The COVID-19 pandemic and, as a consequence, the social isolation, emerged unexpectedly for everyone and made remote teaching necessary. What at first would be done for approximately 15 days ended up lasting throughout the whole school year, making educators and students need to adapt to this new reality and that more concrete measures were taken. Basic education, which until then was prepared to take place in person, needed to improvise the remote modality, also known as e EaD (Educação a Distância), being necessary that teachers developed activities, materials, video lessons, and live broadcasts that would allow students to study from their homes. Despite the lack of appropriate preparation by schools to offer remote education, taking into account that this possibility had not been raised previously, nor the contact with technology, which has become so essential in the current period, public schools have been dealing with isolation the way they can.

 

First of all, technology, until then seen by many as an obstacle to students’ learning, is being its main ally at this moment. Professor Leila Barros, during the lecture “Technologies, classroom and social isolation”, reveals that the use of technologies underwent significant changes in the year 2020, being seen before as an accessory, in order to complement the textbook and day in the classroom, and during this moment having the need to rethink teaching practice as a digital practice after the changes arisen from the pandemic. It is through the use of cell phones and computers that students can study, considering that the physical classroom has become the Google Classroom platform, where students can access the room of each discipline, containing activities, videos, and materials to develop their studies. Through this platform, students have access to videos recorded by Aula Paraná, related to the content they are learning, and activities to be done based on the video are posted. In addition, classes are also broadcast live by the professors of the subjects.

 

In view of this, we can perceive the importance of educators keeping themselves updated in technologies since many teachers had difficulty facing this period due to their lack of contact with technological means and platforms in general. In this sense, I believe that the use of technologies in the classroom must be reconsidered, and seen as a way to assist the teaching and learning process. Thus, I imagine that in the future, educational technology will be seen from another angle, and that teacher training will be developed to prepare educators to make better use of the available technological means. Considering that this period of isolation may extend even more, or even that schools traditionally return to functioning, the impact that the use of technologies had at that moment should not be neglected.

 

Another important factor to note is that the conditions available for students to study at home are not always favorable. Many students do not have adequate access to the internet, a device where they can attend classes, a calm environment to concentrate, among others. Thus, considering the context of public education, the present inequalities are notorious, as not all students will be able to access education at this time. A measure taken by schools like Nilo Cairo and Cerávolo for students who have no technological means were the printed activities, which students should pick up at school and deliver after they have been completed. Despite efforts, it is necessary to recognize that the concept of remote or hybrid education does not favor everyone equally, and that more inclusive measures should be considered if this situation continues.

 

The narrowing of the relationship between schools and students' families also became essential at this time, due to the increase in dropout cases and also to the development of classes. The pedagogue Leticia Andrade who works at the Cerávolo school commented that the presence and monitoring of the families regarding the students' learning have become much more important in this context. Teachers and pedagogues are no longer able to have daily contact with students as before, so families come as a way to mediate this relationship, to assist and guide students in home studies. I believe that this contact should be established and continue even after isolation, considering that the participation of families in the students' learning process is of great value.

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Regarding the insertion of the English language in this context, I believe that one of the greatest challenges of the teacher is to motivate students during classes. Students’ motivation is already a challenge in alive classes, and given the current context, it becomes even more difficult, considering that many students do not realize the importance of studying a foreign language and pay more attention to other subjects, such as Mathematics and Portuguese. Professor Leila Barros, who also works in elementary and high school, revealed that she found it difficult to keep students motivated during online classes, which led her to restructure her practice through dialogues with students, where they introduced her to the game Among us that she used as an English teaching tool. Thus, she could recover students' motivation and work with technology significantly. In general, schools have been introducing English language teaching, as well as the other subjects, through videos and activities; thus, I believe that the efforts for this better teaching to take place must come not only from schools but also from students, who at that moment have a greater role.