of the academic year 2020-21 to continue the education process to limit the spread of COVID-19 infection.
Some parents whose children are enrolled in private schools have urged school managements to improve their distance learning system. “I have noticed that teachers of my child start teaching without ensuring whether students are online or not. The students also continue to speak while the teacher is explaining them,” Abu Mohamad, a parent, told The Peninsula. Abu Mohamad said that ensuring attendance of the students during online classes will encourage students to take the online lessons seriously, urging school management to pay attention to this issue.
A parent also raised concern to a private school management urging them to increase the number of days for classroom teaching. “I think the school management should assign more days for classroom learning for students of grade 1, provided they can maintain social distancing. Pupils in primary classes need teachers’ interaction more than senior students,” said Abu Ahmad.
Parents said that blended learning requires them to sit with their children especially those in lower classes during online classes and helping them with their homework.
“My two children are in primary classes who are receiving online classes during distance learning days. They can not handle this teaching system alone so I have to sit with them,” said Umm Abdurahman.
Teachers said that that they are doing almost double jobs – teaching students in classrooms and also the students at home studying online. “The blended learning requires teachers to teach the students in classroom and follow up with those who are at home learning through online,” said a teacher from an international private school.
Speaking about the benefit of blended learning, the teacher said that blended learning is better for students compared to fully online learning because it provides the opportunity of interaction in person between students and teachers, which is necessary for quality education.
