Teacher shortage and return to home-schooling – Covid crisis gives birth to generation of ‘Baby Zoomers’

GENERATION BABY ZOOMER

Just a few days into the new term, classrooms and nurseries have been hit by covid, with thousands of staff and pupils forced to isolate and return to home learning. Remote learning has hit its highest levels since the start of the pandemic.

Edtech experts have urged parents to make the most of their offsprings’ tech skills, renaming the youngest generation the ‘BabyZoomers’. 

Eve Harper, director of the world’s largest EdTech show Bett, said she could relate to the anxiety that school closures triggered in parents, carers, pupils and teachers. However she said that edtech had moved a long way even since the first lockdown. She added: 

“It’s really hard to replace face-to-face teaching in a live classroom. School closures might mean the brief return of home schooling but we know that doesn’t mean learning has to stop. Children today are much more comfortable with technology than previous generations and they use it to complement in-person classes. Teachers are now far more comfortable using digital tools to enhance their lessons, set homework and get feedback. As the quality and accessibility of education apps improves parents have never been better placed to help the current generation of baby zoomers adapt to whatever circumstances are thrown at them”.