“Welcome to e-learning, where some parents have become reluctant helicopters, circling their kids as they attempt to learn, helping them with their every move. Throughout the country, grown-ups privileged enough to be able to stay at home, or to even have a few minutes of “spare time,” can be found sitting adjacent to their children on Zoom — or just a few feet away, poking their dependents when attention wanes, and yelling at them to raise their hands, speak into the camera and stop fidgeting.”
“The issue is that most younger students tend to be unable to manage remote learning on their own regardless of the teacher’s proficiency, said Beyhan Farhadi, a postdoctoral visitor at York University’s Faculty of Education in Toronto, who researches online learning, education policy and equity.”
“We often underestimate the role of the adult in the room, in person, to provide motivating variables to learn,” she said. “This includes detecting nonverbal cues when they are struggling to ask questions, since reluctant learners are less likely to advocate for themselves,” says Farhadi.