by Shadin Kitma | 18 Dec 2020
What was supposedly a simple test run became a thorough teacher-student role-play -- including a mind-boggling mathematical problem!
At a recent technical simulation of the German European School Manila's (GESM) blended learning set-up, Head of Administration Volker Ross and Head of the IB Diploma Programme Santanu Bhowmik sat down with other staffers to get a feel of how it would go.
Plans and scenarios about how to transition back to face-to-face classes have been thought out by school management even before the government made its announcement on reopening schools this week. In the set-up that was tested, teachers are made able to conduct a class to students both physically and digitally present at the same time. Moreover, students present in the classrooms will be able to see and hear their classmates staying at home and vice versa.
The technical equipment procured for this required precise calibration and thorough testing.
The thinking behind this preparation is that whatever the government decides in the near future, the GESM is ready to implement blended learning at the stroke of a finger. The same preparedness was key to the school's successful and lightning-speed transition to distance learning in March 2020, after all.
However, instead of just trying the new equipment out, these GESM staffers seemingly got carried away -- Mr. Bhowmik donned the instructor's headpiece, jotted on the smart screen and asked the "students" to solve a mathematical problem! Before everyone knew it, a teacher-student role-play was under way!
Sometimes, we admit these staff members are having too much fun.
**Curious about the mathematical problem and how the test went? See the video below.**