Teachers and the Digital Shift: Are your Staff up to Speed?

With the whole world suddenly using double bandwidth, how are your staff holding up with the WFH move?
No matter which way we look at things, the digital world is having a massive impact on how we teach. The longer lockdowns and blended learning continue for, the longer the tech we rely on to deliver lessons with is likely to evolve.
While this is a given part of the job for your Millennial staff, any baby boomers still working in the teaching industry might be finding it difficult to keep up. Even older Millennials, those who grew up in a pre-internet era, can find it hard to adjust.
Unfortunately, the only way to get around the digital shift as an education establishment, is to properly implement a good regime of staff training. Education Training is essential at the moment, when so many of our lessons are being delivered in the living spaces of our students.
Today, we want to discuss a few signs that your staff aren’t managing the digital shift, quite as well as you may have thought.
- Signs that Staff aren’t Coping with Online Education
We may think it is obvious when staff need an extra nudge of help, but not all teachers speak out when they need assistance. Some will depend on their students to guide them, and some will work it out all on their own.
However, the world of teaching takes all sorts. Some of us will try to cover up our shortfalls in fear of losing our jobs – especially in the current climate. With that in mind, we have put together a list of ways you can spot staff that need extra time learning, without having to insult anybody.
- Set and Maintain Clear Goals
Identifying areas where you staff need extra training is made easier when you set and maintain clear goals for them to work towards. Any that aren’t quite keeping up with the digital processes of the job role can then be easily identified. Don’t single them out in front of others and approach staff with additional needs on their own level.
For digital training, this might mean encouraging each tutor/teacher to set up and run a 20 person zoom class for 40 minutes. If they struggle to set it up without additional support, this might then be identified as a key area of improvement which training can help with.
- Ask Questions
Another tactic for identifying staff with performance issues in the education sector, is to ask them questions. Better yet, ask them to set something up for you and give them a deadline. Maybe you need a lesson plan in Cloud storage so you can access it immediately – but you need it overnight.
In this case, the questions asked or tasks assigned don’t need to be time-consuming or difficult. If the member of staff voices a worry about how long it took them, or if they haven’t fully met your expectations, this could be an area of concern.
- Individual Meetings
Don’t expect that your employee will come to you for help. In these times, particularly, many staff are experiencing what has been termed as “Covid-19 Burnout”. This is the name given to the sustained stress and anxiety levels we have all been living under this last year. When those level get overwhelming, we call it burnout.
Video chats once a week can help you spot the signs of Covid-19 Burnout, and other stress-related issues, too. It reduces isolation in the remote teaching sector, and keeps everyone in the loop. It’s also reassuring to the employee, who finds value in being cared for in this way.
- Spotting Struggling Employees should be easier
If you have paid attention to the points contained within this article, you should feel a little better about being able to spot both training needs, and any potential mental health crises that are on the horizon. Happy tutors mean happy students… and happy students are something we all could use more of right now.