A mental health expert said Monday the attention span of children would be even shorter during online learning, which would be part of the new normal in education amid the COVID-19 crisis.
Mindful Self-Compassion (under Singapore Management University) teacher Tucci Reyes kindergarten to middle school students could get easily distracted with the absence of face-to-face classes.
“It is like taking a lollipop from a child, or whatever their definition of safe is. When that happens, there is always going to be a change in behavior that could be unpleasant or difficult to handle,” Reyes said in a news forum.
“Children today are digital natives, meaning they are so used to a situation when they can do so many things on the screen. Them [children] being in front of us [in a classroom], maikli na ang kanilang attention span, and that is going to be more evident in an online platform,” Reyes added.
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Attention span of children even shorter during online learning
Reyes added teachers could not check if the students are listening to the lesson during online learning.
“There is one screen, but there could also be another screen, I could read a notebook while others talk. This is unlike face-to-face learning wherein if a child sees that there are a group of kids focusing on the task at hand, iyong mirror neurons, gumagana, and the kid would think, if other kids are focusing, I should be focusing, too,” Reyes said.
“So it is really harder to teach in an online platform because there are so many factors and intricacies we do not see, and so many factors are dependent on the attention span,” Reyes added.
Raymond Basilio of Alliance of Concerned Teachers meanwhile said that South Korean educators also struggle to implement online learning for the past two months.
“During our consultations with our South Korean counterparts, they have been trying this out for several months, and they rated it at 3 out of 5, with 5 being the highest. Best case na nga iyong 3,” Basilio said.
He added that online learning also could widen the disparity between the rich and poor students not only in terms of gadgets and the internet but also with teaching assistants.
Education Undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio said DepEd train parents and guardians on how to assist the student during online classes.