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Egypt – Distance learning: plan implemented by “Don Bosco Cairo” school

24 March 2020

(ANS - Cairo) - Egypt is also facing COVID-19: according to data released by the Minister of Health, yesterday, March 23, there were 366 infected people and 19 victims. The spread of the coronavirus has forced the closure of schools, so the "Don Bosco Cairo" institute - with 860 students and 60 teachers - immediately took action to implement a plan to continue providing its courses. Their quick and effective solution may indeed be a valid model for the many institutions that are (or will find) themselves in the same conditions.

“One has seen a noticeable sense of responsibility on the part of teachers and, above all, children, thus making this plan effective at all levels. A faithful response to the expectations of families,” said Fr Pietro Bianchi, Delegate for the Schools of the Middle East Province (MOR).

The aspects considered in order to implement this plan were:

- The simplicity of implementation;

- The measurability of the work done;

- The active involvement of all subjects (students, families, teachers, secretariat, digital contacts and managerial staff).

Thus, a hybrid solution was chosen which envisages the use of two large platforms (Spaggiari - G-Suite). Each teacher, every day, during their lesson time, delivers a lesson on Spaggiari, indicating:

- Detailed topic of the lesson;

- Lesson mode: streaming (through Zoom or Meet) - link to video - video of the professor shared on the institute's Youtube channel (accessible only by invitation) - other useful material shared (through the Spaggiari or Drive platforms);

- Tasks/homework (of what type and for when).

All activities are monitored thanks to a special panel of the principal.

Students are required to follow the lessons remotely by logging in with the institutional account on G-Suite. The assignments must all be delivered on Spaggiari or on the institutional email of the teacher.

Manuals for teachers have been created through training carried out during two extraordinary teaching colleges for the use of these technologies.

A YouTube channel has also been created that explains the basic steps for students; and the school shares many Facebook posts to keep families and students up to date with all the new methods.

At the same time, two teams of 5 people were set up to respond to e-mails and requests from students and teachers in difficulty. And finally, a page of the school website is dedicated to distance learning.
In the future, online meetings are to be scheduled with the class leaders and teaching board to evaluate the progress of teaching.

The issue of privacy is also well protected, since they work exclusively with closed services, which do not allow access by third parties.

“Despite the objective difficulties, all the subjects responded in a way that I would call excellent,” concludes Fr Bianchi.

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