Hanoi parents struggle to let their children study online during terrible stormy days

On the morning of October 7, heavy rains caused many streets in Hanoi to be deeply flooded. Many schools had to switch to online learning to ensure the safety of students. However, online learning in adverse weather conditions caused many parents to feel confused and frustrated.

At 7:30 a.m., the small house of Nga Vu and her husband in Chuong My district (Hanoi) is bustling with the sounds of people calling each other to prepare for online classes. The family has 3 children: a kindergartener, a primary schooler and the oldest is in secondary school, but they only have 2 old phones.

Both husband and wife had to go to work early, without grandparents to help. Before leaving home, Ms. Nga turned on the computer, logged in to the classes for her two children, and told her older child to look after the younger child.

“Primary school students don’t know how to enter class by themselves, and they often get logged out because of poor internet connection. I work and can’t keep up with them, which is very inconvenient, ” Ms. Nga sighed.

Not only Ms. Nga's family, many parents in the suburban districts of Hanoi are also in a similar situation. On social networking groups, many people complain that sending their children to study online is more difficult than taking them to school. Power outages, weak internet, children have difficulty concentrating, and parents have to take time off work to tutor their children. That is the reality that many families are facing on the rainy day of October 7.

Mr. Vu Dinh Quan (Ha Dong) recounted that this morning, he had just helped his child log into class at 8am when the area lost power. Luckily, his laptop still had battery so his child was able to attend the first period. But during the second period, the teacher's house lost power again, the internet was unstable so the class had to be stopped early.

“My child learns through a small screen, has little interaction, and cannot communicate directly with teachers or friends, so learning is slower. Elementary school students have even more difficulty concentrating, and get bored after just sitting for a while, ” Mr. Quan reflected.

Many parents are confused about letting their children study online during rainy and power outages.

Not only parents and students face difficulties when studying online, teachers are also under a lot of pressure in maintaining interaction, controlling the classroom and ensuring the effectiveness of the lecture.

At Nghia Tan Secondary School, Ms. Bui Thi Nga - Homeroom teacher of class 7A5 said that this morning all students were switched to online learning to ensure safety due to heavy rain and many roads being deeply flooded.

The class went smoothly, all 51 students of class 7A5 participated fully and there were no technical problems. According to Ms. Nga, the students were used to online learning because the school usually held online tutoring sessions in the afternoon or evening.

“ However, teaching and learning through the screen still has many limitations. Online learning causes many students to have gaps in their knowledge, making it difficult to keep up with the lesson, while teachers cannot directly observe to grasp their attitudes or level of understanding. Many times when asking, we do not know if the students can hear us because the connection is unstable, and the lesson is easily interrupted ,” Ms. Nga added.

Online class at Nghia Tan Secondary School on the morning of October 7 (Photo: Bui Nga)

At the end of the lesson, Ms. Nga received very little positive feedback from the students. Most of them complained of tired eyes and boredom with studying, especially those who had to use their parents' phones instead of computers. For students with myopia, constantly looking at the screen makes their eyes more tired. The progress of online lessons is also slower than in-person lessons, because just taking attendance and settling the class takes 10-15 minutes.

Ms. Nga believes that online learning should only be a temporary solution in unavoidable situations such as storms or floods, because this form makes it easy for many students to lose connection, lose concentration, and reduce learning efficiency.

Not only high school teachers, university lecturers also have a "headache" when teaching online. Ms. Le Thanh Mai - Lecturer at Hanoi Capital University said that this form poses a series of challenges in terms of interaction, assessment and technical factors. Teaching through the screen makes it difficult for lecturers to grasp the facial expressions, emotions or attitudes of students.

In addition, technical difficulties are also a significant obstacle. Not all teachers and students are proficient in technology, while storms cause unstable internet connections, and online learning systems (LMS) sometimes have errors or lose data, directly affecting the quality of teaching.

"In particular, online testing and exams are the most "difficult" because it is difficult to ensure honesty. Students can open documents, look up the internet, exchange messages, and even hire someone to do the test for them. To evaluate more effectively, I have to switch to open testing forms such as case studies, personal projects, and online presentations with questions and answers. However, this method is very time-consuming and laborious in creating questions, grading, and giving feedback to students ," Ms. Mai worried.

LINH NHI - GIANG PHAM

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/phu-huynh-ha-noi-chat-vat-cho-con-hoc-online-ngay-mua-bao-khung-khiep-ar969834.html