What is the Future School Virtual Classroom?
The Future School Virtual Classroom is an in-house platform hosted on servers dedicated to RGCFS. In short, it is an interactive classroom that allows the teacher and student to see each other face-to-face and use tools to interact with each other. Students can see our teachers teaching, participate in quizzes and ask questions in real time. It is as if they are in the centre attending our lessons.
Unlike other solutions, our teachers are not simply teaching by giving ‘live’ lectures which are streamed to students. It is also not just a pre-recorded video presentation. To give its closest experience, it is like a video conference where the teachers and students can discuss content in real time.
Why are we doing online learning this way?
We believe that online learning is a viable alternative to classroom teaching, if done correctly. What do we mean by doing it correctly? Doing it correctly means that we put in measures to ensure maximum benefit to our students. Hence, we will:
- require students to do their work on hardcopy worksheets;
- check student’s attention by requiring them to switch on their webcams;
- ask questions throughout the lesson to ensure they are paying attention;
- continue to mark their hardcopy worksheets diligently to ensure understanding; and
- conduct physical ‘catchup’ lessons if necessary.
Conclusion
The world as we know has changed. Covid-19 has been viewed by many experts as a world-changing experience in how humans behave and interact. One world-changing trend, not only in Singapore, but the whole world, is moving classrooms online. While it will be back to the physical classroom when the pandemic has weakened, it is undeniable that education will be moving bit by bit, to the online space.
Let’s embrace the biggest benefit of online learning – convenience. At the same time, practise social distancing. Together, we will overcome Covid-19 and still help our children achieve the great results they deserve!