Morocco World News: The Return to School During Covid-19: A Moroccan Perspective
date：2020-08-24 11:54author：小编source：Morocco World Newsviews：
The Moroccan government, schools, and families should get ready for a different return to school this academic year, especially as COVID-19 cases are increasing. Online learning has been evolving at the expense of traditional learning, a fact on which the Moroccan ministry of education should take action.
Relying officially on streaming classes on television, as happened in March 2020, proved ineffective and failed to target all students. So, what are the reasons behind the failure of online learning in Morocco, and what should policymakers and educators do to facilitate online learning for all learners?
Three criteria are necessary for successful online learning
The new strategic vision for educational reform (2015-2030) the Moroccan Supreme Council for Education, Training, and Scientific Research developed encompasses incorporating online learning into an educational system. One-third of the 15-year period allocated to this reform has elapsed without online learning set up in schools and universities in a manner that considers the impacts it has on knowledge construction at the learner’s appropriate pace.
Recently, online learning, computer-mediated learning, flipped classrooms, and mobile learning applications have become a new fashion of learning environments, key elements to success and advancement. They teach labor market-related skills — such as subject matter skills and information technology skills — using current teaching approaches and materials for increasing employability and competition for the best jobs. Traditional learning, however, fails to interest technophile learners and generally does not meet market skills’ requirements.
Consequently, three related issues evolved. One concerns the lack of accessible digital learning materials, the second is the inability of families to afford bandwidth connectivity, and the third is linked to inappropriate or inexistent learning technology tools.
A lack of accessible digital learning materials
The decisions about school that the Moroccan Ministry of Education has been making during the COVID-19 quarantine far from meet students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and abilities. They incorporated some learning systems into MASSAR, “a new online school information management tool that supports the governance and transparency of schools” (SABER, 2015). MASSAR also “allows parents to monitor their children’s school life (class schedule, scores, and attendance) using a personal login and password.”
This is similar to Microsoft Teams, is a Learning Management System (LMS), but is void of any prior training on how to use it and fully benefit from the services it provides. That is, neither students nor teachers have received any training on how to utilize these new technology tools in constructing learning and designing teaching materials and assessment tools.
Insufficient engagement in online learning
However, this method does not function offline. What is more, the TelmidTICE platform does not fit all students’ socioeconomic circumstances. They cannot afford to buy learning technology tools, such as tablets, PCs, or smartphones, while policymakers did not plan to provide them.
Those who already have the equipment could not constantly access bandwidth connectivity. Less than 10% of Moroccan students enrolled in school, or 600,000 out of 6,260,444, benefited from online platforms during the remote education program induced by COVID-19, according to Amzazi. This forced teachers to resort to technology tools such as Facebook and WhatsApp, with which students are familiar.
Inappropriate education technology tools for the 21st century
The television approach to school, adopted by the Moroccan Ministry of Education to cover the rest of the curriculum during the COVID-19 crisis, seems inadequate in the 21st century, when technology tools and learning materials are available in a variety of forms. Television and radio cannot make interaction take place, and communication is central to the syllabus.
The television and radio approach is not always appropriate for students, especially considering that rainy and windy weather interrupts television broadcasting and 12% of Moroccan families do not own a television.
This access gap resulted in unequal learning opportunities. The television approach may be useful as a supplementary tool for learning. Therefore, there is an emerging need to develop a framework that keeps up with learning objectives, using 21st-century technology tools and fitting students’ socioeconomic circumstances.
Source: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/08/315820/the-return-to-school-during-covid-19-a-moroccan-perspective/
Relying officially on streaming classes on television, as happened in March 2020, proved ineffective and failed to target all students. So, what are the reasons behind the failure of online learning in Morocco, and what should policymakers and educators do to facilitate online learning for all learners?
Three criteria are necessary for successful online learning
The new strategic vision for educational reform (2015-2030) the Moroccan Supreme Council for Education, Training, and Scientific Research developed encompasses incorporating online learning into an educational system. One-third of the 15-year period allocated to this reform has elapsed without online learning set up in schools and universities in a manner that considers the impacts it has on knowledge construction at the learner’s appropriate pace.
Recently, online learning, computer-mediated learning, flipped classrooms, and mobile learning applications have become a new fashion of learning environments, key elements to success and advancement. They teach labor market-related skills — such as subject matter skills and information technology skills — using current teaching approaches and materials for increasing employability and competition for the best jobs. Traditional learning, however, fails to interest technophile learners and generally does not meet market skills’ requirements.
Consequently, three related issues evolved. One concerns the lack of accessible digital learning materials, the second is the inability of families to afford bandwidth connectivity, and the third is linked to inappropriate or inexistent learning technology tools.
A lack of accessible digital learning materials
The decisions about school that the Moroccan Ministry of Education has been making during the COVID-19 quarantine far from meet students’ socioeconomic backgrounds and abilities. They incorporated some learning systems into MASSAR, “a new online school information management tool that supports the governance and transparency of schools” (SABER, 2015). MASSAR also “allows parents to monitor their children’s school life (class schedule, scores, and attendance) using a personal login and password.”
This is similar to Microsoft Teams, is a Learning Management System (LMS), but is void of any prior training on how to use it and fully benefit from the services it provides. That is, neither students nor teachers have received any training on how to utilize these new technology tools in constructing learning and designing teaching materials and assessment tools.
Insufficient engagement in online learning
However, this method does not function offline. What is more, the TelmidTICE platform does not fit all students’ socioeconomic circumstances. They cannot afford to buy learning technology tools, such as tablets, PCs, or smartphones, while policymakers did not plan to provide them.
Those who already have the equipment could not constantly access bandwidth connectivity. Less than 10% of Moroccan students enrolled in school, or 600,000 out of 6,260,444, benefited from online platforms during the remote education program induced by COVID-19, according to Amzazi. This forced teachers to resort to technology tools such as Facebook and WhatsApp, with which students are familiar.
Inappropriate education technology tools for the 21st century
The television approach to school, adopted by the Moroccan Ministry of Education to cover the rest of the curriculum during the COVID-19 crisis, seems inadequate in the 21st century, when technology tools and learning materials are available in a variety of forms. Television and radio cannot make interaction take place, and communication is central to the syllabus.
The television and radio approach is not always appropriate for students, especially considering that rainy and windy weather interrupts television broadcasting and 12% of Moroccan families do not own a television.
This access gap resulted in unequal learning opportunities. The television approach may be useful as a supplementary tool for learning. Therefore, there is an emerging need to develop a framework that keeps up with learning objectives, using 21st-century technology tools and fitting students’ socioeconomic circumstances.
Source: https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2020/08/315820/the-return-to-school-during-covid-19-a-moroccan-perspective/
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