Coronavirus: Digital classroom proposal raises questions of equity and resources

Schools are being asked to consider radical changes to the way they teach Year 12 in the face of looming campus shutdowns.

One of the first schools in Sydney to announce a shutdown, Alpha Omega College, says its e-learning program “could offer an alternative to traditional education for as long as required”. Picture: AAP

Schools are being asked to consider radical changes to the way they teach and assess Year 12 students in the face of looming campus shutdowns in the fight against the coronavirus.

Digital classrooms are being set up to ensure students get continued access to real-time lessons, while other measures being considered include providing alternative tasks that can be done at home, extending deadlines for ­assessment and, in some cases, providing teaching and learning opportunities outside typical school hours.

State education bodies have moved to reassure schools and their communities that no student should be disadvantaged by potential school closures but educators have raised concerns that a move online will exacerbate inequity throughout the system

While most schools around the country remain open in line with health expert advice, a growing number of independent schools, largely in metropolitan Melbourne and Sydney, have closed their physical campuses as a precaution and are providing teaching through online portals.

Even schools making the switch have acknowledged the scale of this unprecedented task, however.

One of the first schools in Sydney to announce a pre-emptive shutdown, Alpha Omega College, in Auburn in the city’s west, has expressed confidence that its new e-learning program “could offer an alternative to traditional education for as long as required”.

Deputy principal Wesam Krayem said some students would need to be provided with laptops and sufficient internet data plans to use from home and consideration would need be given to how to provide Year 12 students with regular one-on-one support from teachers. He said a decision was yet to be made about how chemistry students, for example, would complete practical work without access to a physical laboratory.

“We haven’t solved absolutely everything yet, but we are remaining flexible and adaptable,” he said.

State and territory authorities have advised schools they have some flexibility to delay or reschedule internal coursework. In Victoria, the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, which oversees the Victorian Certificate of Education, has advised that while it is possible to deliver some work online, school-assessed coursework, known as SACs, should be completed mainly in class, within a limited timeframe.

It has also flagged uncertainty around the mid-year General Achievement Test going ahead in the event schools close.

University of Queensland associate professor of education Stewart Riddle said the unfolding crisis had the potential to exacerbate inequity across the system.

He said most of the schools to so far implement remote online learning were well-resourced metropolitan schools. In contrast, some schools had limited infrastructure and some students, particularly in remote areas, did not have laptops or internet at home.

“Schools will have to take a very flexible approach,” he said. “Flexibility and fairness are key.”

Drouin Secondary College, 100km southeast of Melbourne, has plans to offer VCE students two real-time remote classes per subject a week in event of a closure but limited bandwidth poses a challenge. Deputy principal Robert Monk said many students and their families were feeling anxious about possible disruptions but his advice has been straightforward. “Just keep coming to school; that’s how you’ll get ahead,” he said.

Victoria Education Minister James Merlino said he understood there was community concerns about the continuity of education during the COVID-19 outbreak, but “I want to reassure all parents that the Department of Education has developed … options for supporting schools to ensure learning continuity for their students”.