Задание
Прочитай текст и выполни задания 12–18. В каждом задании запиши в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному варианту ответа.
The women's college in Ghana leads the way on e-learning during the pandemic
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, many universities are deliberating on what to do for the forthcoming semester. St. Teresa's College of Education, one of five female-only colleges in Ghana, is leading the way with e-learning by consolidating the use of messaging applications like Telegram and WhatsApp.
In March 2020, the college sent its students home as part of measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus and most classes shifted online. While some students were asked to return to school to prepare for their final exams, many students continued to learn online from home.
The college does not have an in-built e-learning platform, and there are no officially recognized learning platforms in Ghana. At other colleges, tutors often use whichever platform they feel works best and as a result, many students download multiple applications like Google Classroom, Zoom, Telegram, and WhatsApp, some of which consume a lot of data. In many cases, students are not formally enrolled on these platforms by their institutions to take lessons. At St. Teresa's, however, online learning is mostly conducted on WhatsApp and Telegram. After consulting with tutors and students, the apps were designated as the official learning platforms for the college. Students observe that these platforms are low-cost, and this helps them save money on internet data.
By consolidating and centralizing platforms for e-learning, tutors have found creative methods to keep students engaged in classes conducted on these messaging apps. Some of these methods include close monitoring of student engagement and attendance, customising available digital platforms for learning, listening to and addressing students' and tutors' concerns and providing monthly digital training for tutors in need.
Transforming Teacher Education and Learning (T-TEL) reports that while some colleges claimed low attendance rates, St. Teresa's reported a 97 percent attendance rate. Tutors were highly engaged and in touch with students' pedagogical needs. They checked in regularly with students who were missing classes to work with them so that they could maintain regular class attendance. Students and tutors observed that the college's principal, vice-principal and quality assurance officer were added to each course platform to observe classes and work to address challenges as they emerged.
However, there are still structural issues that mitigate learning at St. Teresa's. According to Jennifer Nyavor, a first-year student, students are struggling financially since their allowances have not been paid since March 2020 when they were sent home. Also, tutors and students still had to deal with other structural issues that specifically affected student engagement while they studied remotely. As students are at home, some parents may not understand the whole business of learning online. And being females, some of the students have to do chores at home. It is a challenge to learn online and concentrate without any distractions. But some tutors took the initiative to call parents and talk to them about creating conditions at home to enable their daughters to learn online with as few distractions as possible.
At the end of each month, tutors are required to write reports detailing the progress of their online classes and identify the challenges of mitigating teaching and learning. These reports are then submitted to school management who review them and work with tutors and students to develop strategies to address these issues.
While some lecturers in other higher education institutions in Ghana have struggled to navigate teaching online, St. Teresa's College has worked in close collaboration with tutors to ensure that they are properly equipped to use digital tools to teach their classes. Some tutors said that the Information Technology (IT) department of the college organises monthly programs and workshops to help tutors who are struggling to navigate digital platforms in their classes.
In general, it can be concluded that the college is doing well with limited resources. And it's hoped that other colleges and universities will follow the example and improve online education because studying online can become our future reality.
12.Why did St. Teresa College go online?
1) Because they wanted to stop the spread of the disease.
2) Because other universities went online too.
3) Because many students caught coronavirus.
4) Because students wanted to study at home.
13.Why do students of Ghana's universities have to download so many apps?
1) Teachers are not satisfied with officially recognized learning platforms.
2) Students can't enroll on the platforms that teachers offer, so teachers have to choose a new one.
3) Different tutors use different platforms.
4) There are a lot of official apps in Ghana.
14.How did St. Teresa's College decide which platform to use?
1) The college chose the most cost-effective apps.
2) The college consulted teachers and students on this.
3) Students talked about platforms that can be used for free.
4) The tutors chose the platforms themselves.
15.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
1) Tutors of St. Teresa's motivated students to study hard.
2) Tutors of St. Teresa's had difficulties in using modern technology.
3) Students of St. Teresa's attended IT classes to improve their digital skills.
4) Educational platforms suited all teachers' and students' needs.
16.What is the reason for the high attendance rate at St. Teresa's College?
1) The college penalises students for missing classes.
2) Tutors monitor students' activities and studies.
3) Students control each other.
4) Students don't want to have learning difficulties.
17.What difficulty did female students face when studying online?
1) They got too used to online learning.
2) Some female students fell behind because of study and housework.
3) All the female students' parents created a proper atmosphere for studying.
4) Some female students couldn't focus on studying because they were distracted.
18.The author's main idea in the last paragraph is that...
1) all colleges and universities have limited resources.
2) online learning will be the new normal in the future.
3) other educational institutions in Ghana should establish a process of online education.
4) educational institutions can cope well with a new unexpected situation.