Notably, after nearly 2 years of implementation, this solution is also supporting many other provinces, helping students access education equitably.
ADD NEW LEARNING MODEL
Mr. Nguyen Van Toi, Principal of Trung Lap Thuong Primary School (Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City), said: 2 years ago, the school faced many difficulties in recruiting teachers and staff. The school lacked 1 teacher to teach many subjects, 1 IT teacher, 1 English teacher, and also lacked school health workers, clerical staff, and accountants; it was impossible to ensure that all students in the school from grade 1 to grade 5 could learn IT and English. Therefore, the implementation of digital classrooms has opened up a new, intelligent teaching method, eliminating barriers of space and time.
Digital class at Thanh An Primary School, Can Gio District, Ho Chi Minh City
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training and the Ho Chi Minh City Digital Transformation Consulting Support Center supported the school in designing classrooms, transmission lines, signals, etc., while the school upgraded the computer system for students. English and IT teachers from primary schools in the city teach from a studio, transmitting data to real classrooms, where teachers and students interact with each other. Currently, to maintain digital classrooms, Ho Chi Minh City has studios at Quang Trung Software Park and Truong Quyen Primary School (District 3).
Along with Trung Lap Thuong Primary School, Thanh An Primary School (Can Gio District) was also selected to pilot digital classes from the first semester of the 2022-2023 school year. These are schools far from the center, lacking IT and English teachers, and having difficulty recruiting and transferring teachers from other places due to the characteristics of the remote area.
Thanh An Primary School is also fully equipped by Ho Chi Minh City with a computer room and necessary equipment to operate digital classrooms. Mr. Le Huu Binh, Principal of the school, said that digital classrooms are the key to solving the problem of teacher shortage here (the school only has 1 permanent English teacher). The school also has a school in Thieng Lieng island commune. Before the digital classroom was available, English teachers had to travel by boat to Thieng Lieng to teach. Therefore, when the digital classroom was available, students at all schools of Thanh An Primary School could study with a new model at the same time.
"In the 2023-2024 school year, my school's students won an encouragement prize in the English film making contest "My Homeland, a Source of Inspiration". The prize is small but meaningful to us, because the students have made progress and are inspired to learn English", Mr. Le Huu Binh shared.
During English class at Trung Lap Thuong Primary School in Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City
HELPING STUDENTS FROM HIGH MOUNTAINS TO REMOTE ISLANDS
From the second semester of the 2023-2024 school year, Ho Chi Minh City's digital classroom will continue to expand the number of students participating to the two districts of Muong Khuong and Si Ma Cai (Lao Cai).
In the 2024-2025 school year, the digital classroom continues to support many more schools in neighboring provinces. These include Cao Van Ngoc Primary School (Con Dao District, Ba Ria-Vung Tau), Tung Chung Pho School (Lao Cai) and schools in Dien Bien province such as Muong Ang town, Ta Sin Thang, Nam Chua, Quang Lam, Phi Nhu... Currently, there is a more convenient way, which is 1-1 support. A teacher of a primary school in Ho Chi Minh City teaches via computer right at school, supporting a school in a neighboring province.
Mr. Le Quang Vinh, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Dien Bien, said that with the digital classroom model, recently, English teachers in Ho Chi Minh City have supported existing teachers, helping primary school students in Dien Bien complete the English subject in the 2018 General Education program.
Evidence can be seen at Phi Nhu Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, Dien Bien Dong District. The school is 70 km from Dien Bien Phu City, more than 600 km from Hanoi, nearly 2,000 km from Ho Chi Minh City, with difficult transportation. The people here are mainly ethnic minorities such as Mong, Kho Mu, Thai... The school has only 1 English teacher, but she has been on maternity leave since July 1, 2024. Thanks to the digital classroom, from the first semester of the 2024-2025 school year, a total of 11 classes with 324 students in grades 3, 4, and 5 of the school will be able to learn English with the teaching of teachers from Tan Son Nhi Primary School, Tan Phu District, Ho Chi Minh City.
Every week, before the English class day, teachers at Tan Son Nhi Primary School send the class link and necessary preparation content so that the homeroom teacher at Phi Nhu School can help students prepare in advance.
The lesson includes full activities such as warming up - forming knowledge, practicing, consolidating and applying knowledge, focusing on listening, speaking and reading skills for students.
"The two schools are more than 2,000 km apart, and the students are ethnic minorities who have not been exposed to English in grades 1 and 2. We know that the students here are very different from those in Ho Chi Minh City, where the teachers are working, but that does not discourage the teachers," said Mr. Le Quang Vinh.
TEACHERS BENEFIT TOO
According to educators, when applying digital classrooms in practice, the beneficiaries are not only students who can fully study all subjects in the 2018 General Education Program and have equal access to education, but also teachers who can develop and improve their professional knowledge.
Mr. Le Huu Binh, Principal of Thanh An Primary School (Can Gio District), said that at first, the school arranged for English teachers and homeroom teachers to participate and support students in the learning process so that homeroom teachers could get acquainted with the operations as well as the process, content, and teaching methods of remote English teachers. In addition, during professional activities, the school's English teachers also supplemented and shared some knowledge and content about English so that homeroom teachers could conveniently act as teaching assistants in digital lessons. This helped the teaching assistants learn and improve their skills.
For nearly 2 school years, Cao Van Ngoc Primary School (Con Dao District, Ba Ria-Vung Tau) has been helped by Truong Quyen Primary School (District 3, Ho Chi Minh City) to teach English online. Despite many difficulties, teachers at both schools have proactively overcome them. Initially, from a class of about 30 students studying 1 period/week, Truong Quyen Primary School has now supported teaching two classes of grade 3 and one class of grade 4 regularly 1 period/week with more than 595 students. Teachers at Cao Van Ngoc Primary School have had the opportunity to exchange and learn teaching methods and how to conduct activities in listening and speaking lessons for students. Teachers are also more confident in applying information technology to online teaching.
Removing difficulties
Despite its many benefits, digital classrooms also face challenges that require solutions to overcome.
Mr. Nguyen Van Toi, Principal of Trung Lap Thuong Primary School (Cu Chi District, Ho Chi Minh City), said that one difficulty of digital classrooms comes from teaching assistants. Although they have been trained and before each class, the teaching and teaching assistants discuss the lesson plan, the school's teaching assistants are teachers of fine arts and physical education, and are also old, with limited English and IT skills, so they face many difficulties. At the same time, according to Mr. Toi, the cost of building a standard classroom, ensuring a digital classroom is quite large, requiring support from many sides. In addition, some schools are concerned about the policy for teaching assistants and support for digital classrooms.
Faced with concerns about the regime and policies for teachers and teaching assistants in digital classrooms, Mr. Nguyen Bao Quoc, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City, said that he is asking the professional department to coordinate with the personnel organization departments to review and guide the calculation of the regime for teachers and teaching assistants in digital classrooms, and will propose to the Ministry of Education and Training to supplement this regime for teachers.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/them-giai-phap-ung-pho-tinh-trang-thieu-giao-vien-185250113171811607.htm
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