The injury of a teacher at the United Nations International School - a private school of 1,600 students near the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan - was a reason for its immediate closure and the transition to the e-learning system.
Although the school mainly used many Internet communication tools and some were much better than those in public schools, the beginnings were "difficult", says French and Spanish professor Constance de Bois.
The professor added that the program was tested with a few students, "but in reality, we were not experienced in working on these platforms, and the students faced a lot of technical problems." Once these problems were resolved, other problems arose, but this time it was more structural.
Isolated students
"They see no one but me, there is no atmosphere similar to that of the actual classroom," says de Bois, because the online platform used by the school does not allow students to see each other.
She added that what they really lack is the social aspect. They want to go back to school, they are tired of not seeing each other, they feel very isolated.
Another problem arose. The school initially set a model for the timetable for giving lessons online according to the actual schedule, but the teachers realized that "the students were spending their whole day in front of the screen, and we are."
Therefore, the duration of lessons was reduced rapidly from one hour to 40 minutes. "This gave us a lot of relief, and the students became more focused," says de Bois.
back to school
Constance de Bois, like millions of teachers around the world, does not know how long her school will remain closed, but it is clear that she will give lessons online until at least April 20, the date that New York schools hope to open again.
Despite this, some American cities announced that schools would remain closed until the end of the school year.
But not all things are negative, because "students have great awareness, they open the platform on time, attend assignments and participate in classes."
This also allowed teachers to renew themselves, as de Bois explains, "This teaches you to look at things differently, and try to think about how to give your class a different way."