Online teaching during MCO

 I started using Google Classroom 2-3 years ago after attending a workshop on 'flipped classroom'. I use it as a platform to share some video links or additional materials with students so they can access from home after school. So, Google Classroom is not something new for me, except for I had to migrate to school's gsuite G Classroom. There's a bit of hassles there in the beginning but once everyone is on-board, it's convenient.

'Online live teaching' however, is something new for me. As a tech idiot, I was introduced to Zoom not by school, but by a friend from temple. We used it for a group meeting to 'social distancing' and thereafter for our first experimental chanting online. These all happened before MCO. I was actually worried that school might have to close down (after Brunei reported the first case) so I explored the possibility to use Zoom for teaching from home. And not too long after that, MCO was announced. I tested out Zoom with a few of my colleagues before using it with the students. I must say the 'screen sharing and 'annotate' features on Zoom are really useful for me (even now).

I didn't consider recording any videos because I am not familiar with the tech or apps, and there are already good videos out there which I could just share the links, but most importantly, I need to 'actually' interact or deliver lessons to my students - to talk to them, to tell the stories, to craft the flow of the lesson. But I must say to teach online is really a lot of preparations. I do not give out my work in one go, instead I scheduled them day by day in bite-size for the students. Plus there were still exam papers to set. So the first two weeks were really hectic.

Now, although I still prefer Zoom (because of the 'annotation' function which allows me to scribble on my slides), I am migrating to Google Meet, as it integrates with Google Classroom and Calendar etc. And as I am entering the 4th week of online teaching, I'm more accustomed with the tech and also to the new WFH life. So I begin to pace myself better, but at the same time I'm thrown with more questions that made me reflect on my teaching online. How is online teaching different from classroom teaching? How do I as an educator uses the tools for the benefits of my students' learning and not just for the 'gimmick'? How do I design my lessons so students also take up their equal share of responsibility to actively learn? How do I know if they are really learning? ………

All I could say is, whatever that happens in these past few weeks (and in the coming weeks) is really an important learning challenge/opportunity for me. Quoting a colleague's words, which I couldn't agree more, 'Teaching is and should be a teacher's top priority', I pen down my journey here so that when I look back in time someday, I will be reminded of what I have overcome to be an educator.