In the spring of 2020, the announcement of nationwide quarantine plunged the educational system into crisis: all of a sudden, schools had to innovate and transition to substantially different teaching modalities for students.
Especially challenging the transition to online learning has become for rural schools. Ultimately, this process was not streamlined as there were no uniform methodologies and modalities developed nationwide: some educators used special software, whereas some others simply shared student assignments via Viber messenger.
However, there are really cool examples that show that even rural schools can be digitized effectively, if the school leadership is committed and dedicated to success. One such example is the case of Yulia Stepaniuk, school principal from Zymne, Volyn region. She was one of the first to introduce E-Diaries and E-Journals and encourage the school transition to Google Classroom.
For more than six years, Yulia has been managing the large community school, which consists of three educational institutions providing tuition to 450 students and being an employer to 58 teachers.
Back in 2017, Yulia took the digital literacy course for educators. It was then that she realized that she herself can become a trainer for other teachers. “When the quarantine began, we immediately realized that it would continue for a long time, not just two weeks. Therefore, soon after that we switched to distance learning,” says Yulia.
Yulia remembers that the most difficult thing was to organize the process not with teachers and students, but with their parents. At first, not only the child, but the whole family would join the online lesson: father, mother, sister... “Everyone was curious to find out about distance learning and how one can control results now… However, we explained to the parents that their online presence interferes with the process, and it would be much easier for children to talk and express themselves when their relatives are not watching them,” says the school director.
In 2020, the EGAP Program selected 10 pilot communities to implement digital tools. One of them was Zymne community. With our support, Yulia prepared step-by-step video instructions that explain to parents and children how to connect to an online lesson and submit an assignment for review. In addition to it, Yulia conducted a series of webinars for educators in 10 pilot digital communities.
At the beginning of the quarantine, teachers kept school journals using their personal notepads, or Excel. But that was only a temporary solution to the problem. Yulia initiated the school transition to E-Diaries and E-Journals using the New Knowledge platform. Records automation relieves teachers from the burden of unnecessary paperwork and allows them to have more time for lesson preparation and their own development.
“I’ve always wondered how you can talk about the most progressive things and teach computer science to children, and then manually write a paper report card and calculate grades using a calculator. We teach future civil servants, MPs, and business people. And we must be modern and consistent,” says Yulia.
E-Diaries and E-Journals allow schoolchildren to learn more effectively and not to miss classes in case of illness. “The only disadvantage for children,” the teacher jokes, “is that now you can’t say that you forgot your diary at home. Finally, information about grades is available to parents 24/7."
Last year, Zymne Amalgamated Territorial Community (ATC) received an award in the Innovations in Education nomination as part of the Effective Community competition, which was held by the Ministry of Digital Transformation with the support of the EGAP Program.
The EGAP Program helps to implement E-Diaries and E-Journals across all pilot digital communities. In the summer of 2021, the Program held the Effective School competition in the selected regions and selected five winners who will be assisted with further digital transformation of the educational process.
Although quarantine has become an endurance test for many schools, the COVID-19 crisis has provided new opportunities for digitalization. Schools are implementing digital tools that make teaching easier and less bureaucratic. Some of them also perform entertaining functions: they help students learn the material in a fun way and test themselves in the form of quizzes.
