Online Learning in Senior School

Online Learning

There is only one thing we are talking about in Senior School this week - online learning! Students and teachers have quickly adjusted to the new learning environment and are working incredibly hard.  

Dulwich College Seoul’s teachers have demonstrated just how creative they are. They have been filming and uploading videos, leading online conferences, using a variety of apps and websites to support students, and coming up with lots of imaginative ways to get students learning. I was particularly impressed with the ease with which teachers made the transition from traditional to online teaching with short notice. Now we are a week into our online provision, they are becoming even more adventurous in their planning and are embracing the opportunity to learn from one another. Teachers are finding interesting and innovative ways of delivering the curriculum, embracing new technology, and ensuring that students are being given the very best support in our online classrooms. Dulwich College Seoul’s students are very lucky to be taught by an extraordinarily talented and dedicated group of teachers.  

Senior School students have been extremely productive but there are challenges in working online. At this this time, we have advised students to:

• Stick to the lesson schedule. This helps students to organise their time throughout the day.
• Hand in work in a timely manner. This will help students to organise their time and will allow teachers to give meaningful feedback more easily.  
• Take regular breaks throughout the day. The school schedule has morning and lunch breaks. Students should take the opportunity to step away from the laptop and do something different for a while at these times. 
• Limit screen time out of online lessons. Too much screen time is not good for anyone!
• Practice safe online interactions. We have circulated reminders to all students around ‘Netiquette’ and keeping safe online.
• Check in with friends. Social interactions are important at this time. If it is not practical to meet in person, classmates should be checking in with one another online.
• Reach out to teachers. We may not be in school, but we are still available for academic and emotional support. Students have their teachers’ email addresses and they are encouraged to contact any of us if they need anything.
• Do something fun in the evening! In my daily messages to students, I have suggested that they do something fun in their down-time. I have suggested they hang out with friends, spend time with the family, help to cook dinner, get some exercise, watch a movie or try something they have never done before. Online learning is a challenge and students need something to look forward to at the end of the day.

Online Learning:  Student Feedback (Week 1)

I asked students for feedback on their online learning experience. Many are enjoying the novelty of working at home and learning online.  However, some are finding the experience more challenging and are missing the routine of the school day, socialising with their friends, and support from teachers. We will continue to support all students through our online sessions and by reminding them that we are here for them whenever they need us.

I asked students to tell me about their experiences of online learning this week. Here are a few of their responses, which will give you a sense of what is going on.

“In Physics, the teacher was always fast to respond to our questions via Google Hangouts and also provided us with lots of useful resources.”

물리 시간에는, 선생님들이 항상 구글 행아웃을 통해 우리 질문에 빠르게 답해주셨고, 우리에게 많은 유용한 자료들을 제공해주셨다.
 

“In Maths, our teacher gave us a video of herself explaining the tasks, a YouTube video explaining the questions, a PowerPoint, and also a sheet of questions.  I think that was very helpful since there were many resources and the tasks were very clear to understand…. The teacher was constantly checking on us in Hangouts and if we had a question, she replied right away.”

"수학 시간에는, 선생님이 우리에게 과제를 설명하는 자신의 비디오, 유튜브 비디오, 파워포인트, 그리고 문제지를 주셨다. 나는 이러한 많은 자료가 있어서 매우 도움이 되었다고 느꼈고, 또한 과제들은 이해하기에 매우 명확했다. 선생님은 계속 구글 행아웃에서 우리를 체크하고 계셨고 우리가 질문이 있으면 바로 대답해 주셨다."
 

“During Science, we got to work as a group and it was so fun! We video called each other and started to share ideas and stuff.” 

"과학 시간 동안, 우리는 단체로 과제를 실행하게 되었고, 이 활동은 너무 재미있었어! 서로에게 영상통화를 하여 아이디어와 내용을 공유하기 시작했다.
 

“The English teacher was always there to answer our questions.”

“영어 선생님은 우리의 질문에 답을 하기 위해 항상 계셨다."
 

“In Korean, we are working on a presentation based on a book and each person needs to read a chapter and make a presentation about it. It was my friend's turn today and she did the presentation through video chat on Google Hangouts. We thought we would do something else but the teacher let us have a great experience.”

"한국어 시간에는 책을 기반으로 프레젠테이션을 하게 되었다. 지정 도서를 각자 한 장씩 읽고 그에 대해 프레젠테이션을 해야 한다. 오늘은 친구 차례였고 그는 구글 행아웃에서 화상 채팅을 통해 발표했다. 다른 유형의 공부를 할 줄 알았는데 선생님이 좋은 경험을 하게 해주셨다"
 

“I found the pre-recorded video lessons incredibly useful.  I also really enjoyed the video group call in Biology.  It was like being in a real classroom.”

