The coronavirus has paved new methods of education. Parents have to decide the delivery method of education for their wards. The teachers can send the modules to students offline methods(through physical copies). Apart from that, the teachers should also meet students once a week to ensure that they understand everything in the module. This meeting between teachers and students can be arranged through a video conferencing tool. The teachers can also send physical copies of assessments to students and collect them later. The Department of Education has specified different learning methods suited to the needs of children who can’t commute to school in these critical times. It is upto the parents to decide which method they want for students.

The increased role of parents in blended learning

Parents have an important role to play when it comes to blended learning. The children have to be explained what is contained in the physical copies of the learning modules. Although there are online classes conducted for students by teachers, they may still find it hard to understand the online modules. Since the parents have to make the children understand how to study the online modules, it becomes an additional responsibility for them. Before submitting the assessments back to the teachers, children have to complete them which is also the responsibility of parents. On the other hand, they also have to supervise whether the children are studying the hard copies of their learning modules.

Other problems faced by parents

Parents also face another set of problems apart from guiding their wards. These problems are when there are errors in assessments printed by schools. Sometimes, schools are not able to get the learning modules printed on time. The parents have to make sure that the students work on the prior modules in the meantime. It’s also not possible for parents to make sure that the schools can get back the assessments distributed to children. Moreover, the parents also might not be educated enough to guide their children on how to go through the learning modules and assessments respectively. So, working parents might not have time to guide the children through learning modules and assessments.

So, parents who don’t have time on their hands, take the help of neighbours in teaching their children. They also take help from other family members in doing so.

How to measure the academic performance of learners?

The teachers can measure the academic performance of students through various measures. These include written work, portfolio assessments. Written work refers to an essay submitted by students. On the other hand, portfolio assessment imply, assessments given to students based on what they have learnt. The teachers have to ensure that these assessments are as per the given calibre of students. Moreover, the students should also be able to complete them on time. This is how blended learning needs to be imparted.