France Grinds to a Halt
France’s economy, like those of many countries, almost came to a complete standstill during the Covid-19 lockdown. For France, it was for two months from 17th March to 11th May. For me, as a freelance English teacher, it also marked the move from traditional to digital classrooms.
In these two months, only establishments deemed indispensable to daily life were authorised to be opened. These included pharmacies, hospitals, supermarkets, bakeries and, weirdly enough, tobacco stores (“bureau de tabac”). All other premises had to be shut down, including educational institutions. After the 11th of May, some commerce was allowed to resume operations, albeit with certain sanitation protocols. Most schools, however, were basically closed until the end of August.
From Traditional to Digital Classrooms Overnight
For those who are new to my blog, I am a freelance English teacher in France. I spend most of my time teaching English to students in universities and also nursing and midwifery schools. Occasionally, I teach corporate executives too.
During the lockdown period in March, April and May, most of my scheduled lessons were cancelled. Many schools were not well equipped in terms of digital infrastructure and also not prepared psychologically to step out of the traditional classrooms. Only a handful of schools were willing to step out of their comfort zones and scrambled onto the bandwagon of digitalisation of learning. Overnight, for better or worse, educational institutions around the world had to rely heavily on video conferencing services to conduct virtual classes, and also learning management systems (LMS) such as Moodle to manage the delivery of educational content.
Before the pandemic, hardly any schools would entertain the idea of having their students spending 1.5h to 2.0h in front of a computer screen, learning English from a teacher who was not physically with them in a four-walled classroom. Even the adult corporate students were comforted by the physical presence of a teacher in their journey of language acquisition. The Covid-19 pandemic has turned everything topsy-turvy.
Distance Learning Is Not New
Distance learning is not new. It started out as correspondence study using books. It was then followed by learning through video tapes and cassettes. Finally, the next step was online classes through MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses), which started around 2007. Now, the social distancing restrictions have obliged people to adopt videoconferencing if they would like to continue their education.
Digital Classrooms Mean Less Time on the Road
As a freelance teacher, I do not have a regular 9-to-5 job. I have to travel extensively to reach the various schools and the offices of the professional executives. I am not exaggerating. At times, the total time I spend commuting may be the same as, or more than, my actual teaching time.
So, you can understand if I tell you now that one of the side effects of the pandemic has a positive impact on me, on my work. It has accelerated the acceptance of the digitalisation of learning and thus reduced the time I spend commuting.
More Lessons, More Rest
Imagine the amount of time I can save on transport. I do not have to waste three hours on transportation to teach a two-hour class. The time saved means I can be more efficient with my scheduling of lessons. I can, thus, give more lessons in a day, and thus more “ka-ching”, more “moolah”, more money!
Of course, there is still a limited number of hours I can teach. There are a few factors that determine the “ideal teaching time” per day. Generally, though, I find that 5 hours of teaching time per day is ideal, and 7 hours is the limit. The English level, the learning attitude and the size of each class are factors contributing to the calculation of the “ideal” teaching time per day. A 5-hour-a-day teaching load means a 25-hour week. Aha… Don’t think that I have an easy job. All teachers know that total teaching hours do not equate to total working time.
Spending less time on transportation also means that I can have more rest. In fact, I no longer have to wake up at ungodly hours to teach an 8.30am class. This will definitely improve the quality of the lessons I give to the students!
Fewer Handouts, Fewer Trees
Another positive side effect from the lockdown is the reduction in printing of handouts for students. Six months ago, I would print and distribute reading materials, quizzes and assignments to students in class. At the time, I believed that students learn better with physical copies on hand. Nowadays, I still print, but not as frequently. I would just email the materials to the students or upload them onto the LMS. The students do not complain, and so far, everyone seems to be fine with using the soft copies.
Not My First Time in Digital Classrooms
I am not a novice in giving online classes. When I first started out as an English teacher, one of the language schools that hired me outsourced quite a few online classes to me. The classes were conducted mainly through Skype. It was my preferred way of teaching. Unfortunately, the conflicts in schedule and the low rates offered by that school strongly discouraged me from accepting many of its students.
Prior to the pandemic, the number of hours I spent on online teaching accounted for less than 5% of my total teaching hours. Currently, the time I spend in front of a computer screen teaching English represents close to 20%.
Of course, switching to online classes is not without hitches. In my next post, I will share with you the various complications I have experienced in this transition period, from traditional to digital classrooms.