By Honorary Reporter Wendy Palomo from Philippines

Photos= Wendy Palomo

Dwight senior leaders help train leaders at sister schools prepare for online learning. (Kevin Skeoch)

The academic year for domestic and international schools in Korea differ, especially the dates of winter and summer vacations. So when the COVID-19 outbreak posed a big threat after a super spreader was discovered in Daegu, students at international schools were settled in their normal routines while those attending domestic schools remained at the tail end of their winter vacation. International school heads had to make an immediate decision to do online classes.

Following the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education's advice, Dwight School Seoul switched to online classes as soon as the need arose. Dwight is backed by an extensive network of its fellow schools abroad.

Kevin Skeoch, Head of School of Dwight School Seoul, said he offered advice to other schools in the Dwight network. "We informed our staff first, prepared our students and then set out on a course of online study that saw changes to learning," he said. With the outbreak being designated a pandemic, more schools in the West are holding online classes.

Nicole Wittman, a teacher for more than 25 years, said the situation was a new learning curve for her. "We have to consider all facets of a child’s learning and to me, considering their wellbeing has to be paramount. Just in my class, children are attending online classes from home, their grandma's house or their parents' workplace. It is a very unsettling time for them and us teachers, but I'm so proud of the way the children have handled this. They are always prompt to the 'Google meets' and listen and interact as if they're in a real classroom," she said.

Wittman said she finds it funny when her students still ask her if they can go to the bathroom though they are at home.

Students are also trying their best to maintain their normal routines. Lenaum and Namuel Palomo, two brothers who attend Dwight School Seoul, wake up at the same time as before, take showers, eat breakfast with family and log in to their online classroom at 8:20 a.m. 

Namuel prefers to go to school but understands that this is not a normal time; still, he said online learning is better than he expected. Lenaum says it's tiring to be sitting in front of the computer and feels awkward doing his physical education exercises simultaneously with classmates and teachers while they are all at different locations but appreciates the importance of continuity.

Sisters Lorien and Loretta Bukilic are also students at Dwight School Seoul. Lorien said the online system allows her to finish all assignments in her seventh-grade class. Loretta’s mom said her daughter sometimes forgets her break time as they lose track of time chatting in their Google classroom.

For students in the third grade or lower, their parents need to be hands-on in their learning as the children need guidance. Mie Cornoedus said it suddenly feels like she has a full-time job when going over her second-grade daughter's lessons. "I am basically home schooling her with the help of the teachers," the mother said, and her fourth-grade daughter Elea works independently but misses her friends terribly.

Khristine Lucero's son Maddox attends Seoul International School. She finds online learning effective and a great substitute amid a global crisis. She commends the teachers but said, "My son is still young, so I need to help and explain things to him, especially when it's a new lesson.” She said that though it's time consuming, she's glad her son is adapting to "the new normal."

Juancho Agravante, an eighth grader at Seoul Foreign School, initially found the idea of online learning cool, but is starting to miss school. He didn't like that the start of the school year was delayed yet again, this time to April 6, but he has adapted. He said he can manage his own time and his mom encourages him to keep in touch with his teachers, especially if he doesn’t understand something.

High school senior Bea Gatmaitan said, "Online learning as a senior is simple but limiting. Since we're almost done with the syllabus for each subject, the teachers can still teach us the topics we need to know and are always open to any questions we have. The downside to this is being unable to communicate easily with others since I believe that efficient communication is set in a classroom."

Aside from international schools in Seoul, the global campus in Incheon's Songdo-gu District for university students went ahead with their semester, albeit after a week's delay.

Ingrid Agravante, whose son Lean attends the Songdo campus of the University of Utah, said she is relieved. The campus has a dorm for students and management made sure that returning students were quarantined before they could enter campus.

This is echoed by Manolo Gatmaitan, another student at the university who said he stays in his dorm room. He said, "We go to our classrooms just as we normally do. However, since the university is concerned about the coronavirus, classroom capacity is being kept to a minimum. While professors teach their students in a classroom, they've switched to an online conference for off-campus students who aren't allowed inside while the threat of the pandemic lurks."

chaey0726@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.