Digital training ground

2020

Due to the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, distance learning came into force in Hungary with a "leap" from mid-March 2020. While the one-week spring break was brought forward at the university so that the instructors could somewhat prepare for the new situation, in the case of primary and secondary schools, there was not even that much time to get to know the never-before-seen or used online platforms and opportunities that support education. The digital transition did not go smoothly; the situation required great patience and an investment of energy from teachers, students, and parents alike.

When I was sure that I wasn't endangering anyone with my presence, I looked around a bit: how was the obstacle taken in my neighborhood? With the following photo report, I tried to show the human face of the story: happy and stressful moments; creative solutions; stories about togetherness.

Ági - Gyuszi - Soma - Bende

My friends, Ági and Gyuszi are both teachers, Gyuszi in elementary school, Ági in high school. Soma is a first grader, and Bende is in nursery. I visit them in the late afternoon, afraid to ask: are you still working then? I would like to photograph that. They laugh and answer: What? Nah, in 0-24! With two little boys constantly chatting and running around, teaching from home is no small challenge. The time that parents would normally spend on work is always interrupted by something during the day: wiping noses, fixing toys, separating the fighting boys, or dealing with the household: wiping up spills, starting the laundry, going to the store, cooking lunch, etc. Even a loud game can be problematic; not allowing a live login, for example. The days are really long before everything is ready. Yet I arrive to witness good humor.

Workstation. Ági makes explanatory videos about the solutions to the math problems she assigns - she usually only has the opportunity to do this in the evening, when the children are already asleep.

Soma plays the piano just as well with his feet as with his hands.

A short minute of silence around the table.

English homework

Everyone does their job: the parents answer e-mails, run errands, check homework, Soma is learning English out loud, and Bende is "tidying up".

Dominika and Pirike

The Nevetnikék Foundation in Pécs reacted very quickly to the crisis situation. Normally, when there’s no pandemic, they go to the hospital to cheer up children, but now they have found other ways to help: they spend their energy on shopping for the elderly, sewing masks, and helping those in need. In order not to be separated from their favorite age group, some of the volunteers undertake "digital babysitting". The joint game works even from the other corner of the country; if the parent wants a quiet hour, they can put the children in the hands of experienced playmates; all they need is a computer with internet connection.

Five-and-a-half-year-old Pirike loves cats, so Dominika introduces her own kitty to the little girl.

Piri disappears from the laptop screen from time to time, so Dominika switches to moving exercises, making jumping and running around a joint activity.

Riddles also attract the older siblings.

The “cup song” is only half learned now, but it turns out that you can play "here is the red, where is the red" from a distance of several cities.

Renátó

I get to Renátó, a seventh-grader, with the help of an NGO, ÉlményTár Tanoda. The boy is happy to have me and show the way he is studying.

The ÉlményTár is mostly attended by children from families living in deep poverty in the east of Pécs: they receive a community space, leisure program opportunities, help in learning, skill development, and, in general, a democratic approach and equal treatment from the workers there. Although the mentors could not meet their mentees in person during the curfew period of the pandemic, they would not leave them alone. Knowing their circumstances, they knew for sure: quite a few families didn’t have the technical conditions for studying at home, as there were not enough (or any) laptops, telephones, Wi-Fi, or in some cases, not even electricity. Not to mention the technical knowledge required to use them, which sometimes overwhelms even teachers. Parents are also not always able to help in the interpretation and processing of the curriculum. The ÉlményTár team delivered devices and internet connections to 25 families and helped the children in learning through video calls. In addition, they tried to break the monotony of confinement with group Skpye meetings or online cooking videos.

One of Renátó's favorite subjects is mathematics, but now he is a little behind in it. One of the volunteers helps him interpret and solve the tasks outside of the classroom and online. Renátó welcomes me very politely and a little nervously. Somehow the math exercise book is nowhere to find, but he takes another, and the lesson slowly begins.

He calls his mentor, Viktor, on the phone, and they begin to solve the assigned examples.

Renátó has six siblings, and although he is the youngest, there are many other children in the household besides him. In the small house, it is not possible to retire to a separate room, and although Renátó's nephew, Gyémi, tries to engage them, the little ones can only stay quiet for a short period of time. The family is cleaning the kitchen right now, and the adults' speech can be heard. In the background noise, Renáto has to ask back several times to understand what his fellow student is saying.