"사전 녹화된 비디오 수업은 믿을 수 없을 정도로 유용하다는 것을 알게 되었다. 또한 생물 수업의 비디오 그룹 콜은 정말 재미있었다. 진짜 교실에 있는 것 같았다."
 

“I've had a friend come over to my house so that we could work together just like we do in school. It was great to be able to work together.”

"학교에서처럼, 같이 공부할 수 있도록 친구가 우리 집에 왔다. 함께 공부할 수 있어서 좋았다.
 

“Today, the online learning was very engaging and I felt that I learnt a lot.  My favourite class was PE.  We were set the choice to do yoga, a HIIT workout or a hip hop workout.  I chose a HIIT workout which I did in a video call with my friends.  It was extremely easy to follow, it gave me some exercise that I may not otherwise have gotten and it was really fun, especially with my friends.”

"오늘의 온라인 학습은 매우 매력적이었고 많은 것을 배웠다고 느꼈다. 내가 가장 좋아하는 수업은 체육이었다. 우리는 요가, HIIT (고강도 인터벌) 운동, 또는 힙합 운동을 하기로 했다. 나는 친구들과 화상통화로 하는 HIIT 운동을 선택했다. 매우 쉽게 따라 할 수 있었고, 내가 찾아서 하지 않았을 운동을 하게 되어서 좋았다. 특히 친구들과 함께 하는 것은 정말 재미있었다."

I have also received some wonderful messages from students, including this one that every one of our teachers needs to read. 

“I just want to say thank you to all of the teachers. We are constantly receiving emails, messages and videos from teachers telling us how they are here for us if we need anything.  I feel really cared for and am very grateful for everything.”

"나는 그저 모든 선생님에게 고맙다고 말하고 싶을 뿐이다. 우리가 필요한 것이 있을때 본인이 함께하고 있다는 이메일, 메시지, 비디오를 끊임없이 선생님들로부터 수령하고 있다. 정말 보살핌을 받고 있다고 느낀다. 모든 것에 감사하다.”

Online Learning:  Student Feedback (Week 2)

"I liked using Flipgrid in Humanities. The activity was really well prepared by the teachers. The teacher let us work together with our friends."

 "인문학 수업 때, 플립그리드(Flipgrid)를 사용하는 것이 좋았다. 이 활동을 위해 선생님들께서 정말 훌륭히 준비하셨다고 느꼈다. 선생님은 우리가 친구들과 함께 활동하도록 해주셨다."

“In Korean class, we had a class discussion via Google Classroom Comments, and then we had worksheets to complete and submit. This was good because there was an element of social interaction and discussion that we would have in a class."

 "한국어 수업에서는 구글 교실 코멘츠 (Google Classroom Comments)를 활용하여, 토론 수업을 진행했으며, 문제지를 풀어서 제출하는 형식으로 수업을 마무리 지었다. 평소 교실에서처럼 학우 간의 상호 작용이 있고, 토론을 이룰 수 있어서 좋았다.”

"I think a good example of online learning was the Music class that we had on Tuesday. Our teacher organised a video call. We were able to give feedback to one another regarding the pieces of music that we created. It enabled us to talk more to each other, which I really enjoyed." 

 "온라인 학습의 좋은 예는 화요일에 진행된 음악 수업이었다. 선생님은 화상통화로 수업을 진행하셨다. 각자 창작한 음악을 듣고, 서로 간에 피드백을 제공할 수 있었다. 우리는 서로서로 더 많은 이야기를 나눌 수 있어서 즐거웠다.”

"I liked doing the group project in English today. It was nice to talk to my peers in class again and it broke the feeling of being isolated. I started a group call with my teammates" 

 "오늘 영어로 그룹 프로젝트를 하는 것이 좋았어. 수업 중에 학우들과 다시 이야기를 할 수 있어서 좋았고, 이로 인해 고립되었다는 느낌을 깨뜨렸다. 프로젝트팀 우들과 단체 통화를 시작했다.”

"In Chemistry, I liked solving past papers online on Kami app because the teacher could see our work and annotate on the papers to tell us what we could improve on. It was almost like learning in the classroom as we got very detailed feedback." 

 "화학 수업 때 온라인상 카미(Kami)앱을 사용해 기출문제를 푸는 수업이 좋았다. 선생님이 우리의 학업을 관찰할 수 있었으며 바로 주석을 달아서 우리가 개선 해야 할 점을 알려줄 수 있었기 때문이다. 매우 상세한 피드백을 받으면서 교실에서 배우는 것 같았다.”

"Most of the lessons have been really good. The teachers are online and ready to respond to any questions. They respond immediately, which has been very beneficial." 

" 대부분의 수업이 매우 좋았다. 선생님들은 온라인상에 계시며 무슨 질문이든 답을 해주실 준비가 되어계셨다. 즉시 대응을 해주셔서 매우 유익했다.”