Months of isolation from the public during the pandemic made some of the people's health better. Schools, like other establishments, are already easing up with their admissions and schedules.
On a larger scale, many countries are also lifting some of the restrictions previously included in the strict health protocols as agreed by international bodies. Alongside the solutions against the illnesses brought by COVID-19, children in some states are already allowed to return to their respective schools.
Pandemic and Remote Learning
However, children are undoubtedly stressed out due to the risks of coronavirus, lockdowns, and unwanted isolations. In addition, the values studied and observed thoroughly during the traditional classes were depreciated throughout the COVID surge.
This initiated a short blip in their lives in which they were pushed to navigate advanced systems that are non-conventional compared to what kids normally do during face-to-face classes.
Remote classes, despite their availability in many countries, did not achieve some of the goals that instructors and teachers have planned due to the limitations the approach present. Students, specifically those younger, are unfortunately in the same boat as the educators.
Remote learning during the pandemic challenged the engagements with students. But aside from the academic problems it brought, there have been some unexpected improvements that online classes have demonstrated.
According to the study carried out by the Education Week Research, experts discovered that nearly half of the educators the team surveyed have reportedly increased their skills on the technology they used by 'a lot' during remote classes.
On the other hand, 41 percent of the participants responded that their systems improved just 'a little' of their skills.
Tufts University's children development expert and Early Childhood Technology (ECT) official, Amanda Sullivan, explained that the results inspired them to help the educators improve their competence and build their confidence.
Coding Playground for Values and Abilities of Children Students
Tufts DevTech Research Group director and Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Study & Human Development chair Marina Umaschi Bers explained in a Boston Herald report that, on the part of students, they have developed an approach called 'coding playground.'
Bers said that through the method they are developing, children will have an easier understanding of virtues they might have had a hard time studying and some valuable aspects of life that were potentially missed during the lessons relayed in online classes.
Coding playground initiates an accessible learning technique that revives the technical problem-solving abilities of children. Moreover, they will express the character strengths and values they possess.
Coding playground also promotes how the students collaborate, similar to what they achieve in a physical playground. Their exposure with other teammates allows them to engage with other people by engaging through communication and resolving conflicts.
Bers' project, called the "Beyond STEM: The Development of Virtues in Early Childhood Education Through Robotics," aims to assist students with their learning and prepare them for their deserted career paths that heavily require computational thinking.
The goal of this coding project, as per the experts, is not to inject coding skills into kids. Instead, the project will use the language of coding to open opportunities for children to heighten their critical thinking problem-solving and become positive team players.
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