After the long and difficult solution of the first task, the Wi-Fi suddenly goes out. Renátó looks for the portable WiFi router he received from ÉlményTár.

The noise disturbs Renátó more and more in the concentration, so Gyémi finally takes his sisters for a walk.

Work goes much better in silence, Renátó solves the third task on his own. According to Viktor, he is a smart child, he understands arithmetics quickly, and you can help him effectively. Geometry is more problematic, since today's school system is unable to take into account the children's background and environment. Even in an average household, it is natural to have a ruler or protractor, Renáto had to make a cardboard ruler for himself, and Viktor taught the boy to "measure" the most common angles by eye.

By the time he finishes the task, his nephews arrive. We talk a little more, mainly about how studying at school is much, much better than at home... and whether we will be able to get to Lake Balaton this summer.

Szofi - Zsuzsi - Alíz

My friends' daughter, now nine-year-old Szofi, was born with anoxia. Szofi, who attends school for students with learning disabilities, is a fairy who always smiles, remembers what kind of chocolate chip cookies she ate at my place almost a year ago, and never fails to ask how my mom is doing, whose leg hurt once when the little girl visited her. Anyway, I was terribly interested in what and how they teach online for kids with mental disabilities. She is unable to learn on her own yet; her mother, Zsuzsi, has to take over the role of the teacher. Zsuzsi also has to pay attention to the studies of thirteen-year-old Alíz: since there are many platforms that can be used, homework comes from different places for each subject, the video calls are scheduled throughout different platforms, the files have to be uploaded elsewhere, and the deadline for the submission of papers must be observed. Zsuzsi, who works as a kindergarten teacher, was on vacation for the first few weeks - even so, it was not easy to manage the children's studies, the household, and to entertain her own children. She recorded videos for his kindergarten group as well, from which they could learn rhymes and sing, or watch the development of the tadpoles collected by the girls. But since she can’t work from home anymore, life is even more stressful. Despite this, they always have a great sense of humor and hospitality; sometimes I even forget to take photos while enjoying the cheery mood.

Agenda. With small children, it is extremely important that the hours don’t just flow into each other, and that there is a work schedule that frames the day. At the beginning of the online learning, a table was prepared for Sofi, where she likes to drag the magnets to the current tasks.

The lesson starts with physical exercise.

Reading. The letter Cs is helped to be remembered by the adventures of Csabi Chick and his friends.

Hand signals are assigned to the sounds, and clapping helps you find where the learned sound is located in the given word. Zsuzsi helps Szofi decisively and professionally. The little girl would even enjoy it if she were not perfectly aware that this is study, i.e., work.

Speech therapy; pronouncing the rrrrrrrrr sound together.

Szofi is done with today's material. On the now-free computer, Alíz writes the grammar paper quickly - very quickly. Not even Szofi's vocal contribution can disturb her from getting a straight A.

Spin-able comic book: home-made drawing on the pages of the biology textbook, which Alíz submits as a video file.

Dad arrives, and Simi the kitten appears as well. I'm going to stay for dinner.

Children from Mozsgó who took the school garden home

At Mozsgó, they came up with an absolutely "analog" answer to the challenges of digital education. Since the development plans of the school garden of the local primary school were definitely delayed by the pandemic for this semester, with a rescue idea, the organizers brought the foundations of a garden to the students' homes: families who applied received seedlings and chicks.

I arrive to see Bernadette Horváth, the organizer of the program. At her workplace, in the library of Mozsgó, we talk about her idea and the difficulties of its implementation. The program serves to preserve the health of children who spend eight hours a day in front of a computer, to maintain their connection with nature, to promote organic farming, and to improve the care of the participating families. Actually, this is a great way to revive backyard farming; it can be easy physical work and a sense of accomplishment for the children.

The program was supported by the With the Force of Humanity Foundation as part of its crisis tender. The local primary producers also helped, and the municipality cooperated in the transport. 48 families applied, a total of 436 chicks, and more than 2,000 seedlings – peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, cabbage, kohlrabi, and squash – were distributed in May. The applying students and their parents also received professional help from Bernadett, nicknamed "Bio Betti". By the way, her own children participate in the program as well; Betti's garden is thus the model garden. To access the professional materials, tips, and deadlines, the school created a Google Classroom platform, which is coordinated by a teacher colleague and filled with content and images together with the children.