The world of Tzu Chi June 2020 (Vol.123)

2020 • 06 38 ocal News Translated by Translating Team C lasses remain in session for the students of Tzu Chi International School Kuala Lumpur (TCISKL) during the MCO as the school adopts an online learning approach by conducting lessons on digital platforms from April 1, 2020 onwards. A typical day of online lessons starts at 8:00 a.m. and ends at 3:20 p.m., throughout which the students follow a structured schedule that includes classes in academic subjects, humanistic culture, music, art and physical education. The students are able to access and submit their homework through Google Classroom, while teachers will distribute daily lesson plans on the file-sharing web service to enable the students to prepare in advance. The school has also arranged a weekly counselling session for the students to support them in coping with any concerns faced throughout the MCO. The TCISKL teaching staff went to great lengths to ensure a conducive and fruitful online learning experience for the students, investing their resources and efforts into reorganizing the lesson timetable, sourcing for suitable teaching and learning software, as well as emulating and adapting the pedagogy adopted by other educational institutions, including overseas schools such as the Shanghai Experimental School. The students are required to wear their uniforms during lessons, even in a remote learning from home setting. TCISKL principal Lim Siew Li believes that participating in lessons in uniform gears students towards learning mode, cultivates an appreciation of proper decorum and motivates students to pay attention to their lessons from home. “The online learning approach allows parents to better understand the teachers’ teaching methods and be more involved in their children’s education, besides offering parents and their children the opportunity to spend quality time together. Furthermore, the secondary students were taught to be ethical and mindful internet users. Technology has afforded us various conveniences, but we should not abuse its many benefits. Rather, we should utilize it to our advantage for purposes beyond frivolous entertainment.” She also expressed her hope for the online learning experience to instil in the students the message that the pursuit of knowledge is boundless, for circumstance is no obstacle to learning. KL & Selangor 2020.04–05 No Boundaries to Learning Compiled by Yap Chai Hoon Photograph courtesy of Tzu Chi International School Kuala Lumpur