Online Bilingual Education at EMASI Van Phuc Vietnam 2021 Overview
Online Bilingual Education at EMASI School Vietnam 2021 Overview
Online Bilingual Education in Vietnam in early 2021
The EMASI Bilingual School mission is to provide an outstanding education delivered in Vietnamese and English that emphasizes Vietnamese values, academic and personal excellence and fosters global understanding, respect and independent learning.
An Online Teaching & Learning policy must exist to ensure that a mission-driven school can continue to fulfill its mission – whether in school or online, and that educators understand how to continue to protect the physical, emotional and psychological safety of their students. Professional development for teachers goes hand in hand with delivering high academic achievement and a pandemic must not be an excuse to provide substandard education.
As an avid-online learner and the Managing Director of a Bilingual School, I want to reassure you with complete certainty that Online learning works! According to the World Economic Forum, when structured and delivered correctly, online learning results in the average student retaining 25-60% more material compared to a traditional classroom. Moreover, online learning can require 40-60% less time compared to learning in traditional environments. Students can learn at their own pace, re-read and review content, or skip through concepts as needed (Li & Lalani, 2020).
Online teaching and learning is not a replication of classroom learning.
EMASI Schools are guided by international education best practice in our preparation and delivery of effective online teaching and learning including but not limited to:
•The provision of a supportive online learning community.
•Clear communication to students and families of expectations, approaches and time requirements
•A variety of large group, small group, and individual learning experiences.
Assessment of language learning can be adapted for online. It makes a shift away from multiple choice questions to more personal communication and this only benefits students more. Such an approach results in academic development of students and also drives teachers to expand their capacity for teaching.
Authorities from leading education institutions around the world agree that on the subject of online learning, the best method to deliver meaningful teaching and learning is to provide a balance of synchronous (at the same time) lessons and learning activities with the teacher, as well as asynchronous (not at the same time) lessons and learning activities, as designed by the teacher (Cummings, 2020).
Online learning entails a wide variety of activities. This is especially true when the objective is language acquisition and when a school strives to create a bilingual setting for its students.
Bland, teacher focused lessons online are not a recipe for student success online or in person. But the online environment is particularly impacted by this. Effective online learning in a bilingual education program must be a child-centred education that combines bilingual instruction by teachers using Vietnamese language along with English teaching from teachers of a variety of cultural backgrounds.
Online Community Building and Social Interaction
Social interaction and relationships must remain a central aspect of online teaching and learning and therefore our online lessons and student activities will be designed with this in mind. At the same time, to support students’ growth and learning, teachers will ensure that students get timely and specific feedback.
Online education also lends itself to community building. Teachers should make the development of a community of students in the online forum a key objective, and at the same time, schools can be creative in seeking out online community partnerships and participating or leading in online community projects. Community stakeholders can be engaged as guest speakers by recording talks, giving online speeches, or even engaging students as online interns working remotely with community practitioners from various industries. Such community engagement with community partners can only benefit students.
As a Managing Direction, I am committed to the EMASI Schools mission and I believe that online learning is not something to apologize for: It is an opportunity to be embraced. Technology, when used strategically and thoughtfully is making a significant contribution to education and schools - whether bilingual, international, or local - can and must leverage this for the benefit of students for years to come.
