Virtual Learning New in ARIS? Our Transition From Brick and Mortar to Virtual

 
All over the world, schools have seen a transition from working as a unit in classrooms and school buildings to working from individual homes and computers, due to the outbreak of the novel COVID 19 virus. As such, there has been a surge in edtech, digital integration and using technology to ensure that learning goes on.

ARIS has also transitioned to online virtual learning, and we are doing so well at it. One may wonder, how has ARIS been able to transition seamlessly and easily into virtual learning? Well, our virtual learning journey started way before COVID-19 and this is an account of how we started on this journey of technological and digital integration into our classrooms and administration.

In the 2018/2019 academic year, the Director, Dr. Fatma Odaymat introduced into our teaching and learning, the use of tablets. This gave students and facilitators a practical and hands-on experience in manipulating gadgets and technology for the educational good of our community. Students had all their resources stored up on their tablets, as did facilitators. A plus for this initiative too was that students were able to reduce the number of cumbersome books they carried each day, which was taking a toll on their physical wellbeing.

Later in the year, in September 2018, ARIS entered into an agreement with the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA), to be a beneficiary and participant of the Blended Learning Programme (that our community, students, staff and parents, love so much), with other schools from Ghana such as Lincoln Community School, and Ghana International School. Two of our facilitators, one from Secondary and another from Primary, also took part in the Blended Learning Training in Dakar, Senegal, and became our designated Blended Learning Coordinators.

After this training, measures and plans were put in place at the end of December 2018, to incorporate Blended Learning into our teaching and learning process. This decision was taken because blended learning was seen to be beneficial as the world rapidly moved towards newer technologies and innovations, it was deemed fit to incorporate these new technologies and innovations into our already existing strategies and practices to get the best of both worlds.

The incorporation of blended learning in the ARIS teaching and learning system ensured and gave us the practice of accessing educational resources, from home and even in school, at the pace of every unique student.

Technological wise too, ARIS had taken up the use of digital applications such as Seesaw, Managebac, Zoom, Google Classroom, as it was also a great way to get access to students and even parents, remotely.

In the wake of COVID-19, the ARIS Senior Management and Board, foresaw that schools in Ghana, will close, just like schools were closing abroad, so student and staff meetings, training and simulations were organized to assess our Coronavirus lockdown preparedness, and we were adequately equipped with all the knowledge and expertise to run as a school, even remotely.

As an institution, we will always strive to put measures in place that are beneficial towards Inspiring, Empowering and Transforming ourselves and the world for a better place! And now, we are definitely doing it, one e-lesson at a time!