Challenges and Positives Caused by Changing Roles during Emergency Remote Education in Estonia as Revealed by Facebook Messages
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Challenges of Emergency Remote Education
1.2. Positives of Emergency Remote Education
1.3. Research Aim and Questions
- What were the problems, expressed by various stakeholders in Facebook messages during this period, that need to be addressed in the future?
- What were the positives for the different stakeholders, as presented in the Facebook messages during this period, that can be taken forward?
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Data Collection and the Sample
2.2. Data Analysis
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Problems of Various Stakeholders
3.1.1. Teachers’ Unreadiness
Both teachers and students learn how to cope. As you are sitting in front of your screen, you need to guess what the other person might feel or do while looking at their screen.(Teacher)
We have some teachers looking for different platforms, while others suggest a whole variety of all kinds of solutions. Perhaps teachers could provide a more specific description of what they want. Describe how they would like to conduct the lessons, what should be the outcome, and how the process should be organized. It is likely that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and several tools need to be used simultaneously. But in order to choose these tools it is first important to understand how they would be used.(Parent)
Come on, dear teachers! Do not assign a week’s worth of tasks for one day. You cannot plan the same volume of activities for homeschooling as you would for school, while retaining the previous volume of homework. This is my request! And on top of that, we Zoom, we Skype and ... go crazy with technology. Let us keep some flexibility in assessment and create a reasonable workload, which would be manageable for a child that is working independently.(Teacher)
3.1.2. Problems Related to Technology
Well, at least in my case, eSchool is not cooperating and I get constant errors. I have spent an hour without being able to write a message to students or open the teachers’ chat, and I even struggled with an error trying to view a lesson description.(Teacher)
That is, any technology has some side effects that need to be taken into account. Zoom calls deplete people of energy.(Educational technologist)
3.1.3. Problems of Homeschooling
Of course, he remembered nothing of the rule that you should not disturb your parents while they are working. And no other family member except me remembered the rule that in the morning we should allocate tasks: someone would be responsible for the family meal for the day, someone would clean the table and wash dishes or do laundry. ... By Monday evening, we were all quarrelling with each other and decided that the best idea is to start anew.(Parent)
Often, life makes its own corrections, and it came as a terrible surprise that sometimes an 8th grader needs to watch her younger siblings for the entire working day until parents come home. If the mother is a nurse and the father works abroad, then the situation is quite bad. The 8th grader is already too tired for learning when the mother finally comes home late in the evening.(Teacher)
Two hours of “Don’t you do anything, I will do it myself ... How can I do this, why don’t you teach me?”—very intense homeschooling with occasional door-slamming and accusations, “You don’t love me at all!”, but the work was completed in the end.(Parent)
3.1.4. Parents’ Lack of Competence
Many parents and children are currently struggling and sometimes it is difficult for us to picture their situation: If a parent has lost their job and income; If a parent needs to go to work while also worrying about children at home; If a parent has a job with a high risk of infection; If a parent feels that they no longer have the skill or strength to teach and educate their child; and so on and so forth. Inevitably, we are all stressed.(Supporter)
3.1.5. Student-Related Issues
Children are also stressed but it manifests differently for them—through protest, introversion, inexplicable fears, mood swings, bursts of anger, bouts of crying, sleep disorders, etc. They listen to the news and to parents’ conversations, but they understand them in their own unique ways, which are often worse than we think.(Supporter)
In spite of Generation Z’s smart skills, they need extensive guidance when it comes to using learning platforms, even with tasks such as adding attachments to emails, not to mention file-formatting and so on.(Parent)
3.1.6. Communication Issues
I get simultaneous messages through all the channels from multiple people—I have currently 5 unanswered questions on Skype—after online groups are set up, all groups will need messages about where and how to ask questions and what are the ‘office hours’ when questions can be answered, etc.(Teacher)
Ask questions and listen! At this difficult time, ANY additional support is vital for families! It is essential to try to calm people on a phone or a Skype voice call!(Member with other role)
3.1.7. School Management Issues
For teachers to have the necessary qualifications for digital operations, using systems and teaching students to use these systems, it requires a harmonized vision and approach on the part of school management, and implementation of one specific kind of technology.(Parent)
