Are remote teachers and AI deepfakes the answer to recruitment issues?
Back at The Valley, Mrs Cooke says she does not think online learning is as effective as face to face, pointing to the "huge gaps" in learning from Covid, when schools closed and millions of lessons moved online."I thought we were trying to get teenagers off screens, not give them to them for five hours a week in their maths lessons?" she says."The fear is, if we do not stop this, if it goes unchallenged at The Valley, it will spread," she says."And in 20 years time, what is education going to look like? And are we okay with that?"A spokesperson for the academy says remote teaching in the school is "not comparable" to pandemic-era teaching, as it is "structured, supported, and takes place in school".It says hiring a remote teacher is a "small-scale, targeted response to the national shortage of specialist maths teachers. Our priority is, and always will be, to ensure pupils receive the highest quality teaching."There are now three virtual teachers being used across the trust "deployed in very specific circumstances where recruitment of high-quality subject specialists has been exceptionally difficult", it says.The Department for Education says technology must be "carefully managed to enhance – not replace - the deep thinking, creativity and critical engagement that underpin effective learning".But NEU general secretary Daniel Kebede says the union is against remote teaching, and will "never tolerate the imposition of a virtual teacher".The trust in charge of The Valley says it is committed to working positively with its NEU colleagues to resolve this matter.
