Three quarters (75%) of UK school staff are calling for more training in online teaching, according to a study of 2,400 school representatives, conducted by Tes Global.
The findings follow the government’s announcement that schools must lay out plans for the continued delivery of quality remote lessons, even once schools reopen, to ensure there is a strategy in place if schools are forced to close once more, or if students are isolating.
On top of this, the survey also found that 69% of school staff are yet to receive any training in remote teaching, despite the lockdown forcing a majority of teaching staff to work from home for at least the last three months. According to the survey, 58% of teachers have produced more content for lessons to be delivered remotely, but also that the most popular means for delivering remote education was simply to send work through to students’ email inbox; followed by sharing activities on the school’s own website as the second most popular method; then specialised edtech platforms in third; live video streams in fourth; and pre-recorded video lessons in fifth.
The study also revealed that 27% of teachers feel that the lockdown has not impacted their collaboration with peers in any way, while 49% of teachers cited their desire to be able to work more independently.
Further to this, the survey unveiled that the increased use of tech throughout the lockdown has bolstered teachers’ confidence in using such devices, services and solutions, with 79% of respondents stating that they were more likely to use technology in their teaching once they had adapted to a lockdown routine.
“These findings should send a strong message to government that the requirements for schools to have well-developed online learning plans in place are challenging to say the least,” said Lord Jim Knight, chief education and external officer at Tes Global. “It’s clear from our research that most school staff need – and want – training in remote learning if it is to play an integral and effective role in supporting teaching and learning from September.”
David Weston, CEO of the Teacher Development Trust, said: “School leaders and the government need to ensure that teachers can switch seamlessly between in-person teaching and online. This is not simple, and providing the right training and support is essential if high quality teaching and learning is to be available to those isolating or in local lockdowns.”
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