Posted 3 сентября 2021,, 07:51

Published 3 сентября 2021,, 07:51

Modified 24 декабря 2022,, 22:38

Updated 24 декабря 2022,, 22:38

Computer instead of school: who and why chose online education for this academic year

Computer instead of school: who and why chose online education for this academic year

3 сентября 2021, 07:51
On September 1, not everyone started school. Some parents transferred their children to online or hybrid education, while others chose family education. Novye Izvestia figured out in what direction the Russian school will move further.

Irina Mishina

According to a survey conducted by the online school for children and adolescents Skysmart, the medical company Invitro and the research agency Tiburon Research, almost a quarter of Russian parents refused to take their children to school after the pandemic. Surprisingly, it turned out that 24% of respondents no longer want full-time education for their children in the current academic year: 16% of parents chose hybrid education, in which the child attends some classes at school, and some - online. The reason for the majority was the fear of contracting coronavirus or other types of infections at school. However, 29% considered the new format more convenient and comfortable for the child, and 24% - more effective.

In fairness, it should be noted that this study cannot be considered massive. It was attended by 1000 parents of schoolchildren from Russian cities with a population of more than 100 thousand people, with children of junior, middle and senior school age.

The survey data seemed to us rather controversial: after all, there were many protests against the introduction of distance and online learning. In their appeals to the Ministry of Education and even to the President, the parents indicated that they could not work fully in such conditions, and the children were losing their health. At a meeting of the Councils of Parents of Moscow Schools, Opposing Distance Education, which gathered at the initiative of the Parents of Moscow public movement, data from another survey were given:

“And of more than 30 thousand schoolchildren from the 5th to the 11th grade from 79 regions of Russia, approximately 80% showed unfavorable mental reactions against the background of self-isolation and distance learning, depressive states are recorded, presumably, in 42.2%, asthenic states - 41.6%. In addition, the authors of the study argue that more than a third (37.2%) have phobic conditions, almost 30% have headache syndrome, and every second student (55.8%) has sleep disorders. 30% of children have classic computer visual syndrome".

Who is included in the percentage of respondents who preferred distance learning or home schooling to full-fledged schooling? I started looking at my daughter's class. Of the 32 people, only three chose home schooling this year. 3 people from 32 - that's only 8%.

After that, Novye Izvestia decided to congratulate the director of the Moscow educational institution "School No. 548" Tsaritsyno" Yefim Rachevsky on the start of the academic year, and at the same time to ask how many people in his school chose the remote format of study this year.

“I have 5 and a half thousand children at school. Of these, only six are at a distance and at home. This is less than one percent. There are children who have chosen hybrid education, that is, some of the subjects are studied at school, some at home or somewhere else. The school, in general, does not care what form of education the child chooses, the main thing is that the family is comfortable", - the director of the educational complex Efim Rachevsky told Novye Izvestia.

But, perhaps, the face-to-face training format is a purely Moscow trend? We continued to search for distants in the regions. “In Nizhny Novgorod, neither children nor parents wanted distance learning. The online study period during the pandemic did not make anyone happy. Rare units in some schools have chosen to study remotely this academic year. The junior schoolchildren were very tired, their parents actually had to quit their jobs. Perhaps home schooling or distance learning was good for lagging children: distance learning made it possible to cheat somewhere, to keep silent. Distance learning and homeschooling are relaxing. Sensible parents and children understood that online education would not give anything good”, - Dmitry Kazakov, a history teacher from Nizhny Novgorod, an expert of the Uchitel interregional trade union, told Novye Izvestia.

According to statistics, among those who spoke positively about distance learning, the majority are high school students who were at the stage of preparation for the Unified State Exam or OGE.

“Tutors who prepare for state exams, preparation for entering a university - all this requires hours of extracurricular activities, so home and online education was justified for this category. Extracurricular activities in the evenings have also moved online. There is also a category of motivated children who do a lot of extra work on their own or with tutors. For them, distance learning is probably appropriate as well. But to say that studying online is a mass phenomenon is certainly an exaggeration. As for the survey data, I can most likely assume that there is an element of speculation here. People who make money on online platforms sometimes tend to exaggerate their importance, since this is a very profitable business”, - said Dmitry Kazakov, a teacher from Nizhny Novgorod.

There seems to be no escape from expanding digital services in schools. As it became known, by 2024, 9 federal projects should be implemented within the framework of the Education national project, one of them is the Digital Educational Environment (DSP). In total, 1 trillion 627 billion 146 million rubles will be spent from the federal budget for the Digital Economy in 5 years. plus funding from extrabudgetary sources. So online learning is likely to become a part of the educational process - for both its supporters and opponents, regardless of their choice.

“Distance learning can be useful for those who study at home. These are, for example, children with disabilities, to whom teachers come to their homes. Online services can be used instead of such visits. Also, various circles, additional education may well be transferred to distance learning", - said Dmitry Kazakov, an expert of the Uchitel interregional trade union.

Obviously, it is no longer possible to completely deny distance learning. But its use “for peaceful purposes is quite real". The main thing is to find a reasonable solution, which, first of all, would be convenient and useful for children.

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