People Are Reminding Students To Be Patient With Older Teachers Struggling With Technology

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It’s now obvious that the Covid-19-induced school closures have made the education system shift towards new and technologically advanced methods to teach kids. And this shift likely won’t be temporary, as teachers are left with little choice but to catch up with modern tech-savvy society.

However, a recent survey showed that out of 1,200 K-12 teachers, 56.7% said they are “not prepared to facilitate remote learning.” And it’s just one side of the coin. In reality, many teachers of the older generation are struggling to switch to new technologies.

But people on Twitter are urging kids to be empathetic and patient. After one woman who goes by the Twitter handle @nyla_danae told her followers about her 53-year-old teacher dad who’s been practicing every day, the thread blew up with 272.6K retweets and comments and 1.3M likes. After all, teachers are trying their best, and the pressure can be truly nerve-wracking. Especially when all you want is what’s best for your students.

This woman asked students to be nice to their teachers who are struggling to learn new technologies and her tweet went viral

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Many others joined the thread to express their support and tell just how hard teachers work to learn the technology

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A recent survey done by ClassTag also asked teachers what things they are doing and sharing with students online, or plan to. 68.8% said they were “sharing documents in their instruction mix,” 34.1% said they “planned to use video recordings,” and only 12.7% said they “would use a live video lesson or streaming.”

The results reflect a bigger picture, which is that many teachers are likely not prepared for the challenges of advanced digital teaching. Transitioning so rapidly to remote classrooms has definitely caused great stress for many older teachers who are not accustomed to the basics of digital tech.

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Experts warn that ideally, teachers should receive several days, weeks, or—better—months of in-depth preparation before launching an online learning program.

But with nationwide school closures during the peak of the pandemic, many educators have had to count on the patience of parents and kids and improvise with what they can do to make their virtual classrooms work.

This person has also shared a wholesome message of apology he sent to his former teacher

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Lisa Dawley, the executive director of the Jacobs Institute for Innovation in Education at the University of San Diego, said that “We learn by doing. You have to train in the way you want them to teach. It has to be modeled.”

As for the teachers, learning to teach online is a whole new kind of skill to obtain, and they should receive at least some of their training, if possible, through an online course so they experience firsthand what it’s like to be a distance-learning student.