Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) Updates

[ngl2010]

Anybody eyeing to buy stocks now? Yesterday and today the stocks rebounded.

[phtthp]

MyPillow\" post_id=\"1968399\" time=\"1585106202\" user_id=\"70594:

tryyourbest\" post_id=\"1968393\" time=\"1585103849\" user_id=\"184678:

I am skeptical about the effectiveness of online lessons for younger kids. It probably works better for secondary school students.

So far, I only know of 1 tuition centre that make it optional and will charge discounted rate (50%) for online classes. Others are still charging the full regular tuition fee.

yah , online lessons, dunno can get 80% effectiveness or not, I am skeptical too.
Agree should charge 50% only , & make it optional

maybe priority given to National exam level, P6, Sec4 , A level etc

Exactly !

How can they just force it down on parents throat, force their kids to have e-learning?

If 50 % of parents were to withdraw their child out, because not interested in e-learning, tuition centre cannot survive if after more than 3 months, no cash flow coming in. To be charged 100 % for e-learning, or without any option to opt out, is ridiculous

My friend told me luckily she didnt pay up Term 2 tuition fees, yet. She said she was almost on the verge of almost paying up Term 2 fees, since yesterday was Tues, beginning of Term 2, when last night announcement came. She said otherwise, pay 1 Term lessons, just to let her kid go through 12 lessons of e-learning, is a great waste of $ and time

Primary + Secondary schools, already conduct e-learning.
Eg
One parent shared in Bukit Timah primary school thread recently that, out of 5 days in school, Mon to Fri :

3 days (1, 3, 5) : go to school, attend school lessons

The balance of 2 days (2, 4) : e-learning at home

still want some more e-learning, from tuition centre ?

[zac's mum]

TLL sent email saying preparing their e-learning portal to receive the mass volume of logins now.


Got one parent clicked “reply all” button by mistake (or intentionally?) and everybody on the list (including all the other parents) can see the reply, asking to withdraw from the course. :siam:

[chenlaoshi]

zac's mum\" post_id=\"1968404\" time=\"1585108595\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1968404 time=1585108595 user_id=53606]
TLL sent email saying preparing their e-learning portal to receive the mass volume of logins now.

Got one parent clicked “reply all” button by mistake (or intentionally?) and everybody on the list (including all the other parents) can see the reply, asking to withdraw from the course. :siam:[/quote]

How come TLL didn't BCC the parents?

[phtthp]

China


besides covid-19,
another new different deadly virus, called \"Hantavirus\", is spreading in China


https://www.google.com.sg/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/news/world/1259863/hantavirus-china-latest-wuhan-coronavirus-what-is-hantavirus-pandemic/amp

[sharonkhoo]

MrsKiasu\" post_id=\"1968398\" time=\"1585105732\" user_id=\"43981:

for younger ones with no national exam this year, maybe skip tuition for now?

It is a good time to teach kids (especially sec school) to study by themselves, plan their own schedules, take charge of their own learning by realising how much they can do themselves and when they need to ask for help. But for those who are not used to it, and for younger kids, parents have to guide them till they know how. Without guidance, they are likely to waste their time, and then will have a lot of make up when school starts up properly again.

[starlight1968sg]

phtthp\" post_id=\"1968408\" time=\"1585109835\" user_id=\"35251:

China

besides covid-19,
another new different deadly virus, called \"Hantavirus\", is spreading in China


https://www.google.com.sg/amp/s/www.express.co.uk/news/world/1259863/hantavirus-china-latest-wuhan-coronavirus-what-is-hantavirus-pandemic/amp

Am scared!

[chenlaoshi]

FantasyLandDreams\" post_id=\"1968358\" time=\"1585068288\" user_id=\"105816:

chenlaoshi\" post_id=\"1968349\" time=\"1585064226\" user_id=\"162894:

The MOH directive (https://www.moh.gov.sg/news-highlights/details/tighter-measures-to-minimise-further-spread-of-covid-19
[quote]Tuition and Enrichment Centres

10. All centre-based tuition and enrichment classes will be suspended. This is to reduce the intermingling of students from different schools and enhance the safety of our students.

I'm adhering to this for all my weekly small group classes (max. size of 6 pax) and will bring lessons online for the stated period.

Yeah, I agree online learning cannot completely replace classroom learning so I'm adjusting the fee for online lessons too. In my case, fees are due only at the end of every month based on lessons attended so I'll leave it to the parents to decide whether to suspend lesson for the time period or opt in for online lessons.

