Adaptation to Change.

With the onset of the Covid 19 pandemic the educational environment changed from a

physical classroom with desks , chairs , blackboard, teacher and students , to one that is purely

virtual. In this virtual classroom sometimes students are not seen or heard, there is no physical

blackboard, no chalk but only talk. Upon my reflection the words of Paulo Freire comes to mind “

looking at the past must only be a means of understanding more clearly what and who you are-so

you can more wisely build the future”. Before Covid I thought that I knew everything I needed to

be a great teacher but I was wrong.

The start of online synchronous classes was a total disaster for me. Initially, I was sent

videos from my school and the Ministry of Education in the use of the Big Blue Button for classes

which I started to use however I faced many problems. The system was overburdened most times

and students and I could not log into classes. The school administrators then had a workshop on

how to use Zoom and I started to use that platform. I was armed with the basics on paper but actual

operations took some time. As an accounts teacher I needed a board to write. I had bought a

physical whiteboard and realized students could not see from my web camera clearly on the board.

I searched and found zoom whiteboard but I still encountered problems with using my mouse to

write figures and perform calculations until I found the text capability on zoom. My colleagues in

the business department were having similar problems and I would share with them the techniques

I found and used in class. Another area was that Accounts is a practical subject so students needed

to do and practice work and I needed to see this work. I introduced and taught my students how to

share their screens, how to scan their written work using camscanner and how to email me their

work.
 My classes instead of 40 minutes physically were now 60 minutes virtually so I needed to

adjust my schemes of work and lesson to accommodate this change. Also I needed to find ways to

keep my students engaged in the virtual classroom. In addition, some students did not have

webcameras, no microphones or even functional laptops or phones for class. Together with my

colleagues and administrators we got donations from businesses, parents , past students to get

devices for students. We also collected laptops that needed to be refurbished and paid a technician

to repair and distribute to students in need so they can attend classes.

Through technology integration classes in Diploma of Education programs I learnt a lot

about technology to be used in the classroom and I share my knowledge learnt to my colleagues.

Also I shared the technologies that can be used to assess students online such as Kahoot, Quizziz,

Socrative and many others that assisted my colleagues in testing their students.