BLUEFIELD, VA (WOAY) – As the pandemic continues, education majors have had to adapt to learning an entirely new way to teach.
At Bluefield College, educators have taken steps to make sure their education students are fully prepared to go into the workforce and teach children in both remote and in-person classes.
Teachers had to adjust over the span of just a few months when schools first went remote, but these students are getting the chance to prepare before they even graduate.
“We all know that COVID has changed a lot of things and it has changed the face of education. We know that teachers are not only teaching in-person, but also virtually. We always have to change with the times, and we want to make sure that our students are prepared to teach not just in-person, but also virtually as well,” said Director of Teacher Education Dr. Shellie Brown.
The change to remote learning has not been simple. Students need to have field experience and the college has had to find ways to give students those opportunities while schools are remote.
Assignments have been changed drastically and new types of technology courses are required. Bluefield College says they made these changes last year, just after their previous spring semester.
“In the Spring Semester of course we went online like everyone else in March, and so the student teachers we had then just had to quickly adapt. And we just provided all the support we could provide to them. But then we started thinking in the summer about what kind of changes we need to make.”
One education student at Bluefield College, Omega Webb, says adjusting to all the changes has been a challenge, but the school is doing everything it can to keep students engaged.
“We really have to adapt, and all my professors are really good with that. And if you don’t understand something, they help walk you through it as best they can. And it’s just the daily change, you just have to adapt and go with the flow,” Webb said.
