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Busting myths about online learning…

We are almost two years into the global Covid pandemic with its many restrictions on day-to-day life, and the digital world has played a vital role in ensuring continuity of our work and our kids’ schooling. Yet some parents are not entirely convinced about online schooling. We asked Mark Anderson, principal of high-engagement online school Koa Academy, to bust some common myths around online schooling.

  1. I WILL HAVE TO TEACH MY CHILD
    “When traditional schools were forced to transition to online teaching, many parents were required to pick up some form of teaching role from home. However, when an online school is designed specifically for the online space, learning has a distinct pedagogy and online teachers have particular skills to facilitate learning on the digital platform. At Koa, it is the professional teacher’s role to guide your child through the school curriculum, freeing parents up to be parents, much as they are in the physical school environment.”
  2. MY CHILD WILL NOT GET SOCIALIZATION
    “Parents need to choose a school, online or physical, that suits their values and aims for their child’s education and school experience. Socialization at school comes through the intentional creation and maintenance of a high-engagement environment. There are physical schools that do well at this and others that don’t. The same applies to online schools. At Koa, children come together in small eight-person Pods with their teacher, which makes socio-emotional development a key part of every school day. Our kids are learning how to be responsible, sociable digital citizens as well, which is preparing them for a very real world where our activities and work are increasingly digitalised.”3. THE QUALIFICATION IS NOT EQUAL
    “It is true that parents need to be on the lookout for unregistered and under-equipped institutions, looking simply to capitalise on opportunity. However, accredited online schools offer the same curricula and recognised qualifications as physical schools. Like every aspect of our lives in these fast-changing times, schooling and tertiary studies are transforming and being disrupted by better ideas and improved tools. As parents, we are challenged to keep abreast of these developments and to recognise that our child’s education and further studies will and should be different from what we experienced. The world has, and continues to change rapidly and dramatically, and it is the role of schools to prepare our children for the real world they will encounter as adults. In many ways, a well-designed online school offers a more robust preparation for the future world of work and life.”

Koa Academy is a South African online school for Grades 4 to 12. They provide an IEB education through an online learning environment that is both structured and individualised. The programme offers integrated learning across the South African curriculum with the best curated resources from around the world, ongoing assessment that is age-appropriate and high levels of teacher time and instant feedback through a learner dashboard.

Details: www.koaacademy.com

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