Mobile learning and education has, in a relatively short amount of time, completely changed student-teacher and parent-teacher relationships. iPads are becoming ubiquitous in the classroom, while Skype is proving popular as a medium for parent-teacher conferences and meetings. Now, it’s being taken a step further – The Straits Times recently reported on parents who are now turning to online tuition through mobile apps and social media to help their children with their homework or Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) preparations.
Parents snap photos of worksheets, exam papers or assignments and post them in dedicated Facebook groups. Members of the group will then post photo comments with illustrated solutions and explanations using models, graphs or equations. This up-and-coming trend has seen at least five such Facebook pages emerging over the last three years, mostly for English, Mathematics and Science, with some seeing up to 20 questions posted up daily.
Similarly, EduSnap, a mobile app with an estimated 10,000 users in Singapore, allows parents to upload pictures of questions and receive answers for free, according to The Straits Times report. The solutions are from teachers and tutors from tuition centres and voluntary welfare organisations, and they answer up to 150 questions daily.
With more parents becoming tech- and social media-savvy nowadays – a 2014 Google study revealed that Singapore has the highest smartphone penetration in the world – this seems like a logical solution (no pun intended).
It makes sense: online tuition provides support at almost any hour of the day, particularly with some students doing homework late into the night. Chances are, there will be someone online at the time to help them out. Furthermore, they are able to seek the help of an active learning and sharing community made up of educators and like-minded parents, and will even receive advice on whether the questions are too challenging for their child’s age level, like the Maths Model Method - Singapore Facebook page claims to do.
While there is no running away from the “tuition culture” in Singapore that prepares our students for an undoubtedly demanding education system, perhaps the only concern is that the convenience, efficiency and ready availability of such online services will lead to students and parents being increasingly dependent on others doing the legwork for them, instead of trying to work out answers on their own (that is partly why EduSnap imposes a 3-question limit per day). Especially with the instant gratification one expects from social media – on Facebook, they are able to receive answers within the hour, as one parent told The Straits Times.
Nevertheless, these Facebook groups do provide a unifying platform for students, parents and educators to impart knowledge, share insights and more importantly, understand the challenges and pressures that many students across all levels are currently facing. After all – going beyond the fact that these groups were set up primarily to provide help with homework assignments – social media is meant to connect people across different backgrounds, ethnicities, social statuses and education levels. Our students need all the help they can get, and resources like these are most welcome indeed.
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