I https://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95466&p=1965315&hilit=zoom#p1965309 this time last month, but still, I must say this came earlier than I expected.

Zoom allows for dual way communication so I'm not too concern about students being devoided of the chance to raise questions and clarify doubts. What's important though is to brief students and parents clearly on the relevant procedure and required actions and this could take some reaction time or getting used to.

There's added job on educator's end - uploading and managing online platforms for dissemination of notes prior to lesson and submission of assignments, making the recorded videos of the lessons available for playback viewing, setting aside extra time for Q&A sessions etc. but as the saying goes: \"没有永远的危机，只有永远的机会。\" I guess this is an opportunity to turn 危机into 转机.

My dd had a chance to try one lesson via online tuition earlier this year and I must say I was skeptical before joining but was totally blown away after attending. In fact, I would greatly welcome this move if tuition centre make this a ‘permanent’ option available, as it really helps save a lot of time to travel. The inability to ask question to clarify doubts is completely in non-existence as zoom is just like video conferencing. As notes and exercises were given beforehand, we already know what doubts we want to clarify during the lesson too. Furthermore, as I was doing my tasks nearby the living room like folding clothes and washing bowls, I could even ‘listen’ in and realised to my horror she had ‘forgotten’ so many things she had learnt before. Naturally I told her to ‘patch up’ those areas after the lesson. Increasingly I find that most centres already had this online feature since January this year, more meant for the loa students previously. Indeed, time has changed, so we should also learn to adapt and embrace such new technological advances as it really aids learning in my opinion. Chen Laoshi, do keep me updated too if you are making online lesson available permanently. Thanks. :)[/quote]Sure, FLD. For upper Primary and Secondary school students, I am quite confident the lesson objectives can still be met. Having said that, it does depend on how interactive the lessons are too. Physical presence, no doubt important, doesn't guarantee learning efficiency and lesson effectiveness. After all, it's self discipline and mentality of students that matters most. I have heard of (and I'm sure many parents did, too) how students attend tuition (be it group/1-1) and not pay attention, wait for answers or how some educators simply assign work to students for the first 50% - 1hr of the lesson and then go through the answers and for these cases, how some students simply copy the answers for corrections. Also, like you mentioned, parents can actually know what's taught, how they're taught and even learn together to aid their child's progress.

I thought it through over the night and decided to offer my e-learning lessons over the affected period (until end of April) FOC. In the event that the suspension gets extended, the 50% reduction in lesson fee shall apply and parents can choose whether to opt in. The kids' physical well-being and learning are my utmost concern and at least I still have my existing 1-1 assignments as my main source of income (fingers crossed )

Several reasons behind my decision includes:
- hoping to encourage parents and students to try out and embrace e-learning
- through the 1 month e-learning experience, to allow parents and students to make accurate judgement and decide if they would want to continue with this option in the case of suspension
- ensuring continuation in student's learning (rather than let it get affected simply cos of monetary concerns)
- preparing parents and students to handle online learning processes (from downloading of notes to connecting to live lesson and uploading of homework etc.) so that they are savvy and ready in the event that schools and closed and e-learning is implemented for a considerable period of time

One of the main reasons why I do not collect fees upfront (there are parents who still pay at the beginning of each month though, and I appreciate their gesture) is because I do no want parents to feel obliged/be forced to let their child attend lessons (in situations when the child is unwell or physical lesson suspensions like this).

I'm now setting up Google Classroom and preparing relevant instructions and information for the parents. I guess my main 'discomfort' could be like this professor's :

https://i.imgur.com/4IbneWA.jpg\">

[zac's mum]

chenlaoshi\" post_id=\"1968405\" time=\"1585108698\" user_id=\"162894:

zac's mum\" post_id=\"1968404\" time=\"1585108595\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=1968404 time=1585108595 user_id=53606]TLL sent email saying preparing their e-learning portal to receive the mass volume of logins now.

Got one parent clicked “reply all” button by mistake (or intentionally?) and everybody on the list (including all the other parents) can see the reply, asking to withdraw from the course. :siam:

How come TLL didn't BCC the parents?[/quote]

Yes they used BCC. But I think when parent clicked reply all, everybody on the BCC list received it. Either that or mistakenly re-routed to me.

[phtthp]

maybe the parent thought that reply all means reply to All the staff in TLL.

She din realize that reply All means
reply to All the parents with enrolled children