What happens when a teacher substitutes for another teacher who has fallen ill? ... Does the new teacher even have access to the platform and resources used by the previous teacher and skills to use that platform? This could result in a situation where students are asked to familiarize themselves with yet another platform where they have to upload their stuff.(Parent)
3.2. Positives of Various Stakeholders
3.2.1. Stress Management
The results of a recent study reveal that the novel coronavirus can also be transmitted through fixed-line broadband connections. The users of mobile broadband need not worry, but they are advised to keep a distance of at least 100 meters from any cell towers.(Educational technologists)
3.2.2. Thanking
Fortunately, we have a lovely team of people at our school, willing to do interesting things. Many thanks to them, on this side of the front line! It is good to be in your company! And thank you also to the other side, children and parents, who have held out bravely and have done a lot for their children!(Principal)
3.2.3. Assistance from Digital Tools
In my opinion, Google Meet is working well and students really want to communicate. Thus, video calls are a mighty weapon:)(Educational technologist)
3.2.4. Successful Coping
This unprecedented situation for all of us has probably tested the strength and adaptability of teachers, students, parents, and principals alike. While there have certainly been many unexpected situations and big challenges in this past week, it is also a comprehensive proof that we are capable of handling it.(Member from governmental institution)
It is nice to see students doing excellent work! Instead of a test, I gave them the assignment to compile a concept map on invertebrate animals, showing their groups and characteristics. Some of the submissions I received were much more detailed than I had expected!(Teacher)
3.2.5. Support for Cooperation
We are lucky to have such a school with supportive teachers, and prompt and calm communication. Our class teacher encouraged parents to share their experiences and provide feedback.(Parent)
It is now 40+ Nordic educational technology companies that have joined the Estonian initiative of providing their remote learning solutions free of charge at least until the end of the school year. There are some very cool tools, from mathematics to musical education, as well as for creation of study resources based on augmented reality.(Supporter)
3.2.6. Importance of Teachers
I would like to share with you the cool homework that my primary school child was given in physical education. He has to perform two tasks: spend at least one hour outdoors every day and write down what activities he does during this time, and then there is the step hunt in which he has to walk from his house to a specific object, write down the number of steps and afterwards add up these numbers. An excellent example of integrated learning.(Parent)
But the most important lesson for us all is that the role of teachers in our lives is much more significant than we thought. ‘When this crisis is over, the attitude towards teachers will hopefully have changed, and people will have learned to appreciate them,’ my husband said optimistically.(Parent)
3.2.7. Changes in Education
Thank you to all teachers, students, and also parents who, during this time, have adopted solutions offered by Estonian companies in the field of education! They are all very suitable for continued use in the future, even after we return to normal (school) life.(Supporter)
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Number of Members with This Role | Number of Males (%) | Number of Organizations (%) | Number of Messages with Negative Statements | Number of Messages with Positive Statements | Total Number of Messages | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Teacher | 32 | 7 (21.9) | 29 | 15 | 44 | |
Parent | 15 | 5 (33.3) | 13 | 4 | 17 | |
Educational technologist | 12 | 3 (25.0) | 9 | 17 | 26 | |
Other | 10 | 2 (20.0) | 10 | 3 | 13 | |
Supporter | 10 | 3 (30.0) | 1 (10.0) | 4 | 9 | 13 |
Teacher educator | 8 | 2 (25.0) | 4 | 5 | 9 | |
Principal | 4 | 1 (25.0) | 3 | 1 | 4 | |
Government | 3 | 0 (0.0) | 0 | 4 | 4 | |
Total | 94 | 23 (24.5) | 72 | 58 | 130 |
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Lepp, M.; Luik, P. Challenges and Positives Caused by Changing Roles during Emergency Remote Education in Estonia as Revealed by Facebook Messages. Soc. Sci. 2021, 10, 364. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10100364
Lepp M, Luik P. Challenges and Positives Caused by Changing Roles during Emergency Remote Education in Estonia as Revealed by Facebook Messages. Social Sciences. 2021; 10(10):364. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10100364
Chicago/Turabian StyleLepp, Marina, and Piret Luik. 2021. "Challenges and Positives Caused by Changing Roles during Emergency Remote Education in Estonia as Revealed by Facebook Messages" Social Sciences 10, no. 10: 364. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10100364
APA StyleLepp, M., & Luik, P. (2021). Challenges and Positives Caused by Changing Roles during Emergency Remote Education in Estonia as Revealed by Facebook Messages. Social Sciences, 10(10), 364. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci10100364