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Germany is known to be lagging behind when it comes to digitization. Now the students are having technical problems because the schools remain closed. But even countries with a better track record face distance learning challenges.
Like all German students, Eric Grabowski cannot return to school after the Christmas holidays. With a nationwide lockdown just extended due to still high rates of coronavirus infections, the tenth will likely have to stay at home until the end of January.
Right now Eric should have an online French class, the 15-year-old told DW over the phone. “I’m sitting in front of my laptop, trying to access my school’s learning platform. But again, nothing works at all.
Eric’s comprehensive school near Kaiserslautern in southwest Germany is not alone in tackling the transition to distance learning. In many parts of the country, students and teachers report similar challenges.
“These server issues just need to be fixed,” Eric explains. The tenth grader is an active member of the student council from his home state, Rhineland-Palatinate. He supports school closures as infection rates remain high.
“But we don’t even know if we’ll be able to go back to school in February. I don’t even know if I will be able to pass my final exam this year. Digital lessons just have to work. It can’t go on like this, ”he complains.
‘Incredibly bureaucratic’
Germany still appears to be lagging behind when it comes to distance learning – nearly a year after the country’s first case of coronavirus and more than nine months after schools first closed in March 2020.
German schools have long struggled with digitization, says Nina Brandau of the German IT and telecommunications industry group Bitkom. An existing school digitization plan was accelerated in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in July 2020, bringing joint state and federal efforts to around 7 billion euros ($ 8.6 billion).
“But it takes time for this financial aid to trickle down to schools,” Brandau told DW. “The application process is incredibly bureaucratic.” A myriad of federal, state and local authorities are involved in the procedure in Germany. “Other countries are doing a lot better,” Brandau says.
Laptops are not enough
Before the pandemic, there were only six computers for every 10 students available in German schools. 2018 figures from the OECD show that in other industrialized countries the number was much higher with up to nine computers for every 10 students.
Lately, many German schools have focused on purchasing laptops. Eric Grabowski says his school finally received 120 laptops last fall which were handed out to those who did not have their own devices at home.
“But it doesn’t stop with buying laptops,” Brandau says. “We need teachers to be able to use digital tools and create meaningful educational programs with them. For this we need more training. And that is lacking.
Another problem is the lack of fast and reliable internet connections. “If you live in parts of Germany, your four children just cannot attend hybrid classrooms simultaneously. In addition, many schools still lack high-performance Internet connections, ”says Brandau.
Nothing rotten in Denmark?
Asked which European countries are doing better, Brandau cites Denmark and Estonia. “They have been using digital media in education for quite some time, with Wi-Fi available in all schools. Teachers and students were ready to use these tools. »Countries like Finland or the Netherlands are also regularly cited as models in Europe.
Yet the coronavirus pandemic has come as a shock even to countries long considered to be pioneers in Europe when it comes to school digitization. Danish media researcher Jesper Taekke from Aarhus University said the pandemic revealed that teachers across the country still lack the computer skills needed for a good digital education.
“They are struggling to adapt to the digital media environment. There is a lot of angst, ”Taekke told DW. “The government has invested huge sums of money in equipment. Teachers have digital blackboards, networks, computers and all that. But they have very little time to prepare lessons and come up with ideas for digital education. “
Taekke says his research shows that 8 in 10 elementary school students in the country did not have access to real digital lessons during the pandemic, but were simply given homework they had to do on their own.
Computer shortages from north to south
The problems in other European countries are more serious. Reports of downed servers and a lack of hardware have been reported in many countries, including Italy and Greece. And in the UK, a study by the charity Teach First suggested that nearly three in four principals say their students do not have sufficient access to digital devices and the internet.
The UK Department for Education says English schools are “well prepared to provide distance education”, with 560,000 laptops and tablets donated to schools last year, and 100,000 more this week.
However, in the UK and many other European countries, there are still concerns that children will be forced to start back to school without having access to these devices and no proper strategy for them to engage in learning through learning. line.
Young students need help
Digital learning, it seems, remains a challenge for students and teachers, even in the richest countries of Europe. But it is especially difficult for young students.
Oliver Best, an IT distribution professional, says his four sons are lucky because they have good equipment and he can help whenever there is a problem. Her 8-year-old son is in second grade and had his very first video teaching session this week, after his school in Ludwigshafen, southwest Germany, Rhineland-Palatinate, failed to reopen afterwards. Christmas holidays.
But most of the young people struggled, Best says. “This morning my 8 year old was the only one in his group who managed to set up video conferencing,” he told DW over the phone. “Some of his peers couldn’t connect, some lost their connection multiple times, and some could only hear sound.”
Oliver Best is happy that his son enjoyed his first distance learning session. But, like so many other parents, he is hopeful that there will be a return to normal school life this year.
Politicians from all major German parties have repeatedly said that young children should be the first to return to school when the number of infections begins to drop